Dashing and Soaring
by Sassymouse
Summary: Rainbow Dash signs up for a four month boot camp at the Wonderbolts Academy and is overjoyed when Wonderbolt, Soarin, decides to be her trainer. Follow the daily lives of Rainbow Dash, Soarin, Braeburn, and Spitfire as they go through each day at the Academy.
1. Arriving

**Authors note: This story takes place after season 4 and is canon until Rarity Investigates.**

**When I watched the season 3 episode, Wonderbolts Academy, I couldn't help thinking 'Where the heck is Soarin?' he's a Wonderbolt and this was the Wonderbolts Academy, so why isn't he there. So, I became inspired to write a story relating to Soarin's role in the Wonderbolts Academy.**

**Yes, there will be some SoarinDash in here, so you've been warned in advance.**

**I also wanted to add Braeburn into the story since he's my favourite stallion, so I decided to make him Soarin's friend from High School. I know what you're thinking: This story must take place in Cloudsdale, so how is an earth pony walking on clouds? Well, if you paid attention to the episode Sonic Rainboom, you would know that there is a spell that allows non-pegasus ponies to walk on clouds. Only instead of the shorter spell that is shown in the series, this spell lasts longer. Simple. I think that covers everything. **

**Now let's get this started!**

* * *

"_Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!"_

Rainbow Dash repeated over and over again in her head. She was so excited that she felt like she could do a dozen Sonic Rainboom's in a row! She'd been waiting for this for a whole month and now she was finally going.

Why was Rainbow Dash so excited, you ask?

One month before, Rainbow Dash had signed up for a four month long training course at the Wonderbolts Academy; it had taken forever for her to get her reply in the mail and she was so overjoyed when she read that she had been accepted. Then again, it was kinda obvious that she would be picked, right? Now, after an agonisingly long wait and a series of rib-crushing hugs from Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash was finally on her way to Cloudsdale.

Pinkie Pie had refused to let Rainbow Dash leave unless she promised to write a whole bunch of letters to her and the others, and so Rainbow Dash had Pinkie-Promised that she would write a letter every day and that finally got Pinkie Pie to let her leave.

Rainbow thought back to the last time she was at the Academy. She knew that Lightning Dust would never be allowed back for a boot camp, not after the way she had acted, right? She'd enjoyed every single moment of the academy after Lightning Dust had been kicked out and she planned not to have her time ruined by an overconfident cadet... even if she did kinda see what Lightning Dust was getting at with her 'only the best of the best' motto. Anyhow, Rainbow couldn't wait to experience the thrill of training for the Wonderbolts again.

And then…

There it was:

Cloudsdale. Her old home.

Even now, Rainbow was mesmerized by the rainbows tumbling from the cloudy city. Everywhere she looked, pegasi were flying around, doing their daily business. As Rainbow Dash touched down she sighed softly at the feel of the fluffy clouds beneath her hooves. The academy wasn't that far away, so Rainbow Dash decided to walk for a change and keep all of her energy bottled up so she could wow the others straight away. There was no doubt her mind that she could wow them without all her energy anyway, but she wanted to fly even faster and awesomer than ever before, if that was even possible.

Before Rainbow Dash knew it she was inside the Academy. The actual Academy was a huge building made of clouds, but for the whole of her previous time in the academy, she had only really done outside activities with the other cadets.

She was meant to report to the Main Hall, most likely to get lectured on this and that. As she made her way through the hallways, she met two other pegasi that looked a little lost; they were talking animatedly to each other, both looking a little unnerved.

One was a light purple mare with a blue and orange striped mane and tail, the other a tall stallion with peach coloured fur and an orange and red mane and tail that reminded Rainbow Dash a little bit of candy canes. The purple mare noticed her, looking over her shoulder as she heard the approaching hoofsteps on the rainbow maned pony.

"Are you looking for the Main Hall, too?" She asked, looking a little embarrassed that she and her companion had been caught in this situation. Rainbow Dash didn't want to admit that she was lost, but at least she wouldn't be the odd one out with these two.

"Yeah… would it kill them to put up some signs telling us where it is?" Rainbow Dash replied coolly. The purple mare giggled and held out her hoof.

"Name's Lullaby," She greeted as Rainbow Dash shook her hoof eagerly. Rainbow noticed that the mares cutie mark was a nightcap surrounded by musical notes. The peach furred stallion shook Rainbow Dash's hoof too after Lullaby had let go of it.

"And I'm Sugar Swoop," he told Rainbow, who saw that his cutie mark was, ironically, a candy cane.

"And I'm Rainbow Dash," The cyan pegasus puffed out her chest and grinned. She was expecting these two pegasi to at least ask her for an autograph or something but all they said was that it was nice to meet her. Oh well, after she wowed the Wonderbolt's during the boot camp and got into the Wonderbolts, the whole of Equestria would know her name! Somepony suddenly cleared their throat at the end of the hall. Rainbow Dash turned to see a familiar face. It was none other than High Winds the Wonderbolt.

"Are you guys looking for the main hall?" High Winds asked, looking a little bored, as if she'd had to ask this question several times already. "It's this way." She pointed a hoof towards the hallway on the right. Rainbow Dash felt a little embarrassed that she needed help to get somewhere but thanked High Winds anyway. There was no way she wasn't going to thank one of her life long heroes. She actually wondered how she wasn't fangirling right now.

The main hall was HUGE! When she looked around Rainbow noted that there was really no need at all for the hall to be so massive since there were hardly any pegasi there. The Wonderbolts were lined up against one of the end walls, all of them out of their regular flight suits and instead in their academy uniforms. Rainbow Dash noticed the Elite Three Wonderbolts: Spitfire, Soarin and Fleetfoot wave at her and she eagerly waved back.

All of the Wonderbolts were there, Surprise, Misty Fly, Rapidfire… yep, definitely all of them. It was rare that they all showed up in one place at the same time. Rainbow Dash looked around the hall. She wasn't looking for a Wonderbolt; she was looking for a friend of hers.

One week ago, Rainbow Dash was helping Applejack with some apple-bucking since she'd lost a bet. They had tried to see who could eat the most pies in ten minutes and Applejack had beaten her by one pie and a half. Just one and a freaking half! So, because she lost she had to help harvest the apples. If Dash had won, Applejack would have had to help time how fast she could fly around Ponyville- what bad luck Dash had had that day. Or so she thought. She and Applejack had been working for about twenty minutes when Big Macintosh showed up with Applejack's cousin Braeburn from Appaloosa.

Braeburn told them that he was completely broke after he'd messed up his career selling apples. Rainbow Dash had asked him how he could possibly mess up selling apples, since Applejack and her family did it so easily without any mishaps at all. Braeburn had then rather sheepishly explained that apparently his apples had been 'invaded' by caterpillars. So, after a few ponies ended up in the ER because of his apples, the sheriff had insisted that he temporarily end his apple selling business.

Rainbow Dash couldn't believe what he said next. Apparently, Braeburn had been offered work in Cloudsdale in the Wonderbolts Academy thanks to a pegasus friend of his. Rainbow Dash almost had a happy heart attack when he told them that his friend was none other than SOARIN!

According to Braeburn, he and Soarin had gone to high school together and were close friends, so Soarin was offering Braeburn a job at the boot camp so he could earn enough money to get back on his hooves (and buy apples that came without bugs).

So, Braeburn had come to Ponyville because he knew that Twilight could cast a spell that allowed earth ponies to walk on clouds. So, before they knew it, they were at Twilight's castle explaining the situation to their purple alicorn friend and Twilight had graciously accepted to cast the spell on Braeburn. It was a little harder for her to do but she managed to cast a spell that would allow him to walk on clouds for the length of the boot camp at least and he'd left for Cloudsdale immediately.

But Rainbow Dash couldn't see him in the hall. There were only pegasi. Rainbow Dash decided that she would find him later since she supposed than none of the supporting staff were present at the moment… and also because Sugar Swoop began prodding her shoulder.

"Are you okay? You seemed miles away," he told her, looking concerned and amused at the same time. Rainbow Dash nodded her head.

"Yeah, I was just looking for somepony," She replied honestly. Sugar Swoop didn't ask her anymore questions. Lullaby suddenly gasped with excitement and bounced up and down.

"It looks like the Wonderbolts are about to say something. This is so exciting I could barf stars, rainbows and candy!" The purple pegasus clutched her stomach as if she really _were_ about to throw up. Rainbow and her two new friends joined the crowd of pegasi who were standing by, waiting for the Wonderbolts to address them. One of them, Silver Lining, cleared his throat and raised a hoof for silence. In a flash, the hall became quiet, with the exception of the fading echoes of the conversations that the group of excited pegasi had been having mere moments ago. Fleetfoot stepped forward and began talking in that lisp of hers.

"Welcome to the Wonderbolt'ss Academy," she greeted. Rainbow Dash tried not to laugh at her lisp. It was just so darn hilarious and although she did hear a couple of the other pegasi chortling, Fleetfoot ignored them. She must have been used to it by now.

"During the four month'ss that you will be here, you will be expected to act like real Wonderbolt'ss. You will wake up at the ssame time, you will do the ssame drills, you will eat, ssleep and breathe Wonderbolt'ss," she explained. Rainbow Dash smirked.

She already did.

Soarin took up the lecture.

"Today and tomorrow, there will be no drills. Today, you will prepare your dorms; the sleeping arrangements are on the board over there," Soarin pointed a hoof towards the back of the hall, where a long list of names and a map of the dorms had been posted on the wall. "Tomorrow, you will be fitted for your cadet uniforms. After that, you will train like real Wonderbolts every day."

Rainbow Dash looked calm on the outside, but on the inside she was doing a happy dance. Real Wonderbolts training!

AWESOME!

Spitfire ended the lecture.

"Now, we'll leave you to get ready. Go to your dorms and unpack, and in exactly one hour, you will go to the mess hall for dinner. Good luck," the yellow Wonderbolt dismissed them all with a flick of her hoof. Suddenly the room filled with overlapping speech again as the crowd of new cadets dispersed and went over to the map. Rainbow Dash was about to go over and join in the search for her room when she felt a hoof on her shoulder. She turned and saw Soarin standing behind her, smiling brightly..

"Hey there Rainbow Dash, I'm not surprised to see you here," he complimented her. Rainbow Dash felt pride welling in her chest.

"It's great to see ya, Soarin," she greeted. Soarin was wearing his blue officer uniform and black tie and his flying goggles were balanced on his head, making Rainbow Dash wonder if he ever took them off. "Is there something you wanted?" she asked, curious as to why the Wonderbolt co-captain had come over to see her. Soarin shook his head.

"I just wanted to say hi," he admitted, shrugging his shoulders. "I'd bet all the pies in the world that you're the best cadet here," he stated. Rainbow Dash almost did a double-take. Soarin was very passionate about pies, and he would bet all of them on her being the best!?

Heck, so would she.

But still, it was a nice thing for him to say.

"Thanks," Rainbow Dash beamed. Soarin nodded over to the dorm map.

"You should go and find your dorm, but I'll see you in the mess hall!" Soarin told her as he began trotting back towards the other Wonderbolts.

"Yeah, see ya!" Rainbow Dash went over to the map and tried to find her name. Maybe she would be rooming with Lullaby? No, Lullaby was rooming with somepony named Paradise. After a brief scan of the map she found her name near the bottom of the list, which revealed that she was sharing a room with a mare by the name of Spring Song in room 7.

Despite being the last pony to come over to the map thanks to her talk with Soarin, it seemed that most of the ponies were still just standing around and talking to each other. This was perfect, since Rainbow Dash knew that there was a high chance that one of these ponies was Spring Song, and if Dash got to their room before her she could put all of her stuff in place first. She'd hate to get there last and have all the good spots for her stuff taken. So she began heading in the direction of the double doors, but didn't make it before she heard somepony whining.

"C'mooooon!" Soarin was pleading from the other side of the room, "pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease-" he was repeating to Spitfire as he bounced from hoof to hoof frantically. The Wonderbolt captain looked exasperated at the co-captain's begging, and Fleetfoot was smirking, clearly enjoying her pain. Finally the golden Wonderbolt stomped a hoof down on the floor.

"If I say yes, will you shut your pie-hole?" she snapped, though she was smiling despite herself. Soarin seemed like one of those ponies who you struggled to be mad at because they were such a dork. Soarin jumped for joy and even clicked his hooves together.

"Thanks, Spitz! This is awesome!" Soarin looked over at Rainbow Dash for a split second before looking away. Rainbow Dash wondered what they were arguing about but just shrugged ti off, figuring that either it wasn't important or she would find out about it eventually. The curious part of her hoped that it was the latter reason. She made her way through the maze of hallways until she found room 7, which was identical to all of the other doors, except for the fact that it of course had the number seven on it.

Rainbow Dash opened the door to see that there was nopony there. Yes! That meant that Spring Song was still in the main hall and she had time to arrange her stuff before her new roommate arrived. Another victory for Rainbow Dash!

The dorm wasn't anything special; not to small but not on the large side either. There were two beds, one on either side of the room and neither having sheets. It was a good thing Dash remembered to bring some from home, though she hoped Spring Song didn't make fun of her for having little tortoises printed on hers. Each bed also had a side table with a lamp on it. There was a vanity to the left of the door, and a full length mirror beside it, which Rainbow Dash figured kinda defeated the object of having a vanity in the first place, and it appeared that there was a small room for the toilet at the back of the room. There was a wardrobe in the back left corner of the room which must be for keeping their cadet uniforms in when they finally got them, and there was even a bookshelf against the right wall. Perfect! Rainbow Dash had brought all of her Daring Do books with her and she intended to make good use of those shelves. The carpet was a dark blue color and the ceiling was painted a lighter shade. There also seemed to be glow-in-the-dark star stickers on it.

The cyan mare made her way over to the bed on the right side of the room and set down her bulging saddlebags. She was pleased that nopony had ridiculed her for carrying such large bags on her back, but she figured hat she'd been getting one heck of a workout from flying and lugging them around with her since she left Ponyville. She placed her Daring Do books on the shelves just like she had planned and put her secret stash of candy under the bed (she refused to share them!). She put some paper and a quill on her bedside table so she wouldn't forget to write to her friends back in Ponyville... actually now that she thought about it, she should write to them now to get it over with. She picked up the quill in her mouth and spread a piece of paper out on the bedside table, beginning to write.

_Hi, everypony,_

_I'm writing this from my dorm at the academy! It's an okay room, though it's pretty small. I haven't met my roommate, Spring Song yet, but I'll tell you all about her when I do meet her._

_I've already made two new friends here, Lullaby and Sugar Swoop and they seem pretty nice. Maybe Spring Song could be friends with us, too, though I promise that they'll never replace you guys. There's no _way_ they're as awesome as all of you._

_I'll send you another letter tomorrow, Pinkie Promise._

_Yours awesomely, _

_Rainbow Dash._

Rainbow Dash rolled up the scroll and tucked it into one of her saddlebags, deciding that she would post it later. Just then, the door swung open and three ponies strode in, all talking excitedly to each other. In truth, their sudden (loud) entrance had freaked Dash out a bit, but she did her best not to visibly show it. At the head of the group was a pink pegasus mare with a blond streaked tail and mane and bright green eyes. She was followed by another shorter mare, who was green with a short blue mane and tail and a tall stallion who was yellow colored with a brown Mohawk.

"Um… hi," Rainbow Dash greeted them with a small wave, unsure as to why there were three pegasi there instead of just one mare. The blond pegasus looked her up and down skeptically before smiling at her.

"I'm gonna go ahead and say that you're Rainbow Dash, judging by that mane of yours," she said, to which Rainbow Dash nodded. The pink pegasus shook Rainbow's hoof eagerly. "I'm Spring Song," she greeted, and that solved the mystery of which of the mares was going to be her roommate.

"And… who are you two?" Rainbow Dash looked at the two pegasi Spring Song had entered with. Spring Song placed a hoof on the shoulder of the green mare.

"This is Paradise, my BFF," Spring Song introduced the mare, who smiled brightly. Rainbow Dash remembered reading the name Paradise on the dorm map in the same room as Lullaby.

"BFF's forever!" Paradise chirped in response to what Spring Song had said. Spring Song rolled her eyes and leaned down to hiss in Paradise's ear.

"BFF already has the word 'forever' in it, dummy," she informed the green mare, who let out a long noise of realization. Then Spring Song moved over to the stallion.

"And this is Ray," she patted the stallion on the back.

"'Sup?" Ray asked casually. At least these three seemed friendly.

"Wanna come to the mess hall with us when we're done setting up?" Spring Song offered. Rainbow Dash shrugged and said that she would. After that she went back to placing her stuff around the room, and found to her surprise that instead of going to their own rooms and sorting out their things, Paradise and Ray were sticking around to help Spring Song, who occasionally paused her own work to tell them to do something differently. Rainbow Dash could see that Spring Song was a bit of a perfectionist... maybe she and Twilight would get along nicely?

After a long while their room looked pretty good; not perfect, especially since Rainbow Dash wasn't much of an organizer. She noticed that Spring Song looked over at her side of the room a little uneasily since it was clear that Rainbow was a bit of a slob, but she didn't voice her discomfort out loud, which Dash appreciated because she got this kind of thing from Twilight and Rarity all the time.

"Well... it's almost time for dinner," Spring Song made it clear that she wanted to avoid the subject of the room's appearance. "We should probably go." once he others had agreed, Spring Song turned to walk out the door, giving Rainbow Dash a clear view of her cutie mark, which a flaming sunflower. She looked at the other two pegasus ponies' cutie marks, too. Paradise's was a sun setting behind a hilltop and Ray's was winged meteor.

Rainbow Dash followed them out the door. She was surprised to have made so many friends in the short amount of time she'd been at the academy. But then again, who wouldn't want to be her friend?

They made their way to the mess hall, which was already packed with pegasi. They had to go to the back of the line to get their food (they were near the back because Spring Song had taken a while getting her side of the room just the way she had wanted it, and even Rainbow Dash had joined in as the time for dinner edged closer so things would hurry along a little more, but that gave them a lot of time to get to know each other. Rainbow Dash learned that Spring Song was from Las Pegasus, Ray was a descendant of Commander Easyglider and Paradise liked manga. Rainbow was a little surprised to find that whatever Spring Song chose to eat, Paradise and Ray chose to eat too; it was like the room decorating situation all over again. She decided to just get her own choice of food since had no interest in becoming a copycat.

As she scooped up some beans she heard a familiar voice from behind the counter.

"Hey there Rainbow Dash, Ah've been lookin' for ya!"

Rainbow looked up at the voice to see the speaker.

"Braeburn, I've been looking for you, too," The cyan pegasus gleefully greeted her earth pony friend. "So, you're working as a cook, here?" Rainbow was surprised since it was usually mares who worked as cooks. Call it a stereotype, but throughout her years at school this had been nothing but true for her.

"Yeah, Soarin knew how well Ah baked, so he got me the job faster than ya could say 'apple tarts," Braeburn explained. Rainbow Dash warily eyed the apple fritter she had picked up.

"These things haven't got caterpillars in, right?" she asked. Braeburn looked pretty unamused at that.

"It was one time!" he insisted, not realizing that she was joking. He took a moment to calm down before twiddling his hooves anxiously. "Ah'll catch up with ya later, Rainbow Dash. Ah have t' make some more apple pie."

Okay, catch ya later, Brae!" Rainbow Dash went to the table where Spring Song, Paradise and Ray were. Spring Song turned to Ray.

"Ray, would you mind sitting somewhere else?" she asked. Ray tilted his head with confusing, and Rainbow couldn't help but copy his motions. What was Spring Song doing?

"Why?" Ray asked the question on Dash's mind. Friends were supposed to hang out together, so why the hay did Spring Song want Ray to go?

"We need some girl time with Rainbow Dash, 'kay? Paradise told him. Rainbow didn't like the sound of that... at _all_. Ray sighed, shrugged and went to join a pair of stallions on one of the other tables. Rainbow Dash cautiously sat down beside Spring Song and began nibbling on her horseshoe fries.

"So, what do you think of the academy?" the pink pegasus asked Rainbow, who smiled widely despite the situation. She didn't wasn't fully content with Spring Song and Paradise just sending Ray away like that.

"It's awesome. I can't wait to start drills!" she replied quickly, preferring to eat rather than converse at dinnertime.

"Me neither; me and Paradise are _amazing_ fliers," she bragged, placing a hoof on Paradise's shoulder. Paradise nodded in agreement with a mouthful of grapes. After that there was a thankfully long pause, and Dash managed to get through half of her carrot juice.

The sentence that Paradise said next almost made Rainbow Dash choke on her drink.

"So who do you think is the cutest Wonderbolt?"

"Um… what was that?" Rainbow Dash wondered if she'd heard right, really... _really _hoping she'd misheard. She hated talking about these kinds of things.

"Isn't Fire Streak so hot?" Paradise drooled. Rainbow almost puked up her dinner. She didn't reply.

"None of the Wonderbolts seem my type," Spring Song told Rainbow, who was trying her best not to listen to this. "The only ponies who know this are me and Paradise, but…" Spring Song leaned over and whispered in Rainbow's ear. "…I like Ray."

Rainbow wanted to turn their volumes to mute.

"Can we talk about something else?" she asked hopefully, spooning some beans into her mouth. Spring Song shrugged.

"Sure."

"Hey, Rainbow Dash, over here!" the three pegasus mares turned to the speaker. It was Soarin. "Can you come over here a sec?" he was sitting at a table with the other Wonderbolts. Rainbow obediently got up and trotted over to the Wonderbolt co-captain.

"What's up, Soarin?" Rainbow asked.

"I've got some good news. I was talking to Spitfire earlier about stuff and she initially said no but I kept on saying please and please and over and over... to be honest I think she wanted to strangle me, but she didn't in the end (thank Celestia) and she said that I could be your trainer!" he told her gleefully. Rainbow Dash's jaw almost hit the floor.

A Wonderbolt!

Training her!

This… was… AWESOME!

"Really?" Rainbow Dash flapped into the air in excitement.

"You bet. Starting the day after tomorrow, I'll be teaching you some Wonderbolt level tricks," he told her. So this must have been what Soarin and Spitfire were arguing about back in the main hall.

"This is so cool. I've gotta thank Spitfire," Rainbow Dash looked around the room, but the Wonderbolt captain was nowhere to be seen. "Where _is_ Spitfire?" she asked.

"She always eats alone in her office," he replied. Rainbow looked confused and tilted her head to the side.

"Why?"

Soarin shrugged. "She's not much of a 'social butterfly' I suppose," he replied. He then changed the subject. "Hey, Braeburn told me he knew you. Is that true?"

"Yeah, we met in Appaloosa a few years back," she answered.

"Apparently, you helped settle something between the Appleoosan's and a herd of buffalo?" he couldn't remember the exact story.

"That's right," Rainbow nodded, recalling the time where she and Pinkie Pie had tried to argue for the buffalo's side. She was so pleased when they finally settled their differences and became friends, though she would never get that song that Pinkie Pie sang out of her head.

"It's kinda odd that he works here," Soarin stated, beginning to eat a large slice of apple pie.

"Because he's an earth pony?" Rainbow Dash suggested since it was the obvious answer.

"Nah, because he knows absolutely nothing about the Wonderbolts," Soarin replied with a mouthful of pie, "the other day I quizzed him on who all the Wonderbolts were and the only one he could name was me," he chuckled.

"You would've thought he'd know this stuff since he's your friend," Rainbow Dash glanced over to the food counter where Braeburn was slicing up some apple cake while a small dark blue cadet stood by, drooling at the dessert.

"I know right!" Soarin agreed, throwing his hooves into the air and accidentally slapping Blaze.

"Watch it, dumbass," The orange maned Wonderbolt rubbed her sore cheek.

"Um… oops," Soarin laughed weakly and scooted away from Blaze. Soarin then glanced up at the clock and his eyes bulged.

"Whoa! Dinner's almost over. Better hurry up," he began eating his pie faster. It was then that Rainbow realised that she was still hungry, too. Since she had been in the line longer than she had intended, there was less time for her to ear.

"I'd better go finish my dinner, too," she nodded back at her table where Spring Song and Paradise were laughing about something- probably something pointless, judging by their topics of conversation thus far.

"Okay, then. See ya tomorrow," Soarin bidded the cyan pegasus farewell. As Rainbow Dash sat back down at the table beside Spring Song, the two mares immediately began bugging her with questions. It was actually pretty creepy how they whipped their heads around the seconds her rump touched the seat.

"What was that all about?"

"What did he say?"

"Are you in trouble?"

"It was nothing…" Rainbow trailed off before smirking. "If you count him training me as nothing!" she finished with what bordered on a squee. Spring Song and Paradise did an actual squee and began chattering away.

"Do you think we'll all have Wonderbolt mentors?" Paradise asked. Rainbow Dash decided not to say that she didn't think they would. If they were all going to have Wonderbolt's teaching them, Spitfire wouldn't have been arguing with Soarin over it. Rainbow felt like she was the luckiest pony in Equestria.

* * *

When she had finished eating, she, Spring Song and Paradise walked back to the dorms, and Rainbow Dash decided to celebrate her first day at the Academy by eating some of her candy stash. Just when she was on her sixth piece of candy corn she remembered.

She hadn't posted the latter she had wanted to send to her friends.

But she didn't care, because that old letter was useless now. She reached into her saddlebags and took out the old scroll. She crumpled it up and tossed it over her head into the trash. Spring Song noticed and gave her an approving nod at her skill. Dash grabbed another piece of paper and her quill before starting to write another letter.

_Hi, everypony!_

_I'm having an epic day here. You'll never guess what happened!_

_Soarin is going to train me!_

_That's right. While the other cadets are lounging around on their butts doing nothing in their free time I'm going to be zooming through the sky with the Wonderbolts co-captain learning Wonderbolt level tricks!_

_In other news I've met my roommate Spring Song and her friends and they seem pretty nice; I just hope they don't get jealous of the fact that I'm apparently a big deal when it comes to training now.  
_

_I can't wait to tell you more._

_Yours awesomely,_

_Rainbow Dash._

"Watcha doin', Dash?" Spring Song asked, placing a clock on her bedside table despite there being one on the back wall of their room.

"Just writing a letter to my friends," she replied, rolling up her letter and tucking it into her saddlebags, deciding that she would post it sometime tomorrow. Spring Song's gaze flickered from Rainbow Dash to the rainbow maned mare's row of books on the bookshelf and she gasped.

"Are those Daring Do books?" she asked, pointing over at them. Rainbow Dash nodded and Spring Song whizzed over to them in a flash. She began examining each of the covers until she finally picked one up. "This is the only one I haven't read," she told Rainbow, holding up the cyan pony's copy of 'Daring Do and the Forbidden City of Clouds'. That was one of Rainbow Dash's favourites. Spring Song looked at Dash with the biggest, saddest pair of eyes she had ever seen. "Would you mind?" she asked, sticking out her bottom lip. Rainbow shrugged. Puppy dog eyes didn't really have any effect on her (unless it was Fluttershy or Pinkie Pie doing them) but it just wouldn't hurt to let Spring Song read her books.

"Sure, you can read it," she replied. She'd already read that one four times anyway. Spring Song flung herself onto her bed and opened the book to the first page.

"Thanks, Rainbow Dash. You're awesome," the pink pegasus complimented Dash, who nodded.

"I know," she smiled. She decided that she would read a Daring Do book, as well. There was nothing else to do, anyway. She decided that she would read her favourite one, which was 'Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Statue'. She still felt like an idiot for trying to break into the hospital to get the book.

Rainbow Dash sat on her bed and began to read, though it was hard to focus with everything going on.

She couldn't believe that Soarin was going to be her mentor; it just seemed too good to be true. She decided that she'd bottle up all of her excitement for the next morning. That way she could still have some hype left in her when she finally told Lullaby and Sugar Swoop about the news.

Dash had known that the boot camp would be awesome but she'd never thought it would be THIS awesome.

She couldn't wait for tomorrow!


	2. Tricks and Treats

**Authors Note: This is only a short author's note since I know how long the last one was. Just wanted to let you guys know that this story has absolutely no relation to my other MLP story, Let The Rainbow Remind You. Anything that happens in this story will not affect LTRRY in any way whatsoever. Just imagine that this story takes place in a parallel universe or something. Now that that's covered, on with Dashing and Soaring chapter 2!**

* * *

"Okay, Rainbow Dash, it's your turn."

Rainbow stood rigid while the mare in charge of finding the cadets the right sized uniform measured her. After about a minute of the mare stretching a measuring tape along her back and legs, she disappeared into a room that Rainbow Dash assumed had the uniforms in them. She returned with one that was the perfect size and Rainbow Dash wasted no time in putting it on.

"You look awesome," Spring Song complimented Rainbow Dash, beginning to show off her own uniform.

"Does this make me look fat?" She asked, smiling. Rainbow tilted her head.

"I don't actually think it's possible to look fat in these things," She replied, looking herself over.

"Hey there, Rainbow Dash!" Rainbow turned to see Lullaby and Sugar Swoop trotting over to her, each of them wearing their new uniforms.

"Hey, guys, what's up?" Rainbow greeted, hoof bumping each of them in turn.

"I love these uniforms," Lullaby chirped. "It's kinda like a second skin-"

"Don't say it!" Sugar Swoop's eyes bulged out of his head as he foresaw what she was going to say next. Rainbow Dash had a feeling she knew what was coming next, too. Lullaby puffed out her chest and spoke.

"It feels like I'm wearing no-"

"Okay, that's enough!" Sugar Swoop covered the purple pegasus pony's mouth with a hoof. Rainbow Dash chuckled at their behaviour. Sugar Swoop then noticed Spring Song.

"Hi, who're you?" he asked her.

"Name's Spring Song and I guess you're…" She stopped talking and looked at his cutie mark. "…Candy Cane?" She guessed, shrugging her shoulders.

"Sugar Swoop," The peach stallion corrected her.

"And I'm Lullaby," the purple mare hoof bumped Spring Song. Then, they were joined by Paradise and Ray.

"Hi, Spring Song," Paradise smiled brightly at her friend. She then looked over to Lullaby. "Hey, roomie," She added.

"Hi, Paradise," Lullaby smiled back. Rainbow Dash had forgotten that the two of them were roommates. "Hi, Ray," She looked up at the yellow stallion, who gave her a lopsided smile. Rainbow didn't bother asking how she'd met Ray before. Paradise gave a little bounce.

"Did you two hear?" She asked Sugar Swoop and Lullaby.

"Hear what?" They both asked at the same time. Paradise put a hoof on Rainbow Dash's shoulder.

"Dash here is being trained by a Wonderbolt," She informed them. Lullaby gasped and lunged forward to hug Rainbow.

"That's so cool, Rainbow. How did you get a Wonderbolt to train you?" She asked, tightening her grip on the cyan pegasus, almost cutting off her circulation.

"And which one is it?" Sugar Swoop added.

"Well, first off, I didn't ask Soarin to train me, he asked Spitfire if he could and she said yes," Rainbow replied honestly. She could hardly believe it herself. When she had woken up that morning she had wondered if it was all a dream. She'd even tried pinching herself to see if she would wake up. It didn't work…it just hurt.

"Soarin!" Lullaby squeed. "You're so lucky, Rainbow Dash!" She bounced up and down like a kangaroo on a sugar buzz.

"Yeah, Soarin must really believe in you, Dash," Sugar Swoop congratulated the cyan mare by slapping her on the back. Rainbow smiled proudly.

"Well, if I were him, I'd believe in me, too," She bragged.

"What was that?"

"AH!" All six of the cadets gasped and turned around to see none other than Soarin standing a few feet away, an amused grin on his face.

"Don't do that, dude!" Sugar Swoop clutched his chest. "You almost scared the cornflakes outta me!"

"Sorry about that," Soarin chuckled sheepishly. "My ears were just burning. Were you talking about me?" He asked. He'd totally caught them red hoofed.

"We were just talking about you training Dash," Ray informed the pale blue stallion. Rainbow was a little shocked. This was the longest sentence Ray had said since she'd met him. According to Spring Song, he was a stallion of few words and usually spoke in one word sentences. He kinda reminded Rainbow of Big Mac with extended vocabulary.

"Can you train me, too?" Lullaby asked hopefully, her eyes sparkling. Sugar Swoop stood by her side.

"Can you train all of us?" he asked, making puppy dog eyes, which was quite pathetic for a stallion. Soarin shook his head.

"I don't think I could handle six of you at once," He shifted his eyes from side to side, to see if anypony was around. "But maybe if you begged-I mean- asked Silver Lining politely, he could teach you," He told them. Without saying another word, Sugar Swoop zoomed off, with Lullaby, Spring Song, Ray and Paradise right behind him. Then, all was silent in the room, apart from the occasion stretching noise of the measuring tape as the last cadet was measured.

"Well, they're an odd group," Soarin commented, staring after them. "Just between you and me, I just wanna get back at Silver Lining for taking the last slice of pie this morning," He revealed, making Rainbow Dash laugh.

"Do you ever stop thinking about pie?" She asked him, poking his shoulder.

"Nope," He replied without hesitation, making Rainbow Dash laugh even more. He hesitated before talking again. "Hey, how about we go flying right now. You can show me some of your tricks and I'll show you some of mine," He asked her, making Rainbow Dash beam.

"Sure, that sounds great!" She replied enthusiastically, spreading her wings, despite the fact that they were still inside. The two pegasi headed outside to the training grounds, which were deserted since there were no drills today. Rainbow Dash found it odd to see it so silent. Usually whenever she had been out here before, Spitfire had been yelling in her ear. She was an awesome drill sergeant.

Soarin led Dash to the air obstacle course and looked around to make sure no one was watching. He turned to Rainbow Dash and snickered.

"Don't tell Spitfire," He whispered, activating the obstacle course. Rainbow's jaw dropped. This was amazing! She would totally wow Soarin with her stunts. The pale blue stallion spread his wings. "Okay let's-"

Before he could finish, Rainbow Dash whizzed past him, leaving her signature rainbow trail in her wake.

"-go," he finished. He quickly took off after the cyan mare, putting on a huge burst of speed to catch up with her. The two pegasi skilfully passed through all of the cloudy hoops, Rainbow Dash showing off by looping around them a couple of times. Dash knew that she could do as many loops as she wanted around the rings and still keep up with Soarin. They reached the next part of the obstacle course, where they had to dodge clouds. The rainbow maned pegasus zoomed on ahead at top speed. While Soarin was manoeuvring his was around, under and above the clouds, Rainbow Dash simply went around the sides the whole way, making Soarin's jaw drop. Dash laughed at his expression as she whooshed past. She didn't stop to wait for him. She wanted to beat a Wonderbolt in a race. She knew that he had never said anything about this being a race, but it was a race starting now.

Since there were no cadets blocking her way this time, Dash found the rest of the obstacle course as easy as pie. She ran into a little trouble when she had to fly through a storm, almost being blown away, but being the awesome pegasus she was, she quickly recovered and got back on track. She noticed that even Soarin struggled a little flying through the storm. Maybe all the Wonderbolts did, but never said.

Then came the easy part, simply flying over and under violent jets of mist, which Rainbow Dash decided to show off on. Instead of simply flying under and over repetitively, Dash decided to do a loop around them before moving onto the next one. Soarin was catching up, but Rainbow Dash didn't let that bother her. She carried on strongly, loving the feel of the wind whipping her face. She skidded to a halt on the landing strip mere moments before Soarin, who stared at her with fascination.

"That was awesome, Rainbow Dash!" he complimented her. Rainbow Dash proudly raised her chest.

"I know," She bragged. Soarin's features lit up as if he'd just got a brilliant idea, which he had.

"Hey, Dash?" He asked her.

"What?"

"Do you think you could do a Sonic Rainboom?" He asked her. Dash determinedly spread her wings.

"No prob!" She exclaimed, taking off immediately. She flew high into the air, higher and higher until Soarin was a tiny dot on the clouds below. She took a deep breath, preparing every bone in her body to perform her signature stunt. All of the Wonderbolts had their own special stunt that only they could perform, though Dash was sure that the Sonic Rainboom was much cooler than any of them. She began descending, picking up speed with every passing millisecond. She felt her face being pulled back by the g-force. She felt the pressure building up against her sides as it became harder and harder to go faster. Her wings and chest were beginning to burn, but she kept going. It had gotten a lot easier for her to perform Sonic Rainboom's since the Best Young Flier competition. She cheered as she finally broke the sound barrier and a spectacular rainbow coloured explosion occurred. She whizzed around the entire academy, leaving her rainbow trail behind her everywhere she went.

She landed a couple of minutes later beside Soarin after a series of flips, twists and other tricks. Soarin wore a hilarious expression on his face at the sight of the awesome stunt.

"Impressed?" Rainbow Dash asked, chuckling a little.

"You bet I am. I wish I could do that," Soarin replied, getting over the thrill of the Rainboom.

"Well, I do have a knack for impressing ponies," Dash bragged, examining a hoof casually. Rainbow suddenly blushed as her tummy growled loudly.

"Wow, somepony's hungry," Soarin teased her. Dash had skipped breakfast because she wanted to post her letter to her friends. She'd had to fly to the post office and back and by the time she'd returned to the Academy, she was too excited to eat anything. Now she was realising how hungry she really was.

"I guess so," She responded as her tummy growled again.

"Y'know, I might be able to persuade Braeburn to give us a free brunch," Soarin suggested. Rainbow Dash licked her lips. The Apple family's food was always delicious, especially if it was free.

"That sounds great. Race ya there!" Rainbow Dash took off with Soarin right behind her.

…**..**

"I won!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she burst through the double doors to the mess hall. Soarin was only a couple of seconds behind her.

"Well, of course you did, you had a head start," The pale blue stallion argued. The mess hall was empty with the exception of three of the Wonderbolts: Surprise, High Winds and Blaze. Soarin wondered what they were talking about. Those three were always coming up with ridiculous plans to make the Wonderbolts look more heroic and most of those plans ended with them getting hurt. Their most hair-brained scheme so far was when they tried to take down a rampaging dragon on their own and got trapped. Then they had the nerve to pretend that they were still heroes afterwards. Soarin chuckled to himself as he remembered that Spitfire had given them a week of cleaning the toilets for punishment, since they had headed out without her permission.

"What are you waiting for, I'm starving," Rainbow Dash snapped him from his thoughts. Soarin nodded an apology before leading her into the kitchen where the smell of various lunch choices wafted around them. Soarin found it hard to resist one of the huge apple pies cooling on the counter. He heard a clang from the back of the kitchen and turned to see Braeburn putting some fresh apple fritters into an oven.

"Hey, Brae!" Soarin called out, making the earth pony jump. He smiled when he saw his old high school friend.

"'Sup, Soar?" Braeburn greeted, closing the oven door.

"Just wondering if we could get some grub," Soarin replied, nodding his head at Rainbow Dash. Braeburn smiled wider at the sight of his rainbow maned friend.

"Hey there, Rainbow Dash, Ah heard that Soarin was trainin' ya. Yer one lucky mare." He told her.

"You bet I am. I'm the only cadet here being trained by a Wonderbolt. I must be more awesome than I thought," Dash bragged.

"You are pretty awesome," Soarin told her, before blushing slightly.

"Thanks, Soarin, is it that obvious?" She bragged a little more. Braeburn grabbed a few muffins and put them on a plate.

"Y'all can have these on the house," he told them. "Though, can Ah just have that one?" Braeburn quickly grabbed one of them and began munching on it. Soarin grabbed one and took a large bite.

"MMMM! These are delicious, right Rainbow Dash?" He ate the rest in no time and grabbed another.

"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash agreed with a mouthful of muffin. "Soarin definitely made the right choice, making you the new cook."

"Ah should hope so, though it's only 'til they can find a full time cook. By the end of the boot camp Ah should've been paid enough t' restart muh apple sellin' business," he explained, licking the crumbs from around his mouth. Rainbow Dash finished her second muffin.

"Man, I wish I could bake like that," She complimented the earth pony stallion, eying a third muffin.

"You and Soarin, both," He chuckled, turning to the pegasus stallion. "Remember that one time when Ah tried to teach ya how t' bake apple pie and ya almost burnt down the kitchen?" he teased Soarin, poking him in the chest.

"It's hard to forget when you keep reminding me," Soarin grumbled, spraying a few crumbs as he spoke. Rainbow Dash chuckled at the two stallions. Soarin couldn't help thinking that she had a nice laugh.

"Ya know, ya remind me of Soarin," Braeburn told Rainbow Dash. "Yer an amazin' flier, ya wanna be a Wonderbolt and ya love muh cookin'."

"I can bake pretty well, too, ya know," Soarin argued with his friend, who rolled his eyes.

"Well, ya should've improved since ya learned that ya don't put apple crumble in the dishwasher," Braeburn shoved him playfully. Rainbow Dash gave a snort of laughter at her trainer's stupidity and he flushed red with embarrassment. He'd like to say that he hadn't done that, but he couldn't because he _had_ done it. He decided to change the subject.

"Hey, Braeburn, remember when I asked you if you remember who all the Wonderbolts were last week?" he asked his buddy.

"Yeah," Braeburn replied, taking another muffin off the plate for himself.

"Well, do you remember all of them yet?" he asked. Braeburn shifted his eyes to the sides, trying to remember.

"Well, there's you, o' course," he began before ducking his head and mumbling to himself, trying to remember the others.

"Besides me," Soarin told him.

"Um…Fleetfoot!" Braeburn suddenly remembered. Soarin clapped.

"You've finally remembered somepony," he congratulated Braeburn. Then again, he and Fleetfoot were the only ones that had interacted with Braeburn. Fleetfoot was really friendly to him, which Soarin was pleased about, since she was one of his closest friends. The other Wonderbolts hadn't so much as said 'hello' to him so Braeburn probably didn't even acknowledge most of their existences.

"An' there's…um…what's 'er name? Supplies…Surmise…" Braeburn struggled to remember the name.

"SURPRISE!"

"GAH!" Soarin, Rainbow Dash and Braeburn fell backwards with shock as a white pegasus with a bushy yellow mane popped up in front of them and almost gave Soarin a heart attack. He should be used to this by now, but this mare could surprise anypony.

"Urrr…hey there, Surprise," Soarin mumbled, as he got over the shock. He, Rainbow Dash and Braeburn had all fallen to the ground after Surprise jumped out at them.

"You okay down there, Soarin?" Surprise asked, smiling widely.

"Yeah, my muffin broke my fall," the pale blue stallion replied, standing up to reveal that he'd landed on his muffin when he fell.

"Yer not gonna eat that now, right?" Braeburn asked his friend, pointing a hoof at the muffin.

"Of course not," Soarin replied, tossing the muffin in the air and kicking it with one of his hind hooves. It made an arc in the air before landing in the trash can.

"That was awesome!" Rainbow Dash congratulated the Wonderbolt co-captain, giving him a slap on the back.

"Yeah, nice shot, Soarin," Surprise joined in, grabbing one of the remaining two muffins off the plate and taking a huge bite out of it.

"Hey, you could at least ask before you take a muffin," Soarin scolded the yellow maned Wonderbolt as she chewed happily on the treat. She gulped it down before replying.

"Sorry," she apologized. "But, your buddy's cooking is just so good!" she praised as she licked her lips.

"Oh yeah, Surprise, have you introduced yourself to Braeburn, yet?" Soarin asked her, nodding at his old friend. Surprise eagerly hopped over to Braeburn and began vigorously shaking his hoof.

"Well, it's nice to meet ya, Braeburn, and may I just say that you make amazing muffins," She greeted. "I'm Surprise, official Wonderbolt flier and party planner at your service," she bowed when she said the last part, making Braeburn chuckle.

"Nice t' meet ya, too, Surprise, an' thanks for the compliment about the muffins. It's an old Apple family recipe," the earth pony replied as Surprise let go of his hoof.

"Apple family, huh?" Surprise tilted her head to the side. "Then you must be related to Applejack and Big Macintosh, right?" She guessed.

"Yeah, they're muh cousins," Braeburn replied. Surprise gave a little bounce.

"I've met Applejack before," she told him. "She's really nice. I haven't met Big Macintosh before, but Fleetfoot's told me about him. She also told me that you remind her of him," she added.

"Really?" Braeburn asked, looking surprised, ironically enough. Personally, Soarin thought that he was nothing like Big Macintosh. Fleetfoot had told Soarin about Big Mac several times before, since she'd met him in Ponyville shortly after she'd got knocked out of the sky by a firework. She'd become smitten with him and began stalking him, so that firework must have hit her head harder than he'd thought.

"Yep," was all Surprise said. She suddenly looked over to plate as Rainbow Dash grabbed the last muffin off the plate. "Hey, can I take some of those muffins for me, High Winds and Blaze?" She asked.

"Sure, lemme just get some more," Braeburn headed back to the counter and brought back a plate with six muffins on it. "There ya go," He passed them to Surprise whose mouth began to water as she stared at the delicious snacks.

"Thanks, Braeburn. You're awesome!" She could barely be understood with the plate of muffins in her mouth. "Bye, Rainbow Dash!" She waved to the cyan mare as she left the kitchen and headed to the table where Blaze and High Winds were still talking.

"Well, it's certainly not every day you get called 'awesome'," Soarin teased Braeburn, who gave him an irritated glare.

"Well, she seemed friendly," Braeburn commented and he returned to rolling out the dough for some more apple pies.

"Yeah, Surprise is the easiest Wonderbolt to get along with," Rainbow Dash told him. "When I first met her, all I said was 'hi' before she started rambling on and on about us becoming the best of friends and stuff like that," She recalled. Soarin had been there when that had happened. It wasn't long after she'd saved his pie at the gala. Surprise could get excited about _anything._

"Rainbow Dash, are you in here?"

Soarin recognized the voice of the purple pegasus that was hanging out with Dash earlier. Rainbow Dash whipped around as she heard her name called. She looked over her shoulder at Soarin, then back to the kitchen door.

"You'd better go see what she wants," Soarin told her.

"Yeah, I guess," Dash sounded almost sad to leave. Then again, being trained by a Wonderbolt was pretty exciting for her. If he were her, he wouldn't want to part with his mentor either. "But, you never got to show me any of your signature tricks," She reminded him. Soarin had forgotten that he'd said he'd show her some of his moves.

"Well…I guess I can show you tomorrow after drills are finished," Soarin shrugged. Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at him.

"Promise?" she asked. Soarin rolled his eyes and smiled.

"I promise," he replied, earning a bright smile from the rainbow maned mare.

"Catch ya later, Soarin!" she called over her shoulder as she went through the double doors. Braeburn by then was making some apple brown betty's. Soarin took the opportunity to try and take one of the pies. He silently crept up to the counter and grabbed one of them. He then attempted to sneak out of the kitchen with the pie balanced on his back. He froze as the door squeaked as he began to open it and he heard Braeburn yell at him from behind. Soarin gasped and galloped out of the kitchen, into the mess hall, then out the door into the training grounds with Braeburn galloping behind him.

"Get back here, Soarin. If ya want pie, wait fer lunch like everypony else!" The earth pony ordered him.

"But where's the fun it that?" Soarin yelled over his shoulder as he raced across the cloudy ground.

"Ya know, eventually Ah _will _catch you!" Braeburn shouted at his high school friend.

"In your dreams, Brae, I'm one of fastest fliers in Equestria, so naturally, I should be a fast runner, too," he argued. "GAH!" Soarin suddenly tripped and tumbled over. Braeburn skilfully jumped over his friend and caught the pie on his back.

"You were sayin'?" he gave Soarin a smug look as the pale blue stallion picked himself up, a little dazed from his fall.

"Er…never mind," he groaned, rubbing his now sore head.

…**..**

"Bye, guys," Rainbow Dash said as she closed the door to her and Spring Song's room. Ever since she had left Soarin and Braeburn in the kitchen, she, Lullaby, Sugar Swoop, Spring Song, Paradise and Ray had been hanging out in her dorm. They'd told eachother about competitions they had flown in, their first time watching a Wonderbolts air show and just random things about themselves. All of them had been speechless after Rainbow Dash told them how she'd saved Soarin, Spitfire and Misty Fly's lives in the Best Young Flier competition and performed a Sonic Rainboom. She'd promised to show them one tomorrow.

"I'm beat," Spring Song yawned, leaping onto her bed. Rainbow Dash chuckled at her.

"Ya know, it's surprising you're so tired when we haven't even done any drills, yet," She told the pink pegasus.

"Well, it is one in the morning," Spring Song nodded up at the clock. Rainbow Dash looked too, sure enough it was exactly one O'clock. How had time gone by so fast?

"Well…maybe you're right. We need to be up early for drills," Rainbow Dash agreed, letting out a small yawn, herself. She switched off the light and got into bed, switching on her bedside lamp, as she hadn't written a letter to her friends today. She picked up a quill, spread some paper across the surface of the bedside table and began to write...

'_Sup, everypony?_

_Guess who the first cadet to try out the air obstacle course was?_

_ME, that's who!_

_Well, technically, I'm the _only_ cadet that's tried the air obstacle course out so far. Soarin is the best mentor ever. He even let me perform a Sonic Rainboom! _

_Hey Applejack, can I just say that the Apple Family muffin recipe is fantastic. Braeburn made a batch and it was kinda like eating happiness!_

_Tomorrow's the first day of drills, and I need to be up and at 'em at the crack of dawn…well, maybe not exactly the crack of dawn, but pretty early, anyway._

_Wish me luck, not that I'll need it._

_Yours epically,_

_Rainbow Dash.'_

Rainbow Dash rolled up her letter and put it on the table beside her lamp. She crawled under the covers and rested her head on her pillow, giving a relaxed sigh at the warmth of her bed.

"Night, Spring Song," She yawned. The only reply from her roommate was the sound of soft snoring. Rainbow Dash let out a silent laugh before reaching over to her bedside table and switching off the light.

…**..**

**Endnote: So, chapter two has reached its end. From now on I'll try and get one chapter done per week, and I put extra emphasis on 'try'. I have a busy life outside the computer, too, you know. So, tune in next time when Rainbow Dash has her first lesson at the boot camp.**


	3. The First Day, part 1

"GAAAAAAH!"

Rainbow Dash and Spring Song sat upright in their beds, screaming with surprise as the sound of a bugle blared. Dash tumbled out of her bed, startled at the sudden cacophony and her bed sheets landed on top of her. When the sound of the bugle finally ceased, Rainbow Dash pulled the covers off her and groaned, rubbing her head where she'd bumped it on the ground.

"I hope wake up calls aren't like that all the time," The cyan mare grumbled, grudgingly getting to her hooves and stretching. Spring Song groaned as she looked in the mirror, seeing that she had an extreme case of bedhead. She grabbed her hairbrush and began trying to comb her blond mane into its usual straight, shoulder length style.

"What time is it?" Spring Song asked Rainbow Dash, smiling at her now perfect mane. Rainbow Dash blinked the last of the sleep from her eyes and looked up at the clock.

6:AM.

There's a 6:**AM**?

Rainbow couldn't remember ever getting up that early. While Spring Song was busy applying some blush to her cheeks, Rainbow Dash grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste and decided to go to the shower rooms to freshen up. After a morning shower she felt ready and rearing to go.

She returned to her room to put on her cadet uniform and found that Spring Song had already put her one on and was posing in front of the mirror. She flushed red with embarrassment as Rainbow Dash came in and Dash couldn't hold in her laughter.

"Um…'sup?" Was all Spring Song said, making Rainbow Dash laugh harder. Lullaby and Sugar Swoop suddenly appeared at Rainbow's side.

"What's going on?" Sugar Swoop asked. Rainbow Dash snickered a final time before replying.

"Spring Song's just practising modelling," She teased her roommate, who turned an even brighter shade of red.

"No I'm not," She whimpered. She then decided to change the subject. "I'll meet you three outside, I'm gonna go find Ray and Paradise," The pink pegasus left the room and headed down the hallways to find her friends.

"She's right, we should go outside," Lullaby agreed as Spring Song vanished round the corner. The three pegasi made their way to the training grounds, where several of the other cadets were already in a straight line. They joined the end and Rainbow Dash took the opportunity to look over the other pegasi.

At the other end of the line stood a short orange stallion with a green mane that tumbled into his eyes and a shaggy looking green tail. His cutie mark was three thunderclouds. He was arguing with the two mares beside him.

One of the mares was light blue with a white mane and tail which had a dark blue streak through the middle of them. Her cutie mark was three bees. She seemed to be winning the argument since the stallion and the other mare looked irritated with her, while she wore a smug expression.

The other mare was dark pink with a white dandelion cutie mark. Her lemon yellow mane was worn in a ponytail and her tail twisted a little like Rarity's.

Spring Song, now joined by Paradise and Ray joined Rainbow Dash, Lullaby and Sugar Swoop at the end of the line. Rainbow nudged Spring Song as she stood beside her. "Do ya know who those three ponies are?" She pointed a hoof at the ponies she had been examining.

"Yeah, they told me their names yesterday," Spring Song replied. The stallion's name is Tempest. He says that he's done a Sonic Rainboom before, but nopony believes him. Those two mares with him told me he was a huge liar. The blue one's Bumble and she comes from a family of beekeepers. It's no wonder she wants to become a Wonderbolt with all the stings her family have probably had. The pink one's Beau and both her parents are Earth Pony's. It's only thanks to a past generation that she was born with wings."

"Wow, you sure know a lot about these ponies," Rainbow Dash commented.

"Yeah, after I found my name on the room map, I stopped to get to know some of the pegasi I'd be flying with. Bet you never thought of that," Spring Song replied, prodding Rainbow in the shoulder.

"I hadn't," Rainbow Dash admitted, feeling a little ashamed that she hadn't stopped to get to know any of the other cadets. She'd just been too excited and distracted. She had, however, counted the pegasi in the room. There were fourteen cadets, including herself. So she now knew Spring Song, Lullaby, Sugar Swoop, Ray Paradise, Bumble, Tempest and Beau, which left six for her to find out about.

Rainbow Dash pointed towards a pair of ponies, one a mare, one a stallion, who seemed to be laughing over some kind of joke. The stallion had a gleaming beige coat and a short black mane and tail that seemed symmetrical no matter which way you looked at it. His cutie mark was a pile of bits. Rainbow Dash wondered what his special talent could possibly be. The mare he was with was black with a constellation as her cutie mark. She had a white mane with a yellow streak that tumbled past her shoulders in waves. Her tail was wavy, too, with an identical yellow streak. "What about those two?" Dash asked Spring Song, who groaned.

"The stallion's Smart Set, he's the youngest cadet. He's a real snob if you ask me. There's a rumour going around that his parents just bribed the Wonderbolts into letting him into the boot camp."

"Yeesh," Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head. He sure did look like an upper class pony. "What about her?" She pointed over to the black mare.

"That's Stargazer. She comes from a family of astronomers, hence the name. She may not look it, but she's a real egghead," Spring Song spat out the word 'egghead' like it was a rude word.

The four remaining cadets suddenly arrived and joined the end of the line looking a little panicky, as if they were scared that they were late. Spring Song immediately told Rainbow Dash who they were. She pointed at a blue mare with a purple and black mane that she wore in pigtails.

"That's Cinder. She's pretty shy, so I don't know all that much about her," Spring Song explained before nodding at the cream stallion with a yellow buzz cut and a brown oak leaf cutie mark next to Cinder. "That there's Free Fall. I don't actually know anything about him because, like you, he left right after he found his name on the map."

"How do ya know his name, then?" Dash asked curiously. Spring Song pointed to the mare beside Free Fall.

"She told me. That's his cousin, Butternut," She replied. Butternut was the same colour as peanut butter and had a light blond, almost white mane. Her cutie mark was a leaf floating on a breeze. "She never shuts up. She came up to me, introduced herself and started babbling on and on about…something I can't remember. I couldn't get a word in. That's why I was so late to our room. She refused to stop talking."

"Well, what about the last one?" Rainbow Dash nodded towards the mare at the end of the line. She had a greenish-blue coat, a brown mop of a mane and a stubby brown tail. Her cutie mark appeared to be a splatter of paint.

"That's Stains. I wouldn't be surprised if she was raised on a pig farm," Spring Song drawled. Rainbow Dash had never seen this side of the pink pegasus before. Stains did look a little…messy, but why was that such a big deal for Spring Song? Well, on the bright side, she knew all the cadets names, now. All she had to worry about now was remembering them all.

"My legs are getting stiff," Lullaby complained from further along the line. "When is Spitfire gonna show up?"

"Say somethin', rookie?"

"GAH!" Lullaby almost jumped out of her skin as Spitfire suddenly appeared beside her, wearing her captain's uniform. Rainbow let out a giggle at Lullaby's reaction. The purple pegasus clutched her chest, hyperventilating from the shock. "Don't do that!"

Spitfire gave Lullaby a stern glare. "And who gave you the right to give me orders? Last time I checked, _I _was meant to give _you _orders. Is there some kind of rule change that nopony told me about?"

"Um…no," Lullaby replied, shaking a little. Spitfire stood straighter, so she could tower a little over Lullaby.

"No, _what?" _She questioned. Lullaby gulped.

"No, _ma'am,"_ She corrected herself. Spitfire began pacing along the line of cadets.

"I'm gonna skip the whole 'Welcome to the boot camp' mumbo-jumbo and cut right to the chase. While you're here you will forget about your daily routines back home. So, no staying in bed until noon, no goofing around, no huge parties. As Fleetfoot said when you arrived: You must eat, sleep and breathe Wonderbolts."

"Yes, ma'am!" The cadets all said in unison. Spitfire took a moment to readjust her shades before continuing.

"I'm sure that all of you want to get to the drills, right?"

"Yes, ma'am!" The cadets replied once again.

"So, for your first day, you'll be performing your best trick for me," Spitfire told them. Rainbow Dash glowed when she heard this. Her Sonic Rainboom would be the best trick by far.

"This'll be great," Spring Song whispered to Paradise, quiet enough that Spitfire couldn't hear her. The flame maned-pegasus strolled down the line, looking over the cadets. She walked right past Rainbow Dash and halted in front of Cinder.

"You, you're up. Show everypony your best trick," Spitfire ordered the blue mare. Cinder hesitantly took off into the sky. Rainbow Dash remembered Spring Song telling her about how timid Cinder was. Cinder took a deep breath before zooming forward and completing seven barrel rolls in a roll. Even Rainbow Dash was a little impressed. Doing even _five_ barrel rolls in a row was quite difficult for most pegasi. The most Rainbow Dash had ever done in a row was fifteen, and she had gotten super dizzy after that and ended up crashing into a tree. Cinder joined the other cadets on the ground, looking pleased with herself.

"That was great," Free Fall complimented her.

"Not bad," Spitfire commented. "But, don't go 'round bragging about it." The yellow pegasus picked Paradise to perform a trick next. She managed to do eight loop-the-loops in a row complete with a nose dive, which she pulled up out of just before making contact with the ground.

Beau messed up her spinning dive by forgetting to pull up and bursting right through the cloudy floor.

Ray did an awesome routine by making clouds spin and then busting through them, making them explode into smaller clouds.

Bumble made an idiot out of herself by attempting to do several barrel rolls and losing control of herself. She ended up plummeting to the ground and colliding into Beau. After the two of them were confirmed to be okay, Smart Set flew upside down for most of his routine before turning right side up and speeding round and round in a loop, ending with a dive downwards, leaving a black, smoky trail behind him.

Free Fall and Butternut were given permission to do their trick together. They just flew in a straight line while looping around eachother. Rainbow Dash personally thought that that trick looked pretty difficult. She preferred to fly alone, so she had never tried that trick before.

Spring Song spun round and round until she created a giant tornado, which she burst out the top of, leaving a pink and yellow trail in her wake. Rainbow Dash was a little awestruck. Spring Song's performance had been the best so far.

Sugar Swoop did one of the Wonderbolts signature moves, flying in several arcs and twists before zooming straight up into the air and making a firework like explosion.

Lullaby crashed through one cloud after another and each one she crashed through made the cloudy trail she left behind thicker and longer. She ended her trick by flicking herself upside down and sending the clouds slicing through the air until they just poofed from existence.

Stargazer seemed to flow through the whole of her routine, enjoying every single moment of it. She did a series of elegant swoops and twirls before landing gracefully back in the line.

Stains was a little nervous and she made a huge mistake in her routine. She was probably aiming to do a Spit-Blitz, Spitfire's special trick, so she could impress her. She spun round and round and round some more, building up friction, but eventually, she had just spun out of control and flung herself across the sky, landing with a loud thud on the cloudy ground.

Rainbow Dash was last, and she wondered why, but she had no time to ponder that. It was time to perform the Sonic Rainboom. Everyone gazed in awe at her and she increased in speed, the pressure building up on her sides until her wings screamed with agony. She kept going faster…

…and faster…

…and faster…

…until….

BOOM!

There was the rainbow explosion as Rainbow Dash broke the sound barrier and whizzed across the sky. She could hear the oohs and aahs of the other cadets and she made an arc across the sky. When she landed every cadet applauded her. She couldn't wait for Spitfire to congratulate her.

"Nice work, Rainbow Dash," Was all the Wonderbolt captain said.

WHAT!?

That was it?

Just 'nice work'?

Spitfire looked up to see the position of the sun. It was right in the centre of the sky. "Listen up! It's 1200 hours, so you can go to the mess hall for lunch. I want you back out here in exactly half an hour," She told the cadets, flicking her hoof as a signal for them all to go. Paradise paused to speak to Spitfire.

"Actually, ma'am, there's no such thing as 1200 hours. I think it's about noon by now," She said, sounding proud that she was 'correcting' Spitfire, who just put her head in a hoof and mumbled something under her breath.

Rainbow Dash walked away, hanging her head, disappointed by Spitfire's reaction to her trick. She suddenly felt a hoof tap her shoulder and she turned to see the drill sergeant there.

"Hey, Dash, can you just hang back for a second?" She asked, smiling at her. Rainbow Dash shrugged and stayed behind.

"What is it, ma'am?" The cyan pegasus asked. Spitfire took her shades off, a sign that showed that she was about to say something serious.

"I just wanted to apologise for not giving you a proper congratulations. Your Sonic Rainboom is the greatest trick I've ever seen," She confessed, earning a ginormous smile from Rainbow.

"REALLY?!" The rainbow-maned mare beamed, her eyes growing wide with pride.

"Of course. I didn't show it earlier because…" She looked around to make sure nopony was there. "…as your instructor I'm not allowed to show favouritism," She whispered. Rainbow Dash began repeating 'ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh' in her head.

She was Spitfire's favourite cadet!

Then again, it wasn't that big of a surprise.

"So, that's why you chose me last? Because you wanted to save the best until the end?" Rainbow Dash bragged, puffing out her chest.

"I guess you could say that," Spitfire chuckled. The golden pegasus looked over in the direction of the mess hall. "Now, you'd better go and grab a bite to eat. When you come back outside you're gonna be flying through those rings," She pointed up at some hoops mounted on long poles. They looked like fun. Rainbow Dash gave Spitfire a salute before flapping off to the mess hall. The cyan mare halted suddenly and looked over her shoulder at Spitfire.

"Hey, aren't you gonna eat something in the mess hall, too?" She asked. Surely, Spitfire needed some lunch, too. The drill sergeant shook her head.

"Nah, I'm gonna eat lunch in my office," She replied. Rainbow Dash's curiosity was getting the better of her.

"Why do you eat alone?" She asked with a concerned look in her eyes. Surely, she'd be the kind of pony who loved to be surrounded by others. Spitfire just shrugged.

"I just…I like being alone."

"Why?" Rainbow Dash asked again. Spitfire looked like she was getting a little irritated and Rainbow briefly wondered if she should just leave now to avoid getting scolded.

"Sometimes it's good to be alone. It gives you time to think. Ya know, think about new tricks or new drills. Understand, Dash?" Spitfire explained. Rainbow Dash did understand. She was the captain, so it seemed right that she would be thinking over new moves and stuff like that. But nopony deserved to be alone all the time. Granted, Spitfire probably wasn't alone _all_ the time, but she could probably use a few more friends. Dash decided that she might ask Spitfire to hang out with her and Soarin when he showed her his awesome tricks later.

"Hey, Dash," Spitfire snapped Rainbow Dash from her thoughts. "Why are ya still here? You're friends are probably waitin' on you," She scolded Dash playfully, beginning to walk away.

"Oh yeah. See ya later, ma'am!" Rainbow Dash gave a final salute before whizzing off to the mess hall to grab some grub.

…**...**

"Soarin, there's no way you'll be able to eat all that!" Braeburn scolded Soarin as the pale blue pegasus put a fifth slice of apple pie on his plate. Soarin looked at Braeburn as if he'd just told him he'd got cancer.

"Brae, have you forgotten who I am," Soarin cleared his throat. "I am Soarin, co-captain of the Wonderbolts, all around awesome pony and the only stallion in Equestria to have a bottomless pit in his stomach made specifically for pies," He ranted, standing up tall.

The two of them were in the kitchen. Braeburn assisted the cadets as they chose their lunch and Soarin just sat at the counter behind him about to pig out on five MASSIVE slices of pie. Braeburn turned to Soarin after wiping some backed beans from the counter.

"But, if ya eat all that, you'll get a stomach ache," He told the pegasus, obviously worried for his friend. Soarin made a noise that sounded like a mix between a chuckle and a neigh.

"Everypony knows that's just a bunch of crab-apples," He waved the whole idea away and took a bite out of the first slice of pie. Braeburn sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Fine, go ahead and eat 'em. But don't come runnin' to me when you're too stuffed to move," the earth pony turned back to the counter where one of the cadets was scooping up some mashed potato. Soarin completed the first slice of pie in no time at all and quickly moved on to his second slice. He was halfway done when Rainbow Dash came through the door.

"'Sup, guys," She asked Soarin and Braeburn, who turned to give her a glare.

"Didn't you see the 'staff only' sign?" He asked her, pointing at the door. Rainbow Dash stepped over to the counter.

"What if I helped you out here? Wouldn't that make me 'staff'?" She asked, grabbing a weird spoony thing. She began 'helping' Braeburn at the counter.

"Please just let me do it," The earth pony stallion gave an exasperated sigh.

"Why, because you're jealous of my awesome spoon skills?" Rainbow Dash bragged.

"No, because you're scooping ice cream with a ladle," He took the spoony thing from Rainbow Dash and went to the sink to wash the ice cream off it. Rainbow turned to Soarin and sat at the opposite side of the counter.

"Hey, Soarin," She greeted cheerfully. "Why are you eating on a stove?"

"I'm actually more next to the stove than on the stove," Soarin corrected her, finishing off his second slice of pie. Rainbow Dash eyed his plate of pie, looking a little concerned.

"Um…are you gonna eat _all _of that?" She asked, nodding at the plate. Soarin swallowed his mouthful of pie before replying.

"Yes. I have to so I can prove Braeburn wrong," He said before taking another large bite. Rainbow shrugged it off. "So, how's drills going?" He asked. Rainbow gave a little squee before replying.

"AWESOME! I performed a Sonic Rainboom in front of everypony and they all loved it!" She rambled, her eyes glowing with excitement.

"Well, I'm honoured to be the first at the boot camp to see one," He smiled, now beginning his fourth slice of pie, trying his best to ignore the churning in his stomach. Maybe he should have cut smaller slices.

"We're gonna be flying through hoops next," Rainbow told Soarin, fidgeting with excitement in her seat.

"A little advice," Soarin began, swallowing his mouthful of pie. "Try flying through each hoop more than once if you really want to show off."

"I was gonna do that, anyway, but thanks," Rainbow replied, grabbing an apple from Braeburn's huge supply of them and taking a bite. Soarin chuckled. She thought ahead when it came to performances, like he did, and it was important for Wonderbolts to stay one step ahead.

"You're gonna want to eat more than that," Soarin nodded at the apple in Rainbow Dash's hoof as he finished his fourth slice of pie and eyed the fifth and final slice warily, unsure whether he could handle another slice. NO! He had to eat it so he could prove to Braeburn that his stomach could handle any amount of pie that was shoved at him.

"I'm too excited to eat anything more," Rainbow Dash told Soarin, wiping the apple juice from around her mouth.

"Well, at least try. You need to keep your strength up," He advised her, now halfway through his fifth slice of pie.

"Fine," Rainbow sighed, grabbing another apple and throwing the core of the other one in the trash. Soarin stuffed the last of his pie in his mouth; though his stomach practically screamed for him to just stop eating. As he swallowed, he let out a cheer.

"In your face!" He yelled at Braeburn, though the earth pony didn't seem to hear. He was busy wiping up some jelly from the counter and muttering something under his breath. Soarin couldn't understand how Braeburn could take this job. Cooking so much seemed pretty difficult and he had to clean up after the cadets every once in a while. Soarin couldn't imagine not being a Wonderbolt. It was the greatest job ever in his eyes.

"Wow, I can't believe you ate all of that," Rainbow Dash gaped at the now bare plate. "Each slice was like the size of your head!"

"I know. But when it comes to pie, my stomach can contain any number of slices," Soarin bragged, patting his visibly stuffed tummy. Rainbow Dash finished her apple and tossed it over her shoulder into the trash. She looked up at the clock.

"I guess I should get going. I need to be back outside in two minutes," She told Soarin, the excited glow returning to her eyes.

"Okay. Catch ya later Dash. I promise that I'll show you that trick after you're done," He waved as she left the kitchen. Braeburn finally finished cleaning the counter and let out a sigh, tossing the food covered rag he was using into the trash can. He turned and sat in the chair that Rainbow Dash was sitting in moments ago.

"Man, when ya told me ah had to be a cook, ah didn't think that meant wipin' up spilt food every five seconds," He groaned. Soarin's tummy suddenly gave a lurch and he clutched it.

"Ugh…" The pale blue pegasus gurgled. "I think I need to lie down. My tummy doesn't feel right."

Braeburn gave Soarin a look that said '_I told you so'._

"Crab-apples," He chuckled.

…**..**

**Endnote: So, this is going to be a two part chapter because this was getting a little long. I'd like to keep Dashing and Soaring at 4000-5000 words per chapter so you guys don't have to wait too long for chapters to be uploaded. Tune in next time to see the second half of Rainbow Dash's first day at the boot camp.**


	4. The First Day, part 2

Spitfire paced back and forth along the cloudy ground, awaiting the return of the cadets. Her two assistants, Whiplash and Fast Clip stood close behind her, Fast Clip looking at the clipboard he was holding, a thoughtful expression on his face while Whiplash stared into space. Spitfire didn't even bother snapping him out of his trance. Why did she need to when the cadets hadn't even shown up yet?

"What time is it?" She asked Fast Clip, who obediently checked his watch.

"12:29, ma'am," he replied. Spitfire nodded in thanks and glanced over to the mess hall, where a couple of the cadets were beginning to come back outside. After the drills had ended, Spitfire would go to her office and look over the cadets stats. She liked to know things about the pegasi she would be commanding so she knew which ones to go harder on. There was no doubt in her mind that Rainbow Dash was the best cadet here. Ponies all over Equestria looked up to Spitfire, but Rainbow Dash was the only pony that _Spitfire _idolised. She was super-fast, could do a Sonic Rainboom and was just plain awesome. Spitfire thought that Rainbow Dash may even be faster than _her_.

"_She'd make a great Wonderbolt" _Spitfire thought to herself. For quite some time now Spitfire had wanted to get Dash into the Wonderbolts, but she had decided that right now her friends needed her more. She was the Element of Loyalty after all. If Equestria was in some kind of danger, Dash would have to be there, not in Cloudsdale performing. Spitfire had confirmed that Rainbow Dash would become a Wonderbolt eventually, but for now, the cyan mare had enough on her plate being a hero of Equestria.

Spitfire was snapped from her thoughts by Fast Clip coughing.

"You'd better be coughing 'cause you swallowed a bug, Fast Clip," Spitfire told him. The white pegasus dipped his head in a mix of shame and embarrassment. Spitfire mumbled something under her breath. She didn't want anypony getting sick around here, especially the newbies.

"Um…it's 12:30 now, ma'am," Fast Clip informed her, obviously still a little nervous about the whole coughing thing. Fourteen of the fifteen cadets were standing in a line before her now, all whispering stuff to eachother.

"Quit your kitten whispering this instant!" Spitfire barked at them. They immediately stopped talking and stood straight. She motioned for Fast Clip to pass her his clipboard, which had the names of all the cadets on it. "It's roll call time. Simple enough, I call out your name and you say 'here'. Pfft, it's elementary school all over again," She added to nopony in particular. She cleared her throat before calling out the names.

"Beau!" She called out.

"Here!" Came the reply from the dark pink mare near the middle of the line.

"Bumble!"

"Here,"

"Cinder!"

All that Spitfire heard was a timid whimper.

"Cinder?" She repeated.

"Um…here ma'am," the blue mare replied, raising a shaky hoof. Normally when this happened, Spitfire would scold the cadet for not being loud enough. But she just couldn't yell at Cinder. She was too... innocent. It would be like yelling at a puppy. She just sighed and continued the roll call.

"Free Fall!"

"Here!"

"Lullaby!"

"Here!"

"Paradise!"

No reply.

"Paradise?"

Still no reply.

"Final call for Paradise!"

Nothing. Spitfire gave the clipboard back to Fast Clip, having found the culprit. "Do any of you know where Paradise is?" Spitfire interrogated the cadets.

"No, ma'am!" They all said together. The flapping of wings was suddenly heard and everypony looked up to see none other than Paradise hurtling towards them. The green mare touched down on the ground and joined the end of the line, looking a little nervous. Spitfire took her shades off, marched over to Paradise and gave her a menacing glare.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" She asked her.

"It's 12:34, ma'am," Fast Clip replied, making Spitfire face-hoof.

"I wasn't talking to you," She called over her shoulder. Paradise hesitantly spoke, choking her words out.

"Well…four minutes isn't _that _late," She gave a nervous chuckle as she stared up into the fiery orange eyes of her drill sergeant.

"Do you wanna be a Wonderbolt?" Was all Spitfire asked. Paradise looked confused. She had without a doubt expected the flame maned pegasus to scold her some more. Her choice of question confused Paradise.

"What?" She asked, making sure that she hadn't just imagined the question. Spitfire rolled her eyes.

"I said 'Do you wanna be a Wonderbolt?" She repeated, a little louder. Paradise nodded fiercely, not wanting to irritate Spitfire further.

"Yes, ma'am," She said.

"Then show up on time! If you were four minutes late to a real airshow, the other Wonderbolts would have gone on without you. Wonderbolts are meant to be fast, so there are no excuses for being late," Spitfire lectured Paradise, who shuffled her hooves before talking.

"Well…I got lost," Paradise muttered, looking down at the ground. Spitfire looked bewildered.

"How?" She asked. All you had to do to get to the mess hall was walk through the double doors. It wasn't exactly rocket science.

"I…went through the wrong door," the green mare replied. Spitfire raised an eyebrow. Surely nopony could be so dumb.

"All you had to do was go through the same door you came in," She pointed a hoof over towards the mess hall. Paradise dipped her head lower, obviously feeling stupid.

"I forgot which door I came through," She said. At this, Spitfire's left eye began twitching. This was a sure-fire sign that she was annoyed.

"You're kidding, right?" Spitfire asked. As Paradise opened her mouth to speak, Spitfire raised a hoof to stop her. "Ya know what, I don't have time for this," She sighed and put her sunglasses back on, stepping back so she could address all of the cadets.

"So, all you're going to be doing is flying through those rings," Spitfire pointed up to the hoops and the cadets immediately began chattering to one another about how exciting this was gonna be. Though, they did become a little nervous when they discovered that Spitfire hadn't finished her sentence.

"…Blindfolded."

* * *

"It's good to finally get you out of that kitchen. I was beginning to think you were sleeping in there," Soarin joked as he and Braeburn walked through the empty hallways. Soarin had managed to drag Braeburn out of the kitchen at long last and he was determined to introduce him to some of the other Wonderbolts

"Where are we goin'?" Braeburn asked him as the pale blue pegasus led him around another corner.

"To the staff room, of course," Soarin replied, earning a groan from Braeburn.

"Ah'm not so sure about this, buddy," He muttered. "Ah feel a little outta place as it is, bein' an Earth Pony and all."

Soarin stopped Braeburn in his tracks. "Everything's gonna be fine. Everyone here is a pony, wings or not," He tried to reassure his friend. Braeburn took his cowboy hat off and began twisting it, which he always did when he was nervous.

"Well, what if they don't like me?"

Soarin was a little shocked at this. Braeburn was one of the most likeable ponies around. He was friendly and easy to get along with; Soarin couldn't see how anypony wouldn't like such a kind stallion.

"They won't," the Wonderbolt co-captain told Braeburn, making the Appaloosan Earth Pony drop his hat with surprise.

"What?" He gasped as his jaw dropped; surprised his old friend would say something like that.

"They'll _love _you," Soarin smiled, causing Braeburn to give him a playful shove. "I bet that all of the Wonderbolts will be _begging_ to be friends with you."

"Well maybe not _beggin'_," Braeburn shrugged, feeling a little better after Soarin's short pep-talk. They finally arrived outside the staff room, which was painted blue with a sign on it shaped like a Wonderbolt badge. Soarin adjusted the tie of his officer's uniform before pushing the door open. He and Braeburn were greeted by the smiles and waves of several Wonderbolts. Fire Streak and Lightning Streak, the two brothers were arguing about something in one corner of the room, Fleetfoot was at the espresso machine, High Winds, Surprise and Blaze were all sitting on the black leather couch at the side of the room deep in conversation and Rapidfire was taking a nap on the plush red chair on the opposite side of the room. The walls were painted blue, like the door and there was a huge window going along both sides of the room. The ceiling was painted dark blue and a few months ago Surprise had flown up there and painted clouds, the Sun and a bunch of birds to make it look like the sky. The floor was covered with a soft white rug, which kinda reminded Soarin of a cloud. Braeburn just stood there in the doorway looking like he had no idea what to do with himself, which he didn't.

Soarin motioned for Braeburn to follow him over to the couch next to Blaze, High Winds and Surprise. He hesitantly made his way into the room, closing the door behind him and cautiously trotted over and sat down on the couch. Just as Soarin was about to get up and get some coffee Surprise practically launched herself over to him.

"Hi, Soarin, hi Braeburn," She greeted, giving them one of her massive smiles. Braeburn's face lit up a little at seeing another of the Wonderbolts he knew.

"Afternoon, Surprise," Braeburn greeted her, tipping his cowboy hat to her and sitting up straighter. Surprise gestured for High Winds and Blaze to come over and Soarin could practically see Braeburn's confidence melting away.

"What is it, Surprise?" Blaze asked as she and High Winds came over to stand beside the white mare. Surprise nodded over to Braeburn, who looked like her was considering whether to leave or not.

"I just wanted you two to meet Soarin's buddy Braeburn. He's the greatest cook ever!" Surprise replied, throwing her arms into the air. High Winds and Blaze gave Braeburn kind smiles which seemed to calm him down.

"So, you're the Earth Pony that I heard some of the cadets talking about, huh?" High Winds asked, holding out her hoof. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"Um…thank you, ma'am," Braeburn smiled back at the curly maned mare, shaking her hoof before proceeding to shake Blaze's. Surprise put her arms around Blaze and High Winds and began introducing them.

"These are my two bestest friends in the whole world: Blaze-," She patted the orange maned pegasus on her shoulder. "-and High Winds," She did the same for the other mare.

"Nice to meet ya," Blaze grinned. Soarin was relieved at his teammates' friendliness towards Braeburn; the Earth Pony stallion seemed a lot less nervous now. Surprise pointed over to Fire Streak and Lightning Streak, who had finally settled their argument and were staring out the window at the cadets training. "Those two are Lightning Streak and Fire Streak. Just in case you can't tell, they're brothers," Surprise explained. The white mare then pointed over to Rapidfire, who was snoring loudly.

"That over there is Rapidfire, the laziest Wonderbolt ever…besides Soarin," Surprise said.

"Hey!" Soarin snapped at Surprise. He wasn't that lazy…was he? Soarin had no time to ponder his laziness because he heard some hoof steps coming over. He looked up to see Fleetfoot heading towards them.

"Hi there, Braeburn. Long time, no thee," She lisped, smiling at him. Soarin remembered when Braeburn had first arrived; Fleetfoot was the only Wonderbolt to introduce herself to him. She was super friendly…almost _too_ friendly if you asked Soarin. Soarin was snapped from his thoughts by Fleetfoot grabbing him by an arm and practically throwing him off the chair. When he turned around to ask Fleetfoot what the big deal was, she was sitting in the seat he was in not moments ago, chatting away to Braeburn like he was a celebrity! Soarin just rolled his eyes and walked over to the window. He had a perfect view of the cadets flying through hoops blindfolded. Soarin was familiar with the drill they were doing. They were blindfolded so they could learn to rely on other senses apart from sight. Soarin recalled the first time he tried out that drill. He mostly kept crashing into the rings or missing them entirely. But now he could make his way through the entire course blindfolded, backwards and upside down. One of the cadets crashed into a ring and plummeted to the ground and Soarin just couldn't hold in his laughter.

"Hey, Braeburn, you've gotta come and watch this," Soarin looked over his shoulder, but it looked like Braeburn was a little busy at the moment. He was surrounded by the other Wonderbolts. High Winds, Blaze and Surprise looked like they were explaining their 'dragon attack' plan to him. Knowing those three they'd twist the story around to make them seem like heroes. Lightning Streak and Fire Streak were standing on the other side of the couch rolling their eyes at the three mares, Fleetfoot was leaning against Braeburn looking like the cat that got the cream and even Rapidfire had awoken from his slumber to talk to the Earth Pony. Soarin had been sure from the start that the other Wonderbolts would like him.

He should have put money on it.

* * *

Rainbow Dash landed on the cloudy ground, narrowly missing bumping into Lullaby on the way down. She took of her blindfold and blinked a couple of times so that her eyes could adjust to the bright light of the sun. That was some challenge if Dash did say so herself. She had never realised just how much she relied on sight to fly. Maybe Soarin would let her practise on the rings after drills.

"Nice work, newbies!" Spitfire congratulated the cadets as they came in for a landing and took off their blindfolds. "Drills are done for today, so the rest of the day is yours. Now get outta here, get to your rooms before curfew, eat your greens, yadda, yadda, yadda," Spitfire dismissed them all with a flick of her hoof and the cadets all left, separating into their different groups.

"Man that was crazy!" Lullaby laughed, rubbing her head. "I slammed face first into one of those rings."

Rainbow Dash chuckled along with her. "I took a couple of blows, myself," She admitted, feeling a little embarrassed that she'd crashed more times than she could count. She suddenly remembered.

"You go on without me. There's something I've gotta do," Rainbow told Lullaby, halting suddenly. Lullaby nodded.

"Sure, catch ya later, Dash," Lullaby smiled as she rushed ahead to catch up with Sugar Swoop. Rainbow Dash turned around to see Fast Clip and Whiplash flapping off towards the mess hall, while Spitfire went in the other direction towards the main door. Rainbow Dash whizzed over and stopped in front of her, giving the flame maned pegasus a fright. After the Wonderbolt captain had recovered from her shock she adjusted her shades and gave Rainbow Dash a glower.

"What's the big idea, Dash?" Spitfire questioned the rainbow maned mare, who shuffled her hooves, looking a little sheepish.

"Well…Soarin was gonna show me some tricks and I wondered if you wanted to come and watch, too," Rainbow Dash proposed. Spitfire looked down as if she were considering it before she looked back up.

"Sorry Dash, I can't," She responded, beginning to walk on. Rainbow Dash simply flew alongside her.

"How come?" She asked the yellow pegasus, who replied without even looking at Dash.

"Because I have some important stuff to do," She said with a slight grumble. Rainbow Dash continued interrogating the Wonderbolt.

"What sort of stuff?"

"Important stuff. Like looking over the cadet profiles," Spitfire gave Rainbow Dash a sideways glance. "And writing my first reports on the cadets' performances," Spitfire paused and put a hoof to her chin. "Hmm…it sure would be a shame if I 'accidentally' forgot to write a report on the awesome cyan mare that won't stop bugging me," She gave Dash a slight smirk. Rainbow Dash gasped, mostly because Spitfire had just threatened not to write a report on her but also because she had just called her _awesome._

Then again, she _was _awesome!

"Okay, ma'am, sorry ma'am, I'll go now, ma'am, thank you, ma'am-"

Spitfire gave Rainbow Dash a sharp slap on the shoulder.

"Hey, what was that for?" Dash asked, rubbing her shoulder. Spitfire sure could slap.

"I wanted to get you to shut up," Spitfire smiled, rolling her eyes. Rainbow gave a cheery laugh.

"Okay, bye, ma'am," Rainbow Dash waved before zooming off to find Soarin.

* * *

Braeburn finished sweeping the last of the flour from the kitchen floor at long last and collapsed against the wall, wiping sweat from his brow.

"That's the last time ah let you help me make pie," He scolded Soarin, who was lounging on a chair reading an issue of Wonderbolt Weekly. Braeburn eyed the magazine. "…and why are ya readin' your own magazine?"

Soarin looked up from the magazine to reply. "Just in case I want to read about myself, of course," He said like it was the most ridiculous question he had ever been asked. Braeburn walked over and peered over the pale blue stallions shoulder.

"What interestin' things could _you _possibly do?"

"A whole BUNCH of stuff, of course. Check this out," Soarin turned the page to reveal an entire two pages dedicated to a photo of him with a pie balanced on his head. Soarin looked up at Braeburn with a massive smile on his face. Braeburn just rolled his eyes.

"Ah can't believe ponies pay-" Braeburn turned the page to the front cover for the price tag. "-eight bits just to look at pictures of ya."

"It's not just pictures," Soarin argued. "This week there's a 'Which Wonderbolt Are You?' quiz," Soarin paused for a moment. "I got Misty Fly," He revealed. Braeburn raised an eyebrow.

"Wait. So, Soarin the Wonderbolt got Misty Fly on his 'Which Wonderbolt Are You' quiz?" he asked, a little bewildered.

"Yep," Soarin replied, still wearing his usual goofy smile. Braeburn stood there for a few more moments just processing if his friend really was this idiotic. He finally decided that Soarin _was_ and just walked away. He was just deciding whether he should serve ice cream or cake for dessert tomorrow when Rainbow Dash came bursting through the door, looking excited about something.

"Soarin, it's time!" She exclaimed, flapping over to the Wonderbolt co-captain, who looked up from his magazine.

"For what?" He asked, keeping one eye on the magazine. Rainbow rolled her eyes.

"Ya know, for you to show me that trick, of course," She began hopping from hoof to hoof in her impatience. Soarin's face lit up as he remembered.

"Oh yeah, of course I remembered, I was just checking to see if _you _remembered," Soarin lied, closing the magazine and placing it down on the counter. Braeburn put a hoof to his mouth and did a fake cough which he used to cover up the words: "He's lyin'".

"Well, what are we waiting around here for? Let's go!" Rainbow Dash practically dragged Soarin to the door.

"Whoa, hold your horses, Dash," Soarin ordered the cyan mare, who obediently released him from her grip. He looked over to Braeburn. "Do ya wanna come and watch?" He asked his friend. Braeburn thought for a moment. It was either that or sit around thinking about work. He _could _use a break.

"Sure, why not?" Braeburn shrugged. It sure beat hanging around in the kitchen deciding what flavour of pie to make. Rainbow Dash let out an impatient huff and began hopping up and down.

"_Come on_!" She wailed, almost like a foal. Soarin rolled his eyes and headed out the door.

"Fine, let's go," He sighed, grinning at Rainbow Dash who sprung after him. Braeburn smiled at his two friends before following them, pleased to leave the kitchen again. As they headed out into the training grounds, Braeburn realised for the first time how long it had been since he'd taken a break. Sure, he'd taken a break earlier when Soarin had taken him to the staff room, but that was still stressful. Being surrounded by ponies you didn't know really did make you nervous. But, they were all super friendly and Braeburn was officially thinking of them as friends. He couldn't believe that High Winds, Surprise and Blaze slayed a dragon all on their own. It turns out he was right when Soarin revealed that the dragon was the one who slayed _them. _He suddenly felt the ground vanish from beneath his hooves and he gave an embarrassingly shrill shriek. He discovered that he wasn't going down, but up. Soarin had grabbed him and way flying up through the sky beside Rainbow Dash.

"What are ya doin'?" Braeburn gasped, once he'd gotten over the shock of being airborne.

"I thought you two would like the highest seats in the metaphorical house," Soarin replied, plopping Braeburn down on a fluffy cloud. Braeburn loved the feel of the fuzzy cloud beneath his hooves. It was like standing on cotton candy…that wasn't sticky. Rainbow Dash touched down on the cloud beside him, making it bounce a little. The rainbow maned mare was buzzing with excitement; she was so excited you could practically see the joy wafting around her.

"So, are ya gonna show us this trick of yours?" Braeburn asked his buddy, who was doing some pre-flight stretches.

"Of course I am," Braeburn whispered the next part. "If I kept Dash waiting any longer, she'd probably throw me off this cloud to give me a jump start."

"I heard that," Rainbow Dash alerted them, making Soarin twitch a little. He took off into the sky.

"You ready?" He asked the two ponies he was performing for. Braeburn gave a nod while Rainbow Dash gave him a full on cheer. "I can't hear you!" Soarin cupped a hoof around his ear.

"Just do it already!" Rainbow Dash ordered him, making Soarin chuckle.

"Of course, captain," He said sarcastically. Soarin flew up high into the air until they two observing ponies could barely see him. He then began descending rapidly and as he dove he flew round and round in circles, faster and faster until a tornado formed. It got bigger and bigger and when Soarin finally pulled up, the tornado practically exploded into powerful gusts of wind that sent Braeburn and Rainbow Dash tumbling backwards until they almost fell off the cloud completely. Soarin flapped back up and rested himself on the cloud beside Rainbow Dash.

"So what did ya think?" He asked casually, preening his wings. Rainbow Dash just sat there with an awestruck expression on her face, and for a moment Braeburn feared that she had completely frozen.

"Um…anypony home?" The earth pony asked her, waving a hoof in front of her face. Rainbow Dash suddenly flapped up into the air, giving Braeburn a shock.

"That was SO COOL!" Rainbow cheered, throwing her hooves into the air. Soarin flushed red, despite the fact that he was used to being showered with admiration by his countless fans.

"Yeah, I guess it's pretty cool," Soarin shrugged. Rainbow's jaw dropped.

"Are you serious? That trick was undeniably, unquestionably ultra-awesome!" The pegasus mare complimented Soarin. "I've gotta try it sometime," She added. Soarin gave a small shrug and raised an eyebrow.

"How about right now, Dash?" He asked her. Rainbow Dash gave a small squee and took off. Braeburn chuckled at her behaviour. She was a pretty fun pony to hang out with. She lay with his hooves folded behind his head as he watched her ascend into the sky. He took a deep breath and relished in the feel of the soft cloud on his back, thinking how great it was that he had these two awesome friends to hang out with.

* * *

That night, Rainbow Dash sat on her bed and got to work writing her daily letter to her friends back in Ponyville.

_Hey, everyone!_

_The first drills were today and you'll never believe what we had to do. Fly through hoops BLINDFOLDED! I've never crashed so much in my life, but on the bright side, nopony could see that since we were all blindfolded, so my dignity is still intact._

_I can't say I'm too fond of the wake up calls though. I know what you're thinking: 'Dash, you're just lazy', but believe me, if you woke up to the sound of a bugle so loud it could wake ponies up in Baltimare, you'd hate it, too._

_Soarin finally showed me his trick, which was SO AWESOME and he even let me try it. My first attempt was pretty good…if you consider spinning out of control and crashing into the ground good, that is._

_I also got to perform a Sonic Rainboom in front of all the cadets and you'll never guess what, but Spitfire, the Wonderbolt CAPTAIN said that I was her favourite cadet! _

_I'm gonna go to sleep smiling tonight, that's for sure._

_Yours coolly,_

_Rainbow Dash._

Rainbow Dash rolled the letter up and put it in her saddle bags as usual, so it was ready for her to take to the post office after drills. She heard a yawn and looked over to the other bed to see Spring Song sitting up.

"You still awake, Dash?" She asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm just about to turn in," Rainbow Dash replied, yawning herself. She rested her head on the pillow and stared up at the ceiling. "What do ya think we'll be doing tomorrow?" She asked.

"Beats me," Spring Song shrugged, burying herself deeper in her bed sheets. "I'm fine with anything as long as there aren't any blindfolds involved."

"True dat," Rainbow Dash smirked, closing her eyes. She reached over to her lamp and rumbled for the switch to turn it off. "Night, Spring Song," Dash murmured through another yawn.

"Night Dash," Spring Song answered, before the two of them fell into dreams of tricks, applauding audiences and absolutely no blindfolds.


	5. Friendship Flu

"C'mon, it's almost 12:30," Spring Song jumped up from her seat in the cafeteria and stood by the door, waiting for Rainbow Dash to add her plate to the growing pile of dirty crockery and cutlery. Rainbow Dash grumbled. Drills had been tough this morning. Spitfire had made them do 100 wing-ups with a sandbag on their backs. Dash had struggled through but was one of the only cadets to do 100 wing-ups. She hoped that whatever they were going to do now was less exhausting.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash, good luck," Braeburn called to her from behind the kitchen counter. Rainbow gave him a bright smile.

"Won't need it!" She called back. She went out the door and walked beside Spring Song, who looked a little astounded.

"Holy Celestia, do you _know _him?" She gasped. Rainbow Dash tilted her head, baffled at her roommate's behaviour.

"Braeburn? Yeah, a little…She trailed off. "What's wrong with him?" Spring Song obviously had some negative feelings towards Braeburn. "Is it because he's an Earth Pony?"

"No…he's just so _weird. _And he talks like a hillbilly or something," Spring Song replied. Rainbow Dash had to resist the urge to give Spring Song a stern lecture about how you shouldn't stereotype ponies like that, but then she'd sound like an egghead. Lecturing was Twilight's thing, not Rainbow's. The two of them joined the end of the line, where Rainbow Dash continued pondering Spring Song.

After Rainbow Dash had failed at Soarin's trick yesterday the two of them and Braeburn had just sat around talking. They'd gotten to know eachother better and just had an awesome time together. Braeburn made a lot of jokes that Rainbow and Soarin laughed at and he'd told them about how much he liked living in Cloudsdale. Rainbow Dash just couldn't see how anypony couldn't like him. He was just so NICE!

Rainbow Dash suddenly heard the sound of a whistle and the cadets around her took off into the air. Rainbow gasped when she realised that she hadn't heard what she was meant to do. She flapped into the air and caught up to Paradise.

"What are we supposed to be doing?" She asked.

"Just some cloud busting. I bet the Wonderbolts just brought us here to do chores," The green mare replied, saying the word 'chores' the same way you'd say 'diarrhoea'.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. Today she was seeing a side of some of her new friends that she hadn't seen before. She was just glad that they weren't doing any more wing-ups.

Dash got to work busting clouds, trying to stay as focused as she possibly could. She was still befuddled by Spring Song's actions. What was so weird about Earth Pony's on clouds. All of this was just so messed up.

* * *

Soarin took a huge bite of his hayburger, the deliciousness of the snack exploding across his tongue as he chewed. He was interrupted from his lunch by a hoof prodding his shoulder.

"_What?" _Soarin asked with a mouthful of burger. Braeburn glowered down at him, irritated.

"What're ya eatin'?" The earth pony asked. Soarin shifted his eyes to the side, catching sight of the large Hayburger logo on the brown paper bag his meal had come in.

"Celestia's royal cheese," Soarin replied sarcastically. Braeburn raised an eyebrow.

"You're sittin' in a _kitchen, _Soarin, and ya actually went out to buy a hayburger when ya could've come here and got free lunch from me," The Appaloosan said to his friend.

"Well…I like hayburgers," Was all Soarin said. Braeburn sneered down at him.

"But it's really unhealthy!" He argued. "Besides, Ah would've given ya pie," He tried to tempt the pegasus stallion.

"I've got pie. You can get it half price whenever you order a mega carrot cola," Soarin held up a tall paper cup the height of his head in one hoof and a slice of blueberry pie in the other. Braeburn stomped a hoof on the floor.

"Is this a crazy way of sayin' that ya don't like mah cookin?" he asked, making Soarin's eyes bulge out of his head. He loved Braeburn's cooking, especially his pies.

"Of course not, Brae, why would you think that?" The pale blue stallion said, completely bewildered.

"Because if ya liked mah cookin', ya wouldn't go down to a fast food place to grab a meal," Braeburn was almost shouting now.

"I do like your cooking, Braeburn, don't be ridiculous," Soarin took another bite of his burger, praying that his friend would just go away.

"Tell me the truth, Soarin," Braeburn ordered Soarin with such ferocity that it almost made him jump out of his fur.

"The truth is I like your cooking, now leave me alone," Soarin was beginning to get irritated with his friend.

"Tell me, tell me, TELL ME!" Braeburn was practically oozing frustration. Soarin got up from his chair. He decided he was going to tell Braeburn exactly what he thought.

"FINE! If you really want to know…" Soarin knew exactly what he was going to say and it was going to _hurt. _"You cook too much healthy food. Ponies don't get satisfied by eating an assortment of lettuces and mashed potato. You cook your food for too long, so it's usually way too crunchy and do you wanna know something?"

Braeburn slitted his eyes so that they were almost closed.

"I've never liked your apple strudel!" Soarin revealed, rising to his full height.

Braeburn's face softened and his eyes grew wider at this revelation.

"Never!" Soarin slammed a hoof into the ground, making a few of the pots and pans around them shake. Braeburn took off the apron he was wearing and threw it in Soarin's face.

"Ya know what, if ya don't appreciate mah cookin', Ah'll go and find somepony who does!"

"Where are you going?" Soarin asked Braeburn as the Earth Pony picked up a tray of his muffins.

"To the staff room, where ponies respect me and treat me like a friend," Braeburn stormed out the door.

"What! _I'm _the one who got you this job!" Soarin called after him. The door slammed close and Soarin was left alone. For a few moments Soarin was silent before yelling again.

"Fine, I don't need you. I'm gonna make it on my own!" He declared as if he were in some kind of movie. There was no reply and all Soarin heard was the sound of Braeburn's retreating hoof steps.

"You'll see, YOU'LL ALL SEE!" Soarin stood on his hind legs and raised his hooves into the air for dramatic effect. "As soon as I've finished my hayburger," Soarin sat back down and resumed munching his burger.

* * *

Spitfire paced back and forth outside the nurses office. During the second bunch of drills Fast Clip had collapsed in a coughing fit and he'd been taken to the nurse. Rainbow Dash was waiting with her for reasons unknown to her. The cadet would probably rather hang out with her friends, so why was she here?

"What do you think's wrong with him?" Rainbow Dash piped up, looking concerned.

"Feather Flu," Spitfire sighed, hanging her head. She should have sent Fast Clip home when she'd first seen the signs. Yesterday he'd been coughing too much for it to be normal. She'd suspected Feather Flu right from the beginning, but she'd been too engrossed with the cadets' performances to even acknowledge him.

"Are you okay, ma'am?" Rainbow Dash suddenly appeared beside Spitfire, surprising her. It took the flame maned mare a second to realise that she was sitting down with her head drooped. She hadn't even realised she'd done so and she immediately stood up. She hated it when she showed emotion. She didn't want to show that she was worried about Fast Clip. She was supposed to be a tough, no-nonsense Wonderbolt captain, so showing weaknesses wasn't an option.

"Of course," Spitfire replied, wiping all signs of worry from her features and replacing them with her usual frown. At that moment the nurse emerged from her office, looking a little worried. "How is he?" Spitfire asked her.

"He'll be fine, but he'll have to stay at the hospital for the rest of today and all of tomorrow," The nurse reported.

Spitfire hung her head again, her sunglasses slipping down her nose, so that she had to wrinkle it to get them to stay on. This meant that Whiplash would have to handle the scores _and _schedule tomorrow. That would probably put too much pressure on the stallion.

"What'th up?" Fleetfoot suddenly appeared, confused about all the fuss. Spitfire looked up to address the blue mare.

"Fast Clip's got Feather Flu," The captain grumbled. The nurse returned to her office after that, flicking a hoof as if to say 'You'd better leave, now'.

"That'th awful. Who'th gonna do hith job, now?" Fleetfoot gasped as she, Spitfire and Rainbow Dash walked down the hallway.

"Beats me," Spitfire muttered, staring down at the ground. She felt truly terrible for making Fast Clip work in his condition.

"Well, you could always find a replacement," Rainbow Dash suggested. Spitfire lit up a little. A replacement was perfect.

"That's a good idea, Dash," Spitfire smiled at the cyan mare, whose face began glowing at her idols praise. "I'll ask one of the other Wonderbolts if they wouldn't mind stepping in for Fast Clip tomorrow."

"Hmm…" Spitfire and Rainbow Dash looked over to Fleetfoot, who was deep in thought. You could practically hear the gears turning in her head.

"Something the matter, Fleet?" Spitfire asked her white maned friend, ripping her from her thoughts.

"Oh, um…well, what if the otherth are buthy tomorrow?" Fleetfoot asked. "I know a pony who could thtep in for you. He'th not a Wonderbolt, tho he hath nothing better to do," She suggested with a shrug. Spitfire had to admit, she'd hate to give the other Wonderbolts another job to do. Fleetfoot's idea was actually pretty good.

"Um…sure, okay, Fleet. Who is this guy, anyway?" Spitfire asked. She wanted to make sure she wasn't giving the job to a complete stranger. Fleetfoot grinned as she spoke his name.

"Braeburn, Thoarin's friend from Appalootha."

"Ya mean that Earth Pony that Soarin begged me to give the cook job to?" Spitfire asked, unsure why Fleetfoot would choose this guy to do a pegasus pony's job.

"Yep. He'll do great," Fleetfoot sounded really enthusiastic about all this. Spitfire sighed, knowing that Fleetfoot would keep trying to persuade her until she gave in and let him have the job.

"Sure, he can have the job. Go find him and tell him the details," Spitfire agreed and Fleetfoot gave a little bounce.

"Thank you, Thpitfire!" Fleetfoot began bounding down the hall. Rainbow Dash began following her.

"I'm gonna go, too. I was heading to the kitchen anyway," The rainbow maned mare explained. Spitfire nodded in farewell, before turning and heading to her office.

Hopefully this 'Braeburn' wouldn't let her down.

* * *

Rainbow Dash followed Fleetfoot to the kitchen, where Braeburn was pounding a ball of dough. Rainbow had never seen him mad before. The scowl he wore just didn't suit him. He looked up from his work and lit up a little when he saw the two mares.

"Braeburn, what's wrong?" Rainbow Dash asked him. The Earth Pony let out an agitated sigh.

"Nothin' much, Soarin just got on mah nerves earlier," He replied. Fleetfoot whizzed over to his side.

"Well, I've got thome newth that'll turn that frown upthide down," She chirped. Braeburn went over to the sink to wash the dough off his hooves and nodded at Fleetfoot, allowing her to speak.

"I got you a job, Braeburn!" She announced. Braeburn looked confused.

"Um…but Ah already have a job," he stated the obvious, pulling at his apron.

"I know that. But ith jutht a temporary job," Fleetfoot added. Braeburn raised an eyebrow, looking interested. "Jutht for tomorrow, you get to handle the thchedule for drillth."

"That's all Ah have to do? Just look at a timetable?" Braeburn looked amazed at how easy this job was.

"Yep, and you even get paid for it," Fleetfoot added, trying to tempt Braeburn into the job. Rainbow Dash was still confused at Fleetfoot's choice of replacement. Hopefully she'd get an answer soon.

"But…why me, Fleetfoot, why not another Wonderbolt?" Braeburn asked the white maned mare. It was like the stallion could read Rainbow Dash's thoughts.

"I thought you'd be right for the job, that'th all," Fleetfoot shrugged. Braeburn still didn't seem convinced.

"But... Ah thought that there was already somepony in charge of the schedule," He questioned Fleetfoot.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the thtallion who handled the timetable got the Feather Flu," Fleetfoot replied. Braeburn's eyes popped out of his head.

"That's awful!" He gasped. "Ah hope it doesn't spread," He paused for a moment. "If it'll help then sure, Ah'll take the job," He accepted. Fleetfoot gave a little bounce and lunged at Braeburn, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his shoulder. This took Braeburn by surprise and he froze, unsure of what to do in this situation. Rainbow Dash let out a small chuckle at the sight.

"You're awethome, Braeburn. I- I mean- all of the Wonderboltth apprethiate thith a lot," Fleetfoot gushed, squeezing Braeburn, who awkwardly put one front leg around her, seeing this as a friendly thank you. Rainbow Dash almost collapsed with laughter when she saw Fleetfoot turn her head to the side and take a quick whiff of Braeburn's neck. Fleetfoot finally released Braeburn from her grip and skipped out of the room. Rainbow Dash couldn't help but notice that Fleetfoot's wings were now open.

"I'm gonna go tell the captain. You'll be working with her tomorrow," Fleetfoot called over her shoulder as she left the room. Braeburn did a double take.

"Ah hafta work with the captain!" He gasped, suddenly looking scared. He sat down. "Maybe Ah can't do this," He began to reconsider. Rainbow Dash flapped over to his side.

"It's too late to back down now, buddy," She told him, patting him on the back. "You're not scared are ya?"

"Of course not, Dash," Braeburn defended himself. "But working with the captain is a huge responsibility. Ah'm not all that good with any kind of responsibility. Ah almost burned lunch earlier, for Celestia's sake!"

"Don't worry 'bout it. I'll be out there with you, remember. You're gonna love watching me fly," Rainbow Dash encouraged him. Braeburn sighed.

"Alright, Ah'll do it, but only 'cause you'll be there," He agreed. Just then, Soarin came through the kitchen door. Braeburn seemed to forget all about his new job and grabbed some apple pie from his stock. He cut off a slice and began eating it, clearly ignoring Soarin.

"Hey, Soarin," Rainbow Dash greeted him awkwardly, unsure of what to do in this situation.

Afternoon, Rainbow Dash," Soarin nodded at the rainbow maned mare before heading towards a counter on the other side of the room. Rainbow shifted a little in her seat before speaking again.

"Do you wanna join us over here?" She asked. Soarin shook his head.

"I'm fine on my own, thanks," Soarin replied. The chairs in the kitchen were pretty tall, so Soarin was having trouble getting on it. Braeburn cupped a hoof around his mouth and called over to his friend:

"Struggling to get on the chair, are we?" He asked rhetorically. Soarin immediately turned around and shot something back.

"Pretending this isn't our _second _lunch, are we?"

Braeburn sneered over at him before returning to eating his slice of pie. Rainbow Dash shifted a little in her seat. Boy was this awkward.

"Hey, Dash!" Soarin called from the other side of the room. Rainbow Dash groaned before turning to face the pale blue stallion. "Can you ask Braeburn if he would for once share his pie?"

Braeburn grabbed the plate with the pie on it in his mouth and trotted over to Soarin. He put the plate down on the counter, grabbed a slice and smashed it in Soarin's face, rubbing it in a little, too.

"Oh mah, Ah'm so sorry about this, if Ah could stop, Ah would," Braeburn said sarcastically, grinning. Soarin wiped the pie from his eyes and stood up.

"I'm gonna show you how mad I am by my exit walk!" Soarin announced before doing a strained march towards the door. "See my physical anger!" He pushed his way through the door and kicked it with a hind leg so it slammed.

"Strutting like an elderly drum major are we?" Braeburn yelled after him. Rainbow Dash buried her face in her hooves and sighed.

"Stallions."

* * *

Soarin marched down the hallway. Braeburn was so…so…LAME! Ugh! If only there were somepony he could discuss his problems with. Usually, he'd discuss his problems with Braeburn, but he couldn't talk about Braeburn with Braeburn. Suddenly-

"Look out, Thoarin!"

CRASH!

Soarin fell to the floor, weighed down by something heavy. Once he could see straight again, he found that everything was white. Was he dead?

Wait.

No, it was just Fleetfoot's mane. He helped the blue mare to her hooves and dusted himself down; making sure that the tie on his officer's uniform was straight.

"What in Equestria is going on, Fleetfoot?" Soarin asked her as she shook herself.

"I was just looking for Thpitfire." The mare replied. "You theen her?"

"Nope, sorry," Soarin answered her, suddenly becoming curious. "Why are you looking for her?"

"It's a long thtory. Fatht Clip got Feather Flu and we needed to find a replathment for him. Then, I athked Braeburn if he'd thtep in and he agreed, tho I need to tell Thpitfire the good newth," She lisped. Soarin hoped that Braeburn was given super hard chores to do. Then again, the hardest thing Fast Clip ever had to do was hold a clipboard.

"Poor Fast Clip, I'll have to buy him a get well card," Soarin said, feeling sorry for his ill colleague.

"Somepony say my name?" Spitfire appeared at the end of the hallway.

"I did, captain," Fleetfoot saluted.

"News about the cook's response, I presume?" The yellow pegasus guessed. Fleetfoot nodded.

"You're right. He thaid he'd do the job," Fleetfoot revealed. Spitfire breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank Celestia for that," She breathed. "I hope he's good."

"He's brilliant, captain, believe me," Fleetfoot told Spitfire. Spitfire adjusted her shades and turned to go to her office. Soarin felt a little guilty as he heard her words. Braeburn was a brilliant friend.

"I'll take your word for it, Fleetfoot," She called over her shoulder before turning the corner. For a few moments all was silent until Fleetfoot randomly blurted out:

"Braeburn's cologne thmells fantathtic, don't you agree, Thoarin?"

Soarin shifted his eyes, unsure of how to answer a question like that. "I didn't know Braeburn wore cologne."

* * *

Rainbow Dash was pretty ticked off. She was meant to hang out with Soarin, but he was off somewhere sulking. So she was stuck in the kitchen with Braeburn, finding what entertainment she could in rolling an apple up and down the counter. Braeburn resumed pounding the ball of dough like it was a boxing bag. Dash had to admit, the earth pony could pack quite a punch. She'd hate to be that dough.

Rainbow's ears pricked up when she heard the door creak open. She turned to see Soarin poking his head through the door. Great, this probably meant another argument. Soarin trotted over to Braeburn, who was still beating the dough into next week…or month.

"Um…Brae, can I talk to you for a minute?" He asked, looking a little shy. Braeburn looked at Soarin for a mere moment before looking away again. This was getting ridiculous. Soarin groaned and turned around, heading for the oven. He got out some flour and other ingredients and started mixing it all together. Rainbow Dash couldn't help but go over and see what he was doing. After a few minutes it became clear what he was doing and Dash had to admit that it was a good plan. She assisted Soarin in rolling out the dough and making shapes with it. When they were done they stood back to admire their work.

"There we go, all done," Soarin said, sounding satisfied. "I know it's not a flying lesson but it's better than nothing," He added. Rainbow Dash patted his shoulder.

"It's alright, we can always do some flying tomorrow," She shrugged. It didn't matter. They had four whole months to fly. One day without training wasn't going to make a difference. Soarin cleared his throat, trying to get Braeburn to come over. The earth pony just ignored him, again. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and flapped over to him, picking him up by his shoulders, earning some squeals of protest from the stallion.

"Rainbow Dash! Put me down right now!" He ordered her, kicking around a little. Of course, Rainbow didn't listen. She just plopped Braeburn down in front of hers and Soarin's work and waited for the magic to happen. Braeburn set his eyes on what they'd made: The words: 'I'm sorry' out of dough. Soarin looked up at Braeburn with puppy dog eyes.

"Pleeeeeaaase?" He squeed. Braeburn looked away, a teasing look in his eye.

"Ah'm not sure…" He smirked. Soarin hopped from hoof to hoof.

"Please, please, please, please, please, please-"

"If Ah say yes, will ya shut up?" Braeburn asked him. Soarin let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank Celestia for that 'cause I wasn't sure how many more times I could say 'please'."

Braeburn hoof bumped Soarin, looking relieved that they were friends again. Rainbow Dash was relieved, too, mostly because she hadn't been sure how much longer she could survive hanging around two bickering stallions.

"I'm happy you're friends again, too," Rainbow smiled. "Now for the love of fudge, can we eat these letters?"

Braeburn eyed Soarin, who revealed his entire plan.

"Well, I put some sugar and raisins in the dough so we could eat the words after I apologised."

"That's a great plan," Braeburn agreed, picking up an 'R' from the table and taking a grateful bite. Soarin helped himself to an 'M' and Rainbow Dash picked up a 'Y'. She hadn't expected there to be any friendship problems while she was at the boot camp, but once again she was wrong. At least she'd have something interesting to write in her letter to her friends.

* * *

"Lemme guess, you're writing another letter to your friends?" Spring Song asked Rainbow Dash from the vanity in their room. Rainbow Dash looked up and nodded since she couldn't speak with the quill in her mouth.

"You're gonna have to tell me about your friends," The pink mare suggested, brushing her mane again. Rainbow Dash smiled at her to show she agreed before resuming writing her letter.

_What's up, everypony?_

_The academy is one of the few places I thought I could encounter friendship problems. Boy was I wrong. Turns out, even stallions bicker from time to time. Soarin and Braeburn encountered some issues today, and I've just realised I have no idea what they were arguing about in the first place. But, they've resolved their problems, so I guess I've been rubbing off on them. All it took was some dough, water and sugar to make a recipe to fix friendships. _

_Yeuch, that's a sappy thing for me to say._

_Oh, yeah, Applejack. Braeburn's gonna help out with drills tomorrow, so another member of your…freakishly large family can see my awesomeness._

_Yours fantastically,_

_Rainbow Dash_

Spring Song sat beside Rainbow Dash on her bed as the cyan mare rolled up her letter and put it in her saddlebag.

"So, can you tell me about your friends now?" She asked hopefully, rocking back and forth. Rainbow Dash let out a chuckle. Man, she had a lot to tell Spring Song about her friends.

"Sure. Well, first there's Twilight Sparkle…"

…**..**

**Endnote: Just to let you know, after this chapter the real plotline begins. Expect some fluff, suspense and a lot more humor. See you next time!**


	6. Problems

DragonZeus1- I'm super glad that you like my story. Also, nice use of the Rainbow Dash quote :D.

**Authors note: Firstly I want to say that if you made it this far, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! *Cyber-cookies* for everyone! I've never been so dedicated to a story before and I appreciate all the positive feedback. As I said at the end of the last chapter: this is where the real story begins. There are two main storylines, which I won't spoil and just to let you know, things start to get a little tense in this chapter. This chapter also introduces a second pairing into the story. I'll give you guys a full explanation at the end because this is turning into another of my really stupid, long rants. Initiating chapter 6!**

* * *

"WAKE UP!"

"Whooza!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, jolting from her sleep. She shivered, suddenly aware that her blanket wasn't covering her. She was standing up and…wet? She suddenly remembered where she was. She'd woken up to the sound of the bugle and went to have a shower. She must have fallen asleep in there.

"Nice nap?" Spring Song teased her as she came out of the shower and shook herself, spraying water all over the pink mare, making her squeal.

"Very funny," Rainbow Dash said blankly, now completely dry. She'd had hardly any sleep. She'd woken up halfway through the night and discovered that it must have been like 100 degrees in the bedroom. So she'd opened a window to let in some cool air. She'd returned to her bed and gone back to sleep only to wake up a half hour later with a cloud owl on her head; it was terrifying! After she'd sorted the owl situation out she lay awake for the rest of the night.

She brushed her teeth and made her way back to her and Spring Song's room where she put on her cadet uniform and did her morning stretches. She double checked to make sure that her letter to her friends was in her saddlebag, ready for her to post after drills and headed out the door towards Lullaby and Paradise's room. She knocked on the door, nodding her head every time she knocked and waited for one of the mares to open the door.

"Who is it?" Paradise's voice rang out from behind the door.

"It's me!" Rainbow Dash replied, preparing for the door to open. It didn't open; instead Paradise just asked another question.

"Me who?"

"ME! It's Rainbow Dash!" The rainbow maned mare responded, resisting the urge to face hoof.

"How do I know its Rainbow Dash and not a pony doing a voice imitation of Rainbow Dash?" Paradise asked again.

"Huh?" Rainbow couldn't believe how ridiculous Paradise was being. The green mare only made Rainbow Dash even more befuddled by her next sentence.

"You could be a thief or a changeling, or an alien!"

"UGH! Lullaby, open the door!" Rainbow Dash finally ordered. A few seconds later the purple mare pulled the door open and peered out at Rainbow.

"See, I told you it was just Dash," she told Paradise, opening the door wider. "Did ya need something?"

"I was just seeing if you were ready to head outside," Rainbow Dash replied, noticing that Lullaby was already dressed in her cadet's uniform. She let out a groan and nodded her head backwards.

"I'm all set but Paradise is having…difficulties," She replied, looking a little disgruntled. The sound of Paradise grunting was heard and Rainbow Dash poked her head it to see what was going on. She let out a small chuckle when she saw that the green mare was stuck in her cadet's uniform.

"Um…Lullaby, I've forgotten which hole my head goes through," She said, looking at her two friends through one of the sleeves before promptly toppling over. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and assisted Paradise in getting her uniform on. After a few minutes they were finally ready and began to head down the hall. Spring Song was waiting for them by the door with Ray and Sugar Swoop.

"What took so long, we're almost late," Spring Song asked the three of them. Rainbow Dash eyed Paradise, who dipped her head with embarrassment. Fortunately, Rainbow wasn't a snitch.

"We just lost track of time," She fibbed, earning a grateful smile from Paradise. Spring Song just rolled her eyes before leading the way out the door and into the training grounds. Rainbow Dash noticed the sky was packed with clouds, so she wouldn't be surprised if they were assigned to do some cloud-busting. They joined the end of the cue and waited.

"What's that smell?" Rainbow Dash asked as she suddenly scented something sweet on the breeze. She felt Spring Song nudge her so she turned to face her pink furred friend.

"It's just my body spray. It's peppermint," She explained, lifting up one of her wings to take a whiff of the sweet smelling spray. Even Dash had to admit that it smelt pretty good, though she had no intention of using it herself.

"I hope we do something _fun _today," Spring Song sighed, folding her wing back to her body. "I mean, busting clouds is fun and all, but how about a race?" She shrugged. "I'm itching to show everypony how fast I am," She stared straight ahead, probably imagining herself showing off. Rainbow Dash was secretly praying for a race, too. She couldn't wait to whizz past all the other cadets and prove to them that she was Wonderbolt material. She could see it now, she would fly with them one day, she was sure of it. She'd never been so sure about anything in her entire life. Except that she was awesome, but everypony knew that.

For a few more minutes the cadets stood there. What was taking so long?

"My legs are getting stiff," Sugar Swoop complained from a few spaces down the line. He did a few stretches before sitting down on his rump. Spring Song let out a groan from beside Rainbow Dash and slumped lower to the ground.

"I could be asleep right now, where _are_ they?" She practically yelled, making all the ponies in the line stare at her.

"Well…Fast Clip got the Feather Flu, remember, it could be something to do with that," Rainbow Dash suggested, shrugging her shoulders.

"Good point," Ray agreed, nodding. Spring Song sighed and lay flat on the ground. "I just hope they get here soon otherwise I might just go back to our room and take a few winks."

Rainbow Dash let out a sigh and sat down beside her friend. They'd never had to wait this long before.

What _was _taking so long?

* * *

Braeburn shuffled his hooves to try and get the feeling back into them since he'd been standing still for quite some time. He was waiting outside the captain's room with Whiplash, who had introduced himself quite politely. The pegasus stallion had explained to Braeburn what he had to do, which was just reading what the cadets had to do and handle the roll call list. This had to be the easiest job in Equestria.

But Braeburn was getting a little worried. The captain hadn't shown up yet and he and Whiplash were beginning to become concerned. According to Whiplash, the captain was a very punctual pony, so it was unusual for her to be late.

Braeburn began to panic some more, thinking of what could have happened. Maybe she'd got hurt or lost. No, she wouldn't get lost on her way to work. He was just overthinking things. She'd show up.

For a couple more minutes, Braeburn and Whiplash waited, but nopony came. Braeburn finally let out a sigh and opened his mouth to ask Whiplash if they should send out a search party or something, but before he had a chance to say anything, he heard approaching hoof steps coming from behind him and somepony spoke.

"Sorry I'm late, my alarm didn't go off," She spoke in a raspy voice and she sounded a little frantic, as if she'd been in a hurry, which she probably _had _been. Braeburn turned around to greet the captain.

"That's quite alright, ma'am, it's not your fau-" Braeburn never finished his sentence because his breath was suddenly taken away. His jaw went slack and his eyes bulged out of his head.

The Earth Pony knew that it was rude to stare at ponies, especially mares, but he just couldn't help himself. His mind went completely blank and he froze. He felt his heart thump harder and faster inside his chest and all he could focus on was this vision before him. She was the most beautiful…no-dazzling…no…s_tunning _mare he'd ever seen. She had yellow fur that seemed to glow, a fiery spiked mane and her cutie mark was a cluster of flames. She wore a captain's uniform with several medals and badges on it and a whistle hung around her neck. Braeburn couldn't see her eyes very well through the sunglasses she was wearing, but they still seemed to pierce right _through _him. She was a little shorter than him, the top of her head only just reaching above his shoulders, but her spiked mane added a little height to her.

"You okay, cowboy?"

Braeburn was snapped from his trance by the captain. She looked a little confused and for the first time Braeburn realised he must have looked like a total idiot, just standing there and staring at her.

"Um…yes, ma'am," Braeburn replied, struggling to get the words out. Whiplash stepped forward to address the mare.

"We'd better get outside. The cadets must be getting restless by now, Captain Spitfire."

"_Spitfire…what a wonderful name," _Braeburn thought, letting out a silent sigh. Spitfire nodded and began leading the two stallions out into the training grounds. Braeburn was shocked when she turned to talk to him.

"So, Whiplash showed you the ropes, right?" She asked him. For a brief moment Braeburn wondered if there was somepony behind him that she was talking to and stupidly looked over his shoulder to check. No, she was definitely talking to him.

"Yep. Ah know exactly what Ah have to do," He confirmed, trying to put on his most confident face. Spitfire gave him a nod and turned back around, which was lucky for Braeburn because she turned just in time to miss the bright red blush that crossed his features.

* * *

Rainbow Dash was interrupted from her daydream by approaching hoof steps. She sprung back up to her hooves as she heard the familiar commanding tone of Spitfire. All the cadets stood tall and straight as the yellow mare approached them. Rainbow Dash waved to Braeburn, who was following her with Whiplash. He gave her a small wave before returning to following the Wonderbolt captain.

"It's roll call time again, ladies, so hopefully, nopony got lost coming out the door again," Spitfire eyed Paradise, who stared at the floor in shame. "Hey, cowboy, could ya pass me the clipboard?" She called over her shoulder at Braeburn, who jolted up as if he'd just been awoken from hypnosis.

"Pardon?" He asked. Spitfire nodded down at the clipboard, which Braeburn obediently passed to her. Rainbow couldn't help but notice that the earth pony's face turned a shade of red when he passed her the clipboard. He must be really nervous. Spitfire proceeded to call out the names and everypony answered, which Spitfire was relieved to see. She gave the clipboard back to Braeburn, who proceeded to clutch it to his chest. Rainbow Dash felt a stab of pity for him. He was so nervous he needed something to hold. Poor guy.

"Okay, so for the first half of drills you'll be doing cloud busting in pairs," Spitfire announced, pacing back and forth before the line of pegasi. "I don't want any of the whole 'I don't like my partner' boo hoo, you're gonna be paired up and you're gonna like it!"

"Please let me be with Spring Song, Celestia!" Paradise pleaded to the sky. Everypony stared at her. "Did I say that out loud?" She squeaked, at which Bumble nodded. Paradise smiled a nervous smile before looking at the ground again. Spitfire walked over to Whiplash and peered over his shoulder at what was written on his clipboard.

"Okay, Tempest, you'll be with Beau," Spitfire began listing the pairs. "Stargazer, you're with Butternut…Paradise and Sugar Swoop are a pair…Rainbow Dash-"

Rainbow Dash wondered who she'd be paired with.

"-You're with Ray…"

"_What!?" _Spring Song gasped, glaring angrily at Rainbow Dash. The cyan mare shifted her eyes to the side, unsure why Spring Song was ticked with her.

"It's not _my _fault!" She defended herself. Spring Song just looked away with a look that practically screamed 'whatever'."

"…Spring Song and Bumble will be together…"

Rainbow Dash didn't hear the rest of the pairs. She was too busy trying to ignore Spring Song. She could feel the pink mare's cold stare stabbing at her like a knife. What was she meant to do about this situation?

"Now, get going!" Spitfire's harsh voice busted into Rainbow's thoughts and she took off into the sky, meeting up with Ray. The two of them immediately started kicking the clouds to smithereens faster than any other pair. The entire time Rainbow Dash was aware of Springs Song's icy glare on her back and it made it incredibly difficult to focus.

For what seemed like hours they kicked, punched and karate-chopped clouds and at last the sky was clear. Rainbow Dash wasted no time in zooming back down to the ground. She sighed in relief and looked over at Whiplash who was jotting something down on his clipboard. She felt a hoof prod her shoulder and turned to see Paradise with Spring Song standing not too far behind her.

"So, what happened?" The green mare whispered to Rainbow Dash. The cyan mare groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Nothing! We just busted clouds!" She insisted, becoming infuriated with the whole subject. Paradise gave her a smile and turned to Spring Song.

"See? I told you nothing happened," She told her pink furred friend. "Now you don't have to be mad at her."

"Huh?" Rainbow Dash whispered to herself. Spring Song was mad at her? She hadn't intended for that to happen. She was learning that Spring Song tended to be a little dramatic at times.

"Okay, nice work up there, newbies!" Spitfire congratulated the cadets. "I'm sure you'll all be pleased to hear that after lunch you'll all be racing."

"Finally!" Sugar Swoop exclaimed, hoof bumping Ray.

"Get outta here!" Spitfire dismissed the cadets and they all began flocking to the mess hall. Rainbow Dash flapped over to Braeburn.

"So…how's work?" She asked him. Braeburn hadn't seemed to see her come over and jumped as she spoke, though he smiled when he saw it was her.

"Oh, it's…great," He replied. Rainbow Dash had expected him to rant about all his worries since he'd seemed so nervous earlier.

"What do you have to do besides look at a clipboard?" She asked, wondering how he and Fast Clip could handle such an unchallenging job.

"Nothin' else," Braeburn sighed. "Ah'm glad there's decent pay, though."

"Hey, cowboy!"

Rainbow Dash and Braeburn turned to see Spitfire and Whiplash heading towards them.

"You can go hit the mess hall now," She informed him before trotting right past him. Braeburn opened his mouth so speak but no words came out, so instead he just nodded rapidly. They watched as Spitfire headed to her office and Whiplash went to the mess hall.

"Um…where's she goin'?" Braeburn asked Rainbow Dash, nodding at Spitfire.

"She always eats in her office," Rainbow Dash replied, beginning to head to the mess hall. Braeburn walked beside her, still staring after the Wonderbolt captain until she disappeared through the door, and even after she'd vanished from sight he kept staring.

"Watch out for that-"

"WHOA!" Braeburn tumbled over and landed flat on his face.

"-loose cloud," Rainbow Dash finished before helping the Earth Pony to his hooves. "Are you okay?" Dash asked him, concerned about his behaviour.

"Um…yeah, of course," He insisted, before looking straight ahead and picking up the pace. The rainbow maned mare pushed the mess hall door open and headed to the kitchen with Braeburn. As they went in they saw Soarin and Fleetfoot frantically rushing around, putting things in ovens and rolling out dough.

"What's goin' on!?" Braeburn exclaimed, noticing the layer of flour on the floor. Soarin stopped putting icing sugar on a lopsided apple cake long enough to answer his friend.

"Well, we decided to be the replacement cooks," He said quickly before proceeding to place the cake on the counter. Fleetfoot suddenly skidded past Rainbow Dash to stand beside Braeburn.

"How did your job go?" She asked him, her eyes sparkling with interest. Braeburn trotted over to a counter and pulled up a chair so he could sit at it.

"Brilliant," He replied, getting a distant look in his eyes. Fleetfoot grabbed a plate of apple fritters and placed it in front of Braeburn.

"Here, Braeburn, have thome thelebration lunch," She smiled, grabbing one of the fritters for herself. Braeburn shook his head and pushed the plate towards the blue furred mare.

"No thanks, Fleetfoot, Ah'm not hungry," He said, before returning to staring at the wall. Rainbow Dash headed over to Soarin, who was pouring apple juice into plastic cups.

"Hey, Soarin, what're we gonna do after drills?" She interrogated him. Soarin poured the last of the juice into the cups before replying.

"I thought I could teach you that trick you tried to do the other day…ya know, when you crashed?" He suggested. Rainbow Dash groaned, trying not to think too much about the crash.

"That sounds great," Rainbow Dash would be relieved to finally do that trick.

"Hey Thoarin, have the cadet'th all got lunch, yet?" Fleetfoot asked him from her seat beside Braeburn. Soarin looked over the counter to see and turned back to Fleetfoot with a relieved look on his face.

"Yep, our work here is done," The pale blue stallion sighed. He took off his apron and threw it at Braeburn, who didn't even acknowledge the impact. Soarin sat on the other side of Braeburn and Rainbow Dash sat at the other side. For the rest of lunch the four of them talked…well, three of them talked while Braeburn just stared at the wall. Maybe there was an interesting stain on it. .Rainbow Dash examined the wall closer…nope, nothing.

"Rainbow Dash!" Rainbow looked over her shoulder to see Lullaby and Sugar Swoop at the counter. "C'mon, we've got one minute to get outside!" Lullaby told the cyan mare. She quickly gobbled down an apple fritter and prodded Braeburn, who was promptly snapped from his daze.

"What?" He asked her.

"We need to get back outside!" Rainbow Dash reported. At this, the Earth Pony leapt up from his chair, surprising Fleetfoot and Soarin at his sudden movement. Braeburn reached under his cowboy hat and pulled out the clipboard that he had placed under there for safe keeping and trotted out the door. Rainbow turned to the two Wonderbolts.

"Was that weird, or is it just me?" She asked them.

"It's not you," The other two said in unison. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and followed Braeburn outside. Rainbow Dash joined the end of the line beside Paradise and Braeburn went to stand beside Whiplash. Sugar Swoop, Ray and Tempest were the last cadets outside. Spring Song waved at Ray, though he paid no attention to her. Rainbow Dash actually felt a little sorry for the pink mare.

"Alright, newbies, it's race time!" Spitfire announced, walking onto the scene in the half-march-half-strut of hers. The cadets erupted into cheering and Rainbow Dash heard Paradise whisper to her.

"This is gonna be so much fun…but Spring Song is definitely gonna win. She always wins when she races against me and Ray."

"Well…I usually come pretty close," Ray bragged from Rainbow Dash's other side. Spring Song had a smug look on her face. The cadets were let to a circular race track for them to fly around.

"The rules are simple. Just fly 'round the track forty times," Spitfire told them as they all lined up at the starting line

"_Time to show 'em my stuff!" _Rainbow Dash thought, stretching out her wings and flapping them a couple of times to warm them up.

"3…"

Spring Song gave Rainbow Dash a competitive smile, which she returned.

"…2…"

Rainbow Dash braced herself for take-off, feeling the adrenaline begin to pump through her veins.

"…1…"

The cadets prepared to flap their wings.

TOOOOOT!

Spitfire blew her whistle and the pegasi set off, Rainbow Dash immediately taking the lead. This was easy!

After thirty laps, Rainbow Dash was still in the lead, Sugar Swoop in second place and Spring Song in third.

This was _too _easy.

Suddenly without warning, a pink blur caught up to Rainbow Dash. The cyan mare turned her head to the side, shocked to see that Spring Song had caught up to her. This was crazy. She had been in third a few second before. Rainbow Dash just shook off all her thoughts and flapped her wings harder.

She was in the lead.

No, Spring Song was.

No, it was Rainbow Dash.

Holy Celestia, Spring Song was pretty fast. Paradise hadn't been lying when she'd said that Spring Song was super swift.

One lap left.

The two leading mares gave it their all as the finish line came into view. Rainbow Dash poured the last of her strength into her flight as she finally pulled ahead of Spring Song, crossing the finish line in first place.

"Rainbow Dash wins!" Spitfire announced. Braeburn rushed over to congratulate the rainbow maned pegasus along with several of the other cadets.

"You were awesome, Rainbow Dash!" Stains exclaimed, slapping Dash on the back.

"Yeah, you even beat Spring Song," Paradise chirped. "I didn't think it could be done!"

After receiving several hoof bumps and slaps on the back, she turned to Spring Song and got a fright. If looks could kill, Rainbow Dash would be a crumpled heap of feathers on the floor.

Spring Song glared at Rainbow Dash with a stare that could turn even Medusa to stone. Everything about the pink mare screamed one thing:

_I will destroy you!_

* * *

Rainbow Dash sat perched on the cloud beside Braeburn while Soarin busted a few clouds out of the sky. She was still baffled about the whole Spring Song situation. Why was she so mad at her? It was just a stupid race!

"Dash!"

"Huh?" Rainbow Dash sat upright as Soarin's voice interrupted her thoughts. The pale blue stallion flapped in front of her with a confused expression on his face.

"Why are my two friends so…weird today?" He asked Rainbow. "You're constantly drifting into your own thoughts and Braeburn's staring at some invisible thing every ten _seconds_!"

Rainbow Dash looked over at the Appaloosan stallion. It was true. Ever since he's sat down on the cloud he'd been staring down, saying nothing. It just didn't seem right. He hadn't seemed normal all day!

"Hey, Braeburn, can I talk to you for a second?" Rainbow Dash asked him. The Earth Pony just kept staring at the cloud. Rainbow Dash scooted a little closer and yelled in his ear.

"HEY! EQUESTRIA TO BRAEBURN! DO YOU COPY?" She bellowed, making the stallion jump a whole five feet into the air.

"Hey, what're ya doin'?" Braeburn asked, rubbing his ear. Soarin landed on Braeburn's other side.

"What's going on with you, buddy?" he asked his friend. "We're your friends, you can tell us anything."

"Well…" Braeburn hesitated, looking down at the cloud again. Soarin and Rainbow Dash leaned in closer to him, but that just made him nervous.

"Ah…um…" He stuttered, turning bright red.

"Go on…" Soarin encouraged Braeburn, who suddenly sat upright.

"Oh, Ah just remembered that Ah have to go to the staff room. Surprise said she had another story to tell me," He said. Soarin raised an eyebrow, not quite convinced.

"Really?" He questioned the Earth Pony, who nodded.

"Eeyup, Ah'd better get goin'," Braeburn jumped off the cloud, falling twenty feet before landing on the soft, fluffy cloud. It was kinda like jumping on cotton candy, only less sticky.

"This isn't over!" Soarin called after him as he swiftly retreated into the academy. He turned to Rainbow Dash. "Something's definitely wrong with him, Dash. I mean, after drills ended he came in for a snack and put apple juice on a slice of bread and jam in a cup!"

"Yeah…I wonder what happened to him." Rainbow Dash replied, putting a hoof to her chin in thought, growing more curious by the moment. Soarin rolled his eyes and took off.

"C'mon, forget him. We'll probe him some more later. For now, let's do this trick!" The stallion flew higher into the air and Dash immediately flew after him, forgetting all about Braeburn. The two pegasi flew higher and higher until finally they halted just when the air began to get thin.

"So what do we do, _captain_?" Rainbow Dash asked Soarin, putting extra emphasis on 'captain' to tease him. Soarin let out a chuckle before explaining.

"Okay, Dash, I want you to just fly in a circle," He commanded her. Rainbow Dash instantly began flying in a circular pattern.

"Great. Now dip down a little."

Rainbow Dash did as she was told, tilting her body forward so she began descending from the sky.

"Just keep doing that!" Soarin ordered as Rainbow sped up, going round faster and faster as she got lower in the sky. A tornado was beginning to form around her, getting bigger as she sped up. Then…

"PULL UP NOW!" Soarin yelled down to her.

Rainbow flew up once again and the tornado exploded into violent bursts of wind that blew all the surrounding clouds away. Rainbow Dash touched back down on the cloudy ground outside the academy and Soarin landed beside her a few seconds later.

"Holy Celestia, even _I _haven't been able to do that trick like that before," He admitted, looking a little ashamed that he'd been outshined at his out trick. Rainbow Dash, however felt pride oozing out of her.

"That was so FUN!" She cheered, flapping into the air. "You're like the best mentor EVER!"

"I try my best," Soarin blushed, rubbing the back of his head. "C'mon, we'd better get back inside. I'm gonna try and get answers from Braeburn."

"Well, I'm gonna go find Spring Song," Rainbow Dash decided, beginning to head back inside, determined to fix things between the two of them.

* * *

Rainbow Dash stared down at the blank piece of paper on the bedside table. She hadn't been able to find Spring Song. She'd knocked on all her friends' doors and they'd all claimed that they hadn't seen her. This was so irritating. All she wanted to do was make amends. She decided to just write the letter so she could turn in early.

_What's up, everyone?_

_I've finally managed to do that cool trick. You remember… when I crashed. I really don't want to think about that, though. Anyways, I'm having a little trouble with one of the other pegasi here, Spring Song. She got a little mad at me earlier when I beat her in a race. _

_What a drama queen._

_So, I really want to apologise to her for…whatever it is I need to apologise for but I just can't find her. I'm sure she's avoiding me. All of this is making me exhausted. I'm just gonna go to sleep. I'll write to you tomorrow to give you guys an update on the whole Spring Song thing._

_Yours tiredly,_

_Rainbow Dash._

She put the letter in her bag and crawled into bed, feeling a little lonely. She'd been so used to having Spring Song in the room with her when she went to sleep. She hated being all alone. She sighed and huddled further into the bed, trying to block out all her worries. She'd sort this out tomorrow and then she wouldn't have to deal with this anymore.

"Good night-" She began to say before realising her roommate wasn't there. She let out a groan before closing her eyes and falling into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

**Endnote: What will happen next?**

**Will Spring Song and Rainbow Dash make amends?**

**Read the next chapter and find out!**

**Anyways, before I start getting crazy reviews saying: 'Braeburn and Spitfire? Are you INSANE!?' I would like to say that those two are my OTP. Please don't call me crazy. It's not all that strange. I've read a few fanfics about those two and they have two fanclubs on DeviantART. I bet that I can get at least one of you to ship these two y the time this story ends.**

**Stay tuned for chapter 7!**


	7. Racing Rainbow

Rainbow Dash stared straight ahead at the wall as she sat at one of the counters in the kitchen. Her first week at the academy was almost over and it had been _crazy_! She'd started off as friends with a whole bunch of ponies and now she'd lost two of them.

Spring Song hadn't spoken to Rainbow Dash since the race, no matter how much Rainbow Das tried to apologise. Paradise didn't seem mad at Rainbow Dash at all, but when she had tried to get Paradise to pass a message on to Spring Song she'd said "I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash, Spring Song will be mad at me if I talk to you."

This was ridiculous!

Rainbow Dash had this terrible feeling that Spring Song was planning something to get back at her. She could feel it coming at her like an approaching thunderstorm. So for the last couple of days she'd hung out with Lullaby and Sugar Swoop and she'd even spent some time with Free Fall, Bumble and Butternut.

Of course, the best time of day was after drills when she would head to the post office then go hang out with Soarin. He'd been helping her with one of the Wonderbolt's classic moves, when they created a firework like explosion.

Lunch was almost over and she was dreading heading back outside to face Spring Song again. Fast Clip was back on the job, so Braeburn was back to cooking. Right now, he was making some more of those nice muffins of his. She wished he'd hurry up and finihsh them because she could use something sugary to snack on.

"Rainbow Dash, are you in there?"

Rainbow Dash turned her head to the side and looked out the corner of her eye, seeing Stargazer standing at the door.

"You okay?" She asked in that elegant almost hippie-like voice of hers. Rainbow Dash erased the worry from her face and stood up.

"Of course I'm fine," She insisted, heading out the door with her. Stargazer eyed her cautiously before flapping a few feet into the air and waving her hooves above Rainbow Dash's head.

"What the- what are ya doing?" Rainbow Dash, confused and, to be honest, a little freaked out at the mare.

"I'm just cleansing your aura," She replied. "You seem a little stressed."

"Leave my aura alone!" Rainbow Dash snapped, stepping back. Stargazer shrugged and fluttered to the door with Dash following. She stepped outside and immediately got whipped by warm wind. As usual, she joined the end of the line and turned to her side, where Spring Song was standing, talking to Paradise.

"Hey, guys, what's up?" Rainbow Dash asked. Spring Song just ignored her.

"Did you hear something, Paradise?" She asked her friend, who nodded.

"Yeah, Rainbow Dash just said-" the green mare stopped talking as Spring Song gave her a menacing glare. "I mean…nope, I didn't hear a thing."

"UGH! Spring Song, for the thousandth time, I'm sorry about the race. I didn't mean to make you mad!" Rainbow Dash attempted once again to apologise. Spring Song nonchalantly looked around.

"Wow, I just can't believe how _quiet _everything is, today," She said, and Paradise giggled. Stargazer, who was beside Rainbow Dash stayed silent, saying nothing in Rainbow Dash's defence.

"Oh, I get it," Rainbow Dash thought of something else. "Is this about the pairs? If that's it, then you've got nothing to worry about. I don't like Ray," She tried again; though Spring Song ignored her entirely this time. Rainbow just turned away. For a while she just imagined herself hanging out with Soarin all day. What would happen if she just left now, leaving behind the other cadets? She could find Soarin and the two of them would fly all day together.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash, come over here!"

Rainbow looked over to the speaker. Sugar Swoop, Ray and Tempest were waving he rover to them. She hesitant approached them, wondering what they wanted.

"Hey, guys, what's up?" The cyan mare greeted the three stallions. Tempest was the first to speak.

"Just wanted to let you know, we thought you were AWESOME in the race yesterday," He complimented her. Rainbow Dash was about to agree when Sugar Swoop cut her off.

"Just before curfew, me, Tempest and Ray were gonna have a race out here and we were wondering if you wanted to join us," He proposed. Rainbow Dash thought it over. She'd have time to race with them after her lesson with Soarin.

"You've got yourself a deal!" Rainbow Dash agreed putting on her most determined face. She couldn't wait to leave those three in the dust.

"Sweet!" Ray exclaimed, jumping for joy.

"See ya later, Dash," Sugar Swoop said as she hoof-bumped each of them. She returned to her spot in line, feeling satisfied.

"Hey!"

Rainbow Dash looked left to see Spring Song, looking both curious and irritated at the same time.

"What did they say to you?" The moody pink pegasus asked Rainbow. "What were you talking about?"

Rainbow Dash smirked and poked Stargazer's shoulder. The charcoal coloured mare turned around to face her friend.

"Yes, Rainbow Dash?" She asked.

"Can you believe how quiet it is, today? It's like there's nopony here at all," Rainbow Dash grinned. Stargazer put a hoof to her mouth and giggled. Spring Song's jaw dropped open while Paradise looked at the scene, obviously having no idea what was happening. Spring Song marched to the other end of the line.

"Hey, wait for me!" Paradise followed Spring Song in the same way a dog would follow its owner.

"So, what were you talking about?" Stargazer asked Dash, still giggling a little.

"I was just invited to a race before curfew," Rainbow Dash shrugged. Stargazer looked excited at this.

"That sounds like fun. Maybe I could come and watch?" She suggested, brushing a lock of her mane from her eyes. Rainbow Dash noticed that her white mane fell into her eyes a lot.

"Yeah, every race needs an audience," Rainbow agreed, liking the sound of this idea.

"Excellent!" Stargazer chirped. Rainbow Dash gave a little smile. Maybe today wouldn't be so bad after all.

* * *

Soarin lounged on the couch in the staff room, a cup of coffee in one hoof, a new issue of _'SUP _in the other hoof. The staff room was surprisingly empty. Fire Streak and Lightning Streak were the only other ponies there. They were talking about something on the other side of the room. It was rare that Soarin had enough room on the couch to fully stretch out and rest his head on one of the arms and his back hooves on the other.

This was the life.

"SOARIN!"

The Wonderbolt stallion jolted up, his coffee flying into the air. He quickly held out his cup and caught the brown drink in it. Phew.

Rainbow Dash stood at the door, looking a little sheepish. Soarin sighed and put his coffee down.

"Haven't you heard of knocking?" He asked her, putting his magazine back down on the table beside the couch

"Sorry Soarin, but this is important!" Rainbow Dash insisted, hopping from hoof to hoof.

"_It'd better be," _Soarin thought grumpily, getting up and walking to the door. "What is it, Dash?"

"There's this race before curfew and I really, really, REALLY want you to come see it!" She smiled widely at Soarin. This was a bit of a problem.

"I wish I could, Rainbow, but there's a Wonderbolts airshow tonight. I've gotta be there," He explained, a little disappointed in himself for not telling her.

"Wait, so does this mean…" Rainbow trailed off.

"Sorry, Dash. No training today," Soarin felt ashamed of himself, allowing his head to droop a little.

"But I promised the others that you'd be there. If you don't come they'll think I'm a liar!" Rainbow Dash pleaded, making puppy dog eyes. Soarin tried not to fall victim to those adorable, pleading eyes, but it was becoming harder and harder to as the moments past.

"Rainbow, the other cadets aren't gonna hold anything against you just because I couldn't make it to your race," He tried to sway her. She was a determined mare, he'd give her that.

"Some of them will," Rainbow Dash muttered, so quietly that Soarin barely heard her.

"Dash, is something wrong. Is there somepony bothering you? If there is, I'll knock 'em into next week," He told her, trying to make a fierce pose but failing miserably. Rainbow let out a chuckle.

"Nothing's wrong! The others are all being really nice to me…" She trailed off after that but resumed her speech with more determination than ever. "But you HAVE to come and watch me! I promise I'll never ask you to do anything for me ever again!"

Soarin raised an eyebrow.

"Well…I was gonna ask you If you could teach me a Double Buccaneer Blaze…and a Thunder Clap Flip, but apart from THAT I'll never ask you for anything again!" She got down on her hooves and stuck out her bottom lip. Soarin rolled his eyes and grunted, knowing that he had to give in.

"Alright, I'll ask Wave Chill to go to the air show instead of me. I'll come."

"YESYESYESYESYES!" Rainbow Dash cheered bouncing around Soarin so many times that he became pretty dizzy. "Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!" She wrapped her hooves around his neck and squeezed him tightly, before rocketing out of the room repeating: 'ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!'

"Heh…is that a blush, Soarin?" Fire Streak suddenly asked Soarin, making the stallion jump with surprise. He put a hoof to his cheek

"No, of course not, it's just allergies," He lied, heading out the door to find Wave Chill, still able to hear the twins laughing at him as he retreated.

* * *

Rainbow Dash was surprised to see that all of the cadets had come to see the race. She had only expected a quarter of them to show up; she must be even more awesome that she thought. It was pretty windy out here and she grumbled as a lock of her mane blew into her eyes, _again. _This must be how Stargazer felt permanently.

"_Where _in Celestia's name is Spring Song?" Sugar Swoop grunted, becoming increasingly impatient. Rainbow Dash's ear pricked up at this.

"Wait? Why are we waiting for her?" Rainbow Dash asked the stallions. Tempest flapped over to explain.

"She wants to race, too. Who are we to turn down the two fastest cadets?"

Rainbow Dash felt her stomach lurch. Spring song was going to be there, too. Great…just great.

As the last syllable escaped Tempest's mouth, Spring Song appeared, striding coolly over to them, Paradise at her side, blow-drying her pink friend's wings.

"Remember, Paradise, if one feather is out of place, you're dead," Spring Song said to the green mare, who shook a little.

"Yes, Spring Song," Paradise murmured. Rainbow Dash looked over her shoulder to see Soarin standing with the watching cadets with Braeburn standing beside him, waving at her. Rainbow Dash eagerly waved back at them, feeling her spirits lift.

"Can we get started, now?" She asked the others.

"Hold up!" The five racing pegasi looked over to see Stargazer, Beau, Smart Set and Stains approaching them.

"We wanna race, too!" Beau chirped enthusiastically. Rainbow saw Spring Song nudge Paradise.

"More ponies to see me win," She whispered to her friend, who nodded. Rainbow Dash wondered how Paradise could stay so loyal to Spring Song.

"Yeah, you guys can race. The more the merrier!" Sugar Swoop agreed. Tempest began explaining the route.

"You start here. Then you fly straight until you get to the cloud pillars," The orange stallion pointed a hoof at the tall pillars of cloud that were used to improve turning techniques. "You weave around them and then fly past the Dizzitron. You then fly through the hoops and go through those storm clouds…" Rainbow Dash looked up warily at the large thunderclouds that had gathered in the sky just beyond the hoops. It didn't look safe. "…then you'll fly down to the path and after that it's a straight shoot to the end. Got that?" Tempest finished explaining.

"Yep," Rainbow Dash replied, sure that she'd remembered everything.

"The let's race!" Tempest declared, unfolding his wings and heading to the start line, which was just a line of sticky string that Lullaby had loaned Sugar Swoop. The other racers joined him at the start, while the others cadets stood at the side-lines cheering for their favourite. Rainbow smiled when she heard several ponies, including Soarin and Braeburn calling her name. Spring Song stood beside Rainbow Dash.

"Get ready to eat my dust," She hissed out the corner of her mouth. Rainbow tried to ignore her. She had to be the better pony here. She wasn't gonna let Spring Song distract her from racing. She looked over to the pink mare.

"Good luck, Spring Song," She smiled, making Spring Song's jaw drop. She obviously hadn't been expecting Dash to say that. Lullaby stood at the side of the 'racetrack' holding a flag.

"Ready…" the purple mare began raising the flag.

Rainbow Dash locked eyes with Spring Song, each of them glaring daggers at each other.

"Set…"

Dash looked straight ahead, unfolding her wings and leaning forward, ready to begin the race.

"GO!"

The nine cadets zoomed along the track, weaving in and out of each other, fighting to get into first place. Rainbow Dash reckoned that they were flying faster since they weren't under as much pressure as they were in the race the other day.

Rainbow Dash was in second place, thanks to Stains bumping into her and breaking her focus. Tempest was in front and Spring Song was close behind Rainbow. They were approaching the cloud pillars and Rainbow Dash braced herself to begin weaving her way around them. She got through them without much trouble, though her wing brushed the last one, making her swerve a little. Thankfully, she recovered pretty smoothly. She looked behind her to see Smart Set crash into one of the pillars and plummet to the ground. Luckily, he landed in a pretty soft patch of cloud and got up again, deciding to quit the race.

Rainbow Dash took first place as they flew around the Dizzitron. Stains was unfortunate enough to crash into it while waving to the observing cadets. Rainbow cringed as she heard the mare make contact with the machine.

Before she knew it, Rainbow Dash had successfully made her way through the hoops, cheering and whooping for herself. Spring Song, who was neck and neck with Stargazer, let out a groan, seeing Rainbow Dash so pleased with herself. The pink mare leaned left, knocking into Stargazer and bending her wing at a painful angle. The black mare let out a shriek and tumbled out of the sky. Rainbow Dash wanted to slap Spring Song so badly. Stargazer recovered from her fall and re-joined the race, though she was now several spots behind.

"Sorry!" Spring Song grinned back at Stargazer sweetly, making Rainbow Dash even angrier. She only got more irritated when the pink mare picked up speed to fly beside her. They crashed against each other, both not wanting their opponent to take first place.

"Just give up, already!" Spring Song snapped at Dash, who slitted her eyes to look threatening.

"No way!" Rainbow declared flapping her wings even harder, flying into the storm clouds. Flying through it was even harder than she imagined. She'd never flown through such strong wind. The cadets struggled as they were blown this way and that, upside down and twirled around. Rainbow felt relief rush through her as she saw that she was almost out of the clouds.

"Horseapples!" Sugar Swoop cursed as he was flung out of the storm clouds. Spring Song pushed herself past Rainbow Dash and took first place, blowing a raspberry at Dash as she past her. With one final burst of effort, Rainbow burst from the storm clouds and began flying right behind Spring Song. They rocketed downwards together; Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth as she noticed that Spring Song wasn't budging.

They began flying straight, Rainbow Dash feeling the stone path brush her hooves. Unfortunately for Beau, she flew down to fast and pulled up to late, going out of control and tumbling off the track. Rainbow Dash felt her blood boil as she heard Spring Song laugh at Beau's mistake.

Rainbow's heart was thumping so fast with determination that she thought it would run out of power and stop. She had to win, she just HAD to, otherwise Spring Song would never stop teasing her for it.

The two of them were getting closer to the finish line. Rainbow Dash put the last of her energy into the final stretch. The cheers of the audience got louder and louder until the volume was almost unbearable. And then- they crossed the finish line.

Together.

"It's a draw!" Lullaby announced. The cadets all rushed forward to congratulate the two winners.

"Rainbow Dash! Spring Song!" They cheered for them, jumping around them like they were celebrities

"Huh!? But…I'm sure I beat her!" Spring Song babbled, looking appalled at herself. Rainbow Dash was a little ticked, too. Even though she hadn't lost, it didn't feel like she'd won either. She had to share first place with somepony else, and that didn't feel as good as having all the glory to herself.

"Nice job!" Ray congratulated the two mares, hoof bumping both of them. Spring Song still wasn't satisfied.

"Can't we have a rematch?" She asked, putting on a pouty face that made Rainbow Dash a little sick.

"No can do, Spring Song. It's almost curfew. Maybe some other day?" Tempest replied.

"Ugh!" Spring Song turned to Paradise. "Why did it have to be a draw? And why with Rainbow Dash?" She complained.

"Spring Song, it's just a race, and joint first is better than last," Rainbow Dash tried to perk up the pink mare.

"Whatever," Spring Song grumbled, looking away. "This is war!" She hissed, making Rainbow Dash's blood chill. She didn't like the sound of that. Smart Set came up to Rainbow and put a hoof on her shoulder.

"Ignore her, Rainbow, you both did great," He smiled at her. Rainbow Dash cheered up a little at that. She was about to say thanks but before she could all the cadets began swarming around Rainbow and Spring Song and babbling about all kinds of things. Rainbow Dash shrugged and relaxed, enjoying the attention she was getting.

Such is the life of a celebrity cadet.

* * *

Soarin chuckled as he saw the attention that Rainbow Dash was getting. She'd be a popular Wonderbolt, that's for sure. He'd go and congratulate her once the crowd had gone. He'd brought a carrot cola with him to the race and took a large gulp of it, loving the feel of the fizzy drink going down his throat.

"Well, that looked fun," Braeburn commented, looking at the crowd of cadets. Soarin nodded.

"I'm glad Wave Chill agreed to go to the air show in my place," He agreed. Wave Chill had eagerly agreed since he'd wanted to go to the race in the first place. He turned to his friend, suddenly curious.

"So, how are enjoying the academy, Brae?" he asked as he watched Rainbow Dash laughing at something one of the other cadets said.

"Oh…it's been great…really great," Braeburn replied, sighing happily. Soarin examined his buddy closely, catching sight of a light blush on his face. The pegasus stallion raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, what's going on?" he interrogated the Earth pony, who looked a little baffled.

"Nothin's goin' on, why d'ya ask?" Braeburn shifted his eyes left and right. Soarin chuckled. Braeburn was a terrible liar.

"I'm asking because your face is redder than your cutie mark."

Braeburn put a hoof to his cheek, his eyes widening. He was obviously trying to keep a straight face but he was smiling widely anyway.

"Brae…remember how I used to get you to answer me in high school?" Soarin plucked a feather from one of his wings and waved it threateningly in front of Braeburn's face, recalling the many times he'd tickled answers out of the Appaloosan Earth pony.

"Okay, okay, Ah'll talk!" Braeburn put his front hooves in the air, surrendering. "Ah…met a mare…that's all," He confessed, blushing impossibly brighter. Soarin was surprised. He couldn't remember Braeburn ever having feelings for anypony before.

"Well, congratulations, Brae. Do I know her?" Soarin asked. Braeburn nodded, looking away. "Well…who is she?"

"Um…she's…" Braeburn stopped talking after that, making Soarin face-hoof.

"You can't say it, can you?" he asked. Braeburn shook his head. "Maybe I could guess?"

"Yeah, guess," Braeburn looked relieved. Soarin put a hoof to his chin and picked the most obvious pony.

"Fleetfoot?"

"Nope."

"Huh?" Soarin looked bewildered. Pretty much everypony knew that Fleetfoot liked Braeburn…except Braeburn.

"Surprise?" Soarin guessed again, naming one of the only other mares he'd seen Braeburn with.

"Wrong again," Braeburn shook his head. Soarin couldn't think of anypony else, but began naming mares anyway.

"High Winds?"

"Not her."

"Blaze?"

"Nnnope."

"Is it one of the cadets?"

"None o' the cadets."

"UGH! I'm terrible at this game. Can you give me a hint?" Soarin asked, giving in. Braeburn shrugged and nodded.

"Well…" He began before being stopped by Soarin.

"But make it an obvious hint because I'm terrible at guessing," He added, taking a large mouthful of his carrot cola. Soarin sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Okay. Well…she's the captain o' the Wonderbolts and-"

Some kind of loud alarm began going off in Soarin's head and he sprayed out his cola like a volcano and began choking. Braeburn slapped Soarin on the back to get him to stop coughing. Once the pale blue stallion had got his breath back and wiped the cola from around his mouth, he addressed his friend in the calmest way he could manage:

"YOU LIKE-"

Braeburn suddenly covered Soarin's mouth, looking around to make sure nopony had heard the beginning of his sentence.

"Keep it down, Soar!" he ordered his friend. Soarin took a moment to take all this in before speaking again.

"Okay, so…how?" Was all he could manage to say. Braeburn told the story.

"Well…Ah met 'er the other day when Ah replaced Fast Clip and…Ah just kinda fell for 'er," He explained. "Ah've literally thought o' nothin' else," he confessed, staring off into the distance awkwardly.

That explained a lot.

"Ya don't say?" Soarin chuckled. Braeburn nodded, not understanding that Soarin was being sarcastic. "I can tell you really like Spitfire," He suddenly became a little serious. Braeburn looked over at Soarin, looking a little flustered now.

"Soarin, you've gotta help me. Ah dunno what t' do. Ah'm not good with mares!" The Earth Pony panicked. "…especially pretty ones," He added, taking off his cowboy had a fiddling with it, like he always did when he was nervous or stressed. Soarin snorted at this.

"Why are you asking me? I'm not exactly a ladies stallion, myself," He reminded his friend. This didn't improve Braeburn's state.

"Well, ya hafta give me some advice, even a li'l would help 'cause Ah just can't do this alone, Soarin. Ah act like a goofball ev'rytime Ah see 'er. Just yesterday, she came into the staff room t' get coffee and asked me where the sugar had been moved to and Ah froze. Ah just couldn't answer her and eventually Misty Fly had t' tell 'er where the sugar was!" Braeburn ranted before putting his hat back on and pulling it over his eyes.

"_Wow…" _Soarin thought. He hated to see Braeburn upset, he had to help him, no matter how lame his advice was.

"Brae…I think you should just take baby steps with this. Why don't ya just start by being nice to her? Like…" Soarin paused, thinking of some examples to continue his pep-talk with. "Help her out with work or…ask her about her day."

"That'll work?" Braeburn peered out from under his hat. Soarin wasn't about to tell Braeburn that he thought his advice was dumb.

"I guess," He said simply. Braeburn smiled again, looking much happier.

"Thanks Soar. Ah'm gonna try," He said determinedly, putting on his bravest face. Soarin hoof bumped his friend before beginning to head over to Rainbow Dash, who was now surrounded by a smaller crowd. He stopped halfway and looked over his shoulder at Braeburn.

"Brae?" He called, making sure he had the stallions attention.

"What?" Braeburn asked, pricking up his ears. Soarin wanted to make sure this got inside Braeburn's head. It was important.

"Just…go easy on Spitfire, won't ya? She has a few trust issues and…let's just say she's had a rough past."

* * *

Rainbow Dash flopped down on her bed, humming '_We are the champions_'. She wanted to tell her friends about the race super badly. She quickly got out some paper and a quill and wrote as fast as she could because she was all hopped up on excitement.

_HIYA, GUYS!_

_I won ANOTHER race, guys! Hopefully Soarin will tell the other Wonderbolts how awesome I was in it. But…I can't take all the glory. It pains me to say this but…I've met somepony as fast as me._

_Spring Song pretty much matches me in speed and it drives me CRAZY! We drew in the race and she's pretty sore over it. I want to be friends with her again but now I'm seeing a darker side of her. I hope she doesn't turn out like Lightning Dust…or worse._

_On the bright side, now that she's rooming with a couple of the other cadets, I have an entire room to myself._

_I'll write tomorrow, as usual. I really miss you guys._

_Yours gloriously,_

_Rainbow Dash._

Once the letter was tucked in her saddlebag, Rainbow Dash lay sprawled on her bed in a starfish position. Spring Song was sleeping on the floor in Lullaby and Paradise's room, which was absolutely fine by Rainbow.

She enjoyed the alone time…sort of.

Maybe Spring Song secretly wanted to make amends. Rainbow Dash hated losing friends, and thought that it would be the same for everypony. But after witnessing Spring Song's behaviour in the race, she had no idea what thoughts were running through the pink mares head.

She'd probably never know.

Rainbow didn't even bother crawling under the covers that night; she just lay curled in the middle of the bed, still humming as she drifted into the land of dreams.

…**..**

**Endnote: WHOA! I've never had so much fun writing a chapter before. Writing the race scene was awesome and it really challenges your writing skills. **

**The saga will continue in chapter 8!**


	8. The Way Things Work

**Authors Note: I can't believe I'm on chapter eight of this story already. Time has simply flown by (pun not intended). But there's still a LOT of this story left and I've got to write it or I'll burst. **

Captain Alaska- I laughed when I read the end of your comment (actually I still am). Ya know, sometimes I read Spring Song's lines in Diamond Tiara's voice, even though I see her being played by a totally different actress. That's just me; I like coming up with voice actors who would be good for my OC's. Is that weird?

**Commencing chapter eight!**

* * *

Soarin sighed as he rested his head on the table. The cadets were in the middle of the second half of drills and were currently doing a flag hunt. The chilly, late March breeze made the clouds outside slowly sway. It was a typical calm day, but one pony wasn't calm at all. Soarin let out another frustrated sigh as Braeburn began muttering something negative to himself. The earth pony was standing at the window, which the sun was shining brightly through, darn near blinding Soarin, probably dreading the end of drills, which was when he was planning to talk to Spitfire.

"Hey, guyth," Fleetfoot greeted as she sat down next to Soarin at the table, making the stallion jolt with surprise at her sudden appearance.

"Warn me next time you're gonna do that," Soarin scolded the white maned mare, who just rolled her eyes and shoved Soarin.

"You're thuch a thcardey cat, ya know that?" She teased him in that regular lisp of hers. Soarin mumbled something under his breath that he'd rather Fleetfoot didn't hear. The light blue mare prodded Soarin's shoulder and the Wonderbolt co-captain obediatenly turned to face her.

"What'th goin' on with Braeburn? He looks thtressed," She commented, putting a hoof to her chin. Soarin looked over to his high school friend. Sure enough, a bead of sweat was going down his chin and he was mouthing something Soarin couldn't quite make out.

"He's just…under pressure," Soarin decided to say, not wanting to tell the truth, since Fleetfoot would get involved without a doubt. This was strictly between him and Braeburn.

"Well, maybe I could help," Fleetfoot grinned cracking her neck from side to side before prancing over to the earth pony and standing behind him. Braeburn gasped with surprise as Fleetfoot covered his eyes with her hooves. "Gueth who," She whispered into his ear, making Soarin roll his eyes.

"Howdy, Fleetfoot," Braeburn chuckled at the mare as she removed her hooves. She sat down beside him, beginning to yak away like a parrot. Soarin put his head in his hoof, staring past his two friends and out the window. He'd finished all his work so there was nothing left for him to do. When they had nothing to do in their teen years he and Braeburn would play these crazy games like 'What pie am I?' or 'Can we fit Soarin in a pillowcase?' He wasn't too fond of that last one.

Soarin tilted his head to the side and squinted when he saw a grey speck in the sky. Wait. Was it getting _bigger? _Yes, yes it was.

And it was heading right for the window.

"DUCK!" Soarin called to Braeburn and Fleet foot before diving out of the way. Fleetfoot rolled her eyes.

"There are no duckth in Cloudthdale," She tutted at him. Soarin face-hoofed and poked his hoof out from his hiding spot under a table to point at the window.

"No, DUCK!" He repeated. Fleetfoot turned her head to the side and gasped before rugby tackling Braeburn to the ground, moments before the 'whatever-it-was' shot through the open window and skidded across the floor before coming to a stop against the wall. Soarin realised that the 'thing' was a pegasus mare. She had grey fur and yellow-amber cross eyes and her cutie mark was a bunch of bubbles. Soarin rushed over to see if she was okay.

"Oh my gosh, are you hurt?" he asked her, assisting her to her hooves. The mare rubbed her head and nodded.

"Nah, I'm fine," She smiled.

"Um…do you often rocket through windows like that?" He joked. The mare gave a little chuckle.

"Surprisingly often," She replied before shrugging. "I just don't know what goes wrong."

Soarin was surprised at how optimistic this pegasus was after zooming through a window at 80mph. Her eyes uncrossed as she realised something.

"Oh yeah, I just remembered why I came here," She fumbled through the saddlebag she was wearing before pulling out an envelope. "I've got a letter for my friend Rainbow Dash. Do you know where she is?"

"Oh, yeah she's-"

Before Soarin could answer the door to the training grounds opened and Spitfire entered followed by Rainbow Dash and a few of the other cadets.

"What in the name of Celestia just crashed through the window?" The fiery maned mare yelled, sounding ticked. The grey mare bowed her head, her smile fading. Soarin shrugged.

"Everything's fine, Spitfire, the window was open," Soarin tried to look on the bright side of things, though he could tell Spitfire didn't appreciate this. Rainbow Dash gasped and rushed over to her friend.

"Derpy, what're you doing here?" She asked. Soarin raised an eyebrow. This mare's name was Derpy? Appropriate. The mare, now revealed to be Derpy, lit up at the sight of her friend.

"Oh…I was just delivering the mail and…it didn't go so well," She laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her head. Rainbow Dash beamed when Derpy passed her the letter that was addressed to her. Spitfire sighed and readjusted her shades.

"Well, at least that's all this is about. I was worried somepony had dropped a bomb or somethin' in here," She groaned as she looked up at the clock on the wall. "It looks like drills are over for today."

"At least our team won the flag hunt," a pink furred cadet that Soarin had seen Rainbow Dash with before whispered to the green mare beside her. Rainbow Dash looked a little irritated when she heard this.

"Okay, you're dismissed," Spitfire flicked her hoof and the cadets went their separate ways. She began heading back out the door. Soarin then remembered something and looked over to Braeburn. His earth pony friend was standing by the window, staring straight at Spitfire. His jaw was slack and his eyes were wide and Soarin saw that he was drooling a little, too. Fleetfoot stood beside him, prodding his shoulder.

"Braeburn, hellooooo? Anypony in there?" She asked him, poking him harder. Soarin put his head in his hoof and shook his head. When Spitfire vanished through the door, Braeburn showed a sign of life. He dipped his head and grumbled, looking mad at himself. "Are you okay?" Fleetfoot put a hoof on his shoulder. Braeburn sighed and slumped low to the ground.

"Eeyup," he replied, pulling his hat over his eyes.

* * *

Rainbow Dash sat in the kitchen at one of the counters, ripping open the envelope. Derpy sat beside her, eating some of Braeburn's delicious muffins. She unfolded the letter and read it, grinning like a maniac.

_Dear Rainbow Dash,_

_Sorry that we couldn't get Spike to send this. He has a bad case of the trots and I don't want to disturb him. It's a good thing Derpy's always happy to help._

_We're all glad that you've settled in so well, but we're a little concerned about this Spring Song. It's not like you to be bothered by something like this, so if she really is that bad, you should tell Soarin or Braeburn._

The next sentence was in different hoof writing that Rainbow recognised as Pinkie Pie's.

_**Hey, Dashie, I just wanted to ask you something. I never had a chance to try it myself when we went to Cloudsdale before, so can you tell me if clouds taste like cotton candy?**_

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and resumed reading the letter. Pinkie Pie was so random!

_You're not missing much up there. Today we're all helping out at Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack and her family are planting some new trees and we all decided to lend a hoof._

_We'll write to you again, soon._

Rainbow Dash saw that the next part of the letter was written in Fluttershy's hoof.

**Rainbow Dash, could you come and visit us sometime soon. I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to. It's just that we all miss you so much.**

_Your best friends,_

_Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy._

Rainbow Dash smiled as she folded up the letter and tucked it into the pocket of her cadet's uniform. Derpy gave a loud belch as she finished the last muffin. She licked the last crumbed from around her mouth and turned to Braeburn.

"Whoa, your muffins are fantastic!" She exclaimed, throwing her hooves into the air. Rainbow Dash became concerned when they saw that Braeburn was angrily pounding dough, like he had the other day when he was mad at Soarin. Rainbow realised that she still didn't know what they were arguing about back then. She decided that she didn't want to know what he was mad about now; she'd had enough of angry ponies.

"Thanks for delivering this, Derpy, I really appreciate it," Rainbow drew her attention away from the mad earth pony. Derpy smiled one of those signature grins of hers.

"No problem; I'm always happy to help," she gave Rainbow a lopsided salute. She looked behind her at the clock and leapt up from her chair. "I've gotta get going. I've gotta pick Dinky up from school in twenty minutes," She headed out the door, saying a final goodbye.

"See ya, Derps!" Rainbow Dash called after the grey mare. She turned back to Braeburn, opening her mouth to speak to him, wanting to tell him about her letter. She quickly changed her mind when she saw that Braeburn was already talking to himself."

"Ah could've said something!" He raved at himself through gritted teeth, pounding harder on the dough. "Or Ah could've at least smiled!"

Rainbow Dash decided to leave, not really wanting to know what Braeburn was so mad about. She couldn't remember ever seeing him mad. He always had this glow about him, along with a wide smile. Usually, they'd be lucky if he ever shut up. At that moment Soarin burst through the door looking excited.

"Brae, Dash, flour!" He addressed the two ponies and a sack of flour on the counter, making Rainbow Dash shift her eyes uncomfortably. Something must be really exciting if Soarin was talking to inanimate objects. "Blaze, High Winds and Surprise want to come and watch you train with me, Rainbow!"

"That's awesome!" Rainbow exclaimed, jumping up from the chair and flapping her wings with excitement. Braeburn stopped throwing punches at the dough long enough to say 'great'.

"Don't feel down, buddy," Soarin stood beside his friend. Rainbow tilted her head, baffled by all of this. What in Tartarus was up with Braeburn all of a sudden?

"What's goin' on?" Rainbow Dash asked them, wanting to get answers.

"Ah messed up, Soar," Braeburn pulled his hat over his eyes again.

"Messed up WHAT?" Rainbow Dash asked again, growing a little irritated.

"We'll figure something out," Soarin patted his friend on the shoulder.

"I DEMAND TO KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING!" Rainbow bellowed, flapping several feet into the air.

"Ah sure hope so," Braeburn smiled weakly up at Soarin, ignoring Rainbow Dash entirely. Rainbow gave a sound that sounded like a mix of a growl and a groan and stormed out the room, deciding that she wanted no part in their problems, anyway. She was gonna go down to the staff room to wait for Surprise, Blaze and High Winds.

She thought back to the letter from her friends. Was she really letting Spring Song get under her skin like that? Nah. She'd just ignore Spring Song from now on, just like she'd done in drills yesterday. If she paid no attention to Spring Song from now on, there would be nothing to worry about. That's how things would work from here on out.

* * *

"…and they're even gonna take pictures of it!" Soarin finished ranting to Braeburn about Surprise, High Winds and Blaze's agreement to come to one of Rainbow Dash's training session. Braeburn bit his lip, trying to smile. It was hard; he'd never had to go through this before.

"That's great, Soar," He grinned at his friend, though his voice shook as he spoke. He hadn't really been listening to Soarin at all. The events of the afternoon haunted him like a spirit or poltergeist, threatening to drive him insane. The two stallions were heading through the hallways towards the staff room. Rainbow Dash had already left. Soarin looked up at Braeburn, seeming both concerned and mad at the same time.

"Braeburn, this is freaking me out. You _never _frown. Usually you're the happiest pony around, so SNAP OUT OF IT!" Soarin looked uncharacteristically threatening. Braeburn took a step away from him as they rounded a corner. He thanked Celestia that they were almost at the staff room. He just wanted to sit down with a cup of coffee and forget all about what happened earlier. The two friends noticed that one of the doors was open. Braeburn noticed that the sign on it read 'First Aid'. He heard a loud crashing sound from inside followed by some angry muttering. Soarin raised a brow and peered around the door.

"Oh, hey Spitfire, what're you doing in here?" The pegasus stallion asked. Braeburn felt that familiar freezing sensation flow through his body that threatened to completely overtake him. His heart was beating so loud it was like there was an entire marching band in his ears.

"Oh hey, Soarin," came the reply from inside. "Do ya know where the bandages are in here?"

"Yeah, I'll get 'em," Soarin disappeared into the closet and Spitfire came out, still muttering. Braeburn avoided eye contact with her. The two of them just stood there in silence, waiting for Soarin to come out. Every second that past felt like a mallet bashing into Braeburn's head. He wanted to say something, but he just couldn't. "Here they are," Soarin came out with a roll of bandages and tossed them to Spitfire. "Why do ya need them, anyway?" He asked.

"Oh, I was just trying to repair the fog maker on the air obstacle course- loose gear of somethin'- and…as you can see I'm not gifted in that department," The fiery maned mare raised her right front hoof, which was pretty swollen. Braeburn gasped.

"Holy Celestia! What happened?" The earth pony took hold of Spitfire's hoof and raised it up to eye level.

"That's just what happens when you drop a hammer on your hoof," the mare replied, quickly pulling her hoof away from Braeburn and proceeding to wrap the bandages around it. Braeburn realised that she really must have no idea how to repair things if she was trying to fix a loose gear with a hammer. Braeburn looked over to Soarin and saw a look in his eyes that suggested he was planning something. The pegasus stallion looked from Braeburn to Spitfire and then back to Braeburn again.

"Ya know, Braeburn's pretty good at fixing and building things," He told Spitfire. Braeburn's eyes bulged and he shot an angry look at Soarin. What in Equestria was he doing? Spitfire looked up from her bandages to reply.

"He is?" She raised an eyebrow. Soarin stood beside Braeburn and put a hoof on his shoulder.

"Yep. He helped build his hometown and he rebuilt the Apple family farm. A loose gear is nothing to him," Soarin spoke about Braeburn as if he were some kind of new product to be sold. "You'll help out, right Brae?"

"Um…" Braeburn felt that freezing sensation again. He looked down at the ground. Maybe if he wasn't looking at her, he wouldn't mess up. "Sure Ah'll do it," he managed to say. Success!

"Great," Spitfire gave him a tiny smile. "Meet me by the air obstacle course at 1500 hours; the tools are already out there." She headed down the hall and rounded the corner, Braeburn blushing as he found his head swaying side to side in rhythm with the swing of her tail.

"What just happened?" Braeburn rubbed his head, feeling a little faint. Soarin gave him a playful slap on his back that pretty much knocked the breath out of him. He readjusted his cowboy hat before turning to look at his high school buddy.

"I'll tell ya what happened. You scored yourself some alone time with Spitfire," Soarin wiggled his eyebrows and Braeburn gave him a shove that turned out rougher than he'd wanted.

"Nah, _you _scored me some alone time with her," Braeburn corrected Soarin. "Thanks, by the way."

"Anything for my BEPFF," Soarin shrugged. Braeburn tilted his head and mouthed '_what?' _Soarin rolled his eyes. "Best Earth Pony Friend Forever. Duh!" he explained, sticking his tongue out at the end of his sentence. "Now c'mon, we've gotta get to the staff room before Rainbow Dash finds us and _drags_ us there," Soarin practically began pushing Braeburn down the hall. On the outside, Braeburn looked calm but inside his head he was doing a happy dance. He couldn't wait until 1500 hours.

Whenever that was.

* * *

"Hurry up!" Rainbow Dash bellowed from atop a cloud. She was waiting for Soarin to quit talking to High Winds, Blaze and Surprise and get up here! He was gonna show the three Wonderbolt mares how she could now do their firework trick Blaze was holding a camera and was apparently going to photograph the entire trick. Rainbow Dash was practically itching with anticipation and it was taking all of her will power to sit still. She felt a weight lift from her shoulders as Soarin flapped up to sit on the cloud beside her.

"Okay, so you remember everything we practiced?" He checked with her. He had a determined look on his face that showed that he really wanted to prove to the other Wonderbolts how good a mentor he was.

"I do," Rainbow Dash nodded her head enthusiastically, praying that Soarin would only make this a short pep-talk. She wanted to show off her stuff to the three mares watching below and each second that dragged on felt like an _hour._

"Don't forget that we do a flip at the end," Soarin put a hoof on her shoulder.

"I remember," Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

"And if you don't feel like you've got enough speed at the climax of the trick you can kick off me."

"I know."

"Remember that timing is everything; if we try and make the fireworks even a _moment _apart the entire thing could look like a mess!"

"I KNOW!"

"And make sure that-"

"SOARIN!" Rainbow Dash glared up at her mentor with both annoyance and humour in her magenta eyes. Soarin sighed and spread his wings. He'd taken off his officer's uniform for this. Rainbow Dash had never had much of an opportunity to examine the co-captain without his uniform. His pale blue fur looked quite soft and she couldn't help but notice his odd cutie mark: a lightning bolt through two crested waves. She wondered what his special talent was. Maybe she'd ask him later.

"Okay, let's get this show on the road," Soarin stared straight ahead. Rainbow Dash felt her entire body tingle with adrenaline and she began aching for Soarin to just say-

"NOW!"

That was the cue. Rainbow Dash and Soarin took off, Rainbow flying diagonally right, Soarin flying diagonally left. Rainbow looked over to Soarin, waiting for him to give her the signal. He shifted his eyes to the left and gave Dash a wink. That was the sign to go on to the next part of the trick.

The two pegasi flew closer together until they could safely circle around eachother. They then flew in a straight line up until they had gathered enough speed to create the firework.

Rainbow and Soarin flew in a knot formation around eachother before zooming in opposite direction, Rainbow letting out a loud cheer as the two of them left behind an explosion of colourful fireworks. She did the final flip before swooping downwards. Rainbow heard cheers erupt from Surprise, High Winds, Blaze and Braeburn down below and Surprise even threw come confetti into the air. Rainbow giggled at how much she reminded her of Pinkie Pie. She grinned as she though that sooner or later she would be performing that trick in front of hundreds of ponies. She touched down on the cloudy ground and the four observing ponies rushed over to congratulate her. Soarin landed beside her a few seconds later and Rainbow Dash immediately began ranting about the trick.

"WHOA! Did you see me, Soarin? I was like _whoosh _and you were all _zoom _and then we went _**BOOM **_and we make such a good team, and you were AWESOME!" Rainbow Dash halted her blabbering and threw herself at Soarin, squeezing the breath out of him.

"Heh…we _do_ make a good team," Soarin replied, squeezing her, too. Rainbow Dash swore she heard High Winds say 'aaaw' but she had no idea why. She parted from Soarin and gave a little bounce, feeling like the happiest pony in Equestria. Surprise piped up.

"Hey, how about we celebrate Rainbow Dash's awesomeness with some muffins?" She suggested, earning murmurs of agreement throughout the assembled six ponies. "Say, anypony have the time?" She added, looking at her bare wrist. High Winds looked at the watch that was hanging around her neck.

"3:15," She replied, before heading off to the mess hall. "Hurry up, slowpokes; we can look over the pictures we took of the trick while we eat."

"Yeah, last one there's a pile of dragon doody!" Surprise chirped, flapping ahead of the other ponies. Rainbow Dash was about to take off after her when Braeburn tapped her on the shoulder. Rainbow Dash turned to meet his gaze.

"Um, Dash. What time is 1500 hours?" The earth pony asked, looking a little worried. Rainbow Dash raised a brow, wondering why the light gold stallion would want to know something like that.

"3 O'clock. Why?" Rainbow asked. Braeburn suddenly gasped and took off in the other direction in a panic, leaving a cloud of dust behind him. Rainbow blinked, confused, as the dust settled.

"Um…bye then?" she said to the air.

* * *

Spitfire leaned against the purple fog maker, tapping her left hind hoof on the cloud ground. He was meant to be here fifteen minutes ago, so where in Equestria was he? The golden pegasus leaned her head against the machine, gritting her teeth. If that earth pony didn't show up she'd…she'd…she didn't know! Usually the fiery tempered mare could come up with a threat in moments, but she was completely stumped this time. She couldn't slap him or anything, he was too…nice. She allowed herself to sink down into the clouds, feeling comforted at their softness.

She began tracing circles in the clouds. Being the Wonderbolt captain was pretty stressful. Then again, she was always stressed. Always. And if she wasn't stressed she'd be angry, upset or tired. She looked behind her at the shiny, purple fog maker, catching sight of her reflection. She lifted her shades, sighing as she set her eyes on her regular frown. The only things that could really make her smile were her teammates and Rainbow Dash. She shook off her sadness and pushed her sunglasses back up her nose. She was aware of approaching hoofsteps and turned to see Soarin's earth pony friend approaching. She was about to give him a stern talking to when he spoke instead. He sounded frantic and worried.

"Ah'm real sorry that Ah'm late ma'am. Soarin wanted me t' watch him and Rainbow Dash do a trick and Ah guess we lost track of time. Ah didn't intend for this ta happen. Please excuse muh rudeness," He took off his cowboy hat and wrung it in his hooves. Spitfire was pretty baffled. Why did he care so much about being late…and why did he want her forgiveness. She was still ticked but she just shrugged it off.

"It's no big deal, at least you're here" she said, leaning back against the fog maker. The earth pony lit up and put his hat back on, trotting over to the red tool box that was resting beside the machine. He opened up the hatch in the back of the fog maker that contained all the mechanisms and began tinkering away with a wrench, probably trying to locate the loose gear.

"So…uh…what's it like, ya know, bein' the captain of the Wonderbolt's?" the stallion (Spitfire tried to remember his name; Bertie…Brandie…Braeburn! That was it!) asked her. Spitfire folded her arms and began kicking at a tuft of cloud that stuck out from the rest of the ground.

"It's…cool," She stated, simply. Why did he even care? She stopped kicking the cloud and stared straight down. Her ears pricked up as she caught the sound of Braeburn whistling as he worked. "So…I thought you were an apple bucker? Where did you learn to build things?" She asked him. She didn't know much about earth ponies, but she knew that unicorns were more common repair ponies that them.

"My father taught me," He replied cheerfully, not taking his eyes off his work. "And he learnt from his father and so on."

Spitfire felt a pang of envy as she heard the stallion talk about his family. She let out a small sigh as she thought of how big the apple family was. It made her family of one look absolutely pathetic. She felt ashamed for even thinking about it. She didn't need a family.

"There we go, all done!" Braeburn stepped back to admire his work. Spitfire shut the hatch and moved to the front of the machine where the button that turned it on and off was. She pressed it and sure enough a strong jet of fog shot out the front of it. Spitfire found herself pretty impressed, which didn't really happen often, unless Rainbow Dash did a Sonic Rainboom. She turned it off again and walked back round to Braeburn.

"I've gotta admit, you did good," She gave him a look of approval before reaching into the pocket of her captains uniform and pulling out her wallet, which was made of black leather and had her cutie mark embroidered into it. "So, how much do ya want?" She asked him. Braeburn looked shocked as she said this.

"Wait, what?" He asked her. Spitfire raised her wallet up.

"How many bits do you want?" She repeated, a little clearer. Braeburn shook his head.

"Nah, Ah can't ask for money. This is on the house," He told her. It was Spitfire's turn to look shocked. She couldn't help but feel a little suspicious, too

"You seriously want to do this for nothing? But…you've gotta want _something_" She said, her confusion clearly shown on her face. Braeburn shook his head again.

"Nnnope," He spoke in that accent of his. "If ya need somethin' else repaired, ya know where ta find me."

Spitfire just gave him a nod, feeling pretty bewildered. Why would he do this for nothing? It just wasn't normal. Ponies never did favours for Captain Spitfire and she didn't do favours for anypony else. That was just the way things worked.

"See ya later, ma'am," Braeburn smiled at her as he walked away, back to the mess hall, where he disappeared through the double doors, leaving Spitfire alone with her confusion. She sighed and took off her sunglasses, letting them hang limply around her neck by the red string they were attached to.

"_Control your Celestia damn emotions," _She thought to herself, rubbing her temples. This earth pony was too kind for his own good. Kind ponies had a way of working their way into Spitfire's head and rooting themselves there. She shook her head and trotted over to the other side of the fog machine. She turned it on, her mane being swept in one direction as the force of the fog thundered past her. She then turned it off again, then on again and then off again. Finally she stared straight up at the purple machine, knowing that now it was fixed it'd be good for the cadets to use in an exercise.

But she had no idea _which _exercise the cadets could use it in. She just couldn't focus. Because no matter what she tried…

She couldn't get Braeburn out of her mind.

* * *

Rainbow Dash stared at the piece of paper she'd balanced on her nose. She blew it up in the air only for it to float back down onto her face again. She sat up with much difficulty, groaning at the uneasy feeling in her stomach. After she'd performed the trick with Soarin, they'd gone back to the kitchen to make muffins. Unfortunately, since Braeburn had run off to who-knows-where and none of the remaining ponies knew how to cook very well, they'd decided to wing it. The resulting muffins weren't nearly as good as the ones Braeburn made, not at all. They must have forgotten a few ingredients because Rainbow knew that muffins weren't supposed to be sticky and blobby. But, they'd eaten them anyway and in the end they'd all had to leave with tummy aches. Rainbow decided to just get the letter over with so she could lie back until her tummy felt normal again. She grabbed the quill in her teeth and began to hurriedly write.

_Hey, guys!_

_I'm gonna make this one quick, because my stomach's not feeling right…at all! Life lesson for you guys, when life gives you ingredients to make muffins, WAIT FOR A PROFESSIONAL TO MAKE THEM!_

_Everything was okay today, I guess. Spring Song's team totally thrashed mine in the flag hunt today and she's probably never gonna let me live that down. In other news, I finally got to perform a trick in front of the Wonderbolt's today. I'd send you the pictures if Blaze had remembered to take the lens cap off it before using it. As you can imagine, I was awesome. _

_I'll write tomorrow, as usual, and promise to send _me _another letter soon. Derpy literally delivered your last one with a crash!_

_Yours outstandingly,_

_Rainbow Dash._

Rainbow sighed as she rolled her letter up and practically threw it into her saddlebag. She lay flat on her bed and groaned. She was only able to lie there for a few moments before feeling a little queasy. She jumped up in alarm and made a B-line for the door as she felt a churning sensation in her belly, taking a sharp right as she headed for the bathrooms.

She'd never be able to look at muffins in the same way again after this!

* * *

**This is now the longest chapter in the story so far, which kinda explains the long time it took to get done. Sorry about that by the way. Hey, I've just realised something. This is the first time since chapter four that I've wrote from each of the four main characters' point of view. Anyway, the story continues in chapter nine where we take a small time jump and Rainbow Dash and Spring Song have a little confrontation.**


	9. Horseshoe Hunting

**Authors Note: This chapter is rated T for some slight bloodshed.**

Sparkling-nexis137- I teared up a little when I read that my story was your favourite. Thank you! *hugs*. I promise that this story will get better, too.

* * *

"I can't believe I've been here two weeks already," Rainbow Dash sighed as she reclined atop the fluffy cloud that was suspended directly above the Academy, putting her shades on to block out the sun. With March slowly turning into April, the weather was growing warmer. Drills had ended for today and Rainbow Dash and Soarin had just finished their latest lesson. Soarin had taught her a double Buccaneer Blaze, as promised, and Rainbow was now relaxing with a soda in one hoof, stress free and feeling fulfilled. Soarin sat beside her, sipping some lemonade.

"It's gone too fast," He agreed, swallowing his drink. "Pretty soon you'll be leaving for Ponyville again…" he sounded almost sad. Rainbow lifted up her shades and gave Soarin and annoyed glower.

"Don't say that, Soar. There's still over three months!" Rainbow didn't want the boot camp to end, either, but she was looking forward to seeing her friends again. Speaking of Dash's friends, they had agreed over letters to meet up sometime, maybe at the Spring Celebration that Ponyville held each year to celebrate the arrival of spring.

"Sorry, Dash. I don't want you to leave, that's all," he sighed, laying on his tummy and putting his head in one hoof. Rainbow was a little confused. Did he mean that he'd miss _her _or he'd miss _all _the cadets? True, he didn't really know most of the cadets that well, though. Maybe he just wasn't looking forward to all that work that came after the boot camp.

"Hey, I'll become a Wonderbolt soon enough and then we can fly together all the time," Rainbow tried to perk him up, falling into another of her daydreams of flying with her lifelong heroes. Soarin gave her a huge smile.

"I know you'll be a Wonderbolt, too, Dashie. I don't have a single doubt in my mind."

Rainbow lifted up her shades and gave Soarin a weird look. "Dashie?" She echoed him. Nopony except her friends called her Dashie. Soarin shifted his eyes.

"Oh, sorry, Dash. I understand if you don't want me to call you that. It's just that I heard your friends call you Dashie before and… I just liked the sound of it," he shrugged. Rainbow gave him a smirk that said 'meh'.

"I don't mind, Soarin, you go ahead and call me whatever you want," she told him, putting her shades back on and taking a gulp of her soda. She would miss hanging out with him. It wasn't every day that a Wonderbolt came up to her offering to help her with tricks. Now that she thought about it, she would consider Soarin her best friend at the academy. A little over a week ago she may have said it was Spring Song, but now the pink mare was acting like a jerk. For the past week Rainbow Dash had been avoiding the blond pegasus like the plague. She hadn't been bothered by her for quite some time; maybe she'd given up and realised that Rainbow wasn't easy prey. She smirked as she imagined a blue bunny outrunning an angry pink fox.

"What are you smiling at?" Soarin asked her, noticing Dash's expression. Dash smirked a little more, picturing the pink fox covered in mud, now.

"Oh, nothin'," She chuckled, sipping her soda again.

* * *

Horseshoe Hunting.

It was one of the more elusive activities at the Academy, but it was by far the most intense. It combined the Wonderbolts' skills of flight, defense, attack and speed in one big activity.

The rules of Horseshoe Hunting were simple. There were twenty horseshoes hidden around the training grounds, some silver, and some gold. The cadets were separated into two teams, also gold or silver. The ponies in the gold team had to find all the silver horseshoes and put them in their stash (most commonly a crack in a cloud or cliff) and the silver team had to find all the gold horseshoes and put them in _their _stash. But it wasn't all that simple. The teams can get their horseshoes back by stealing them from their opponents' stash and fighting for them. The first team to find all of their horseshoes wins. Most Horseshoe Hunts could last anywhere from one hour to four, but on the rare occasion, they took more than one set of drills to finish.

Rainbow Dash couldn't wait to get started. The Horseshoe Hunt sounded super fun. She was on the gold team with Beau, Stargazer, Sugar Swoop, Paradise, Smart Set and Free Fall.

"We're totally gonna kick the other teams flanks!" Sugar Swoop declared putting on his most determined face. Rainbow Dash had made it her goal to win, especially since Spring Song was on the silver team. Since Rainbow was on the gold team, she had a gold coloured band around her hoof that was identical to the ones the rest of her team was wearing.

"Are you all ready?" Spitfire called out to the cadets as they stood on opposite sides of the landing strip. The golden mare was replied by a bunch of enthusiastic cheers of agreement. She blew her whistle and the two teams of seven took off into the air to find those horseshoes. Rainbow Dash saw that her team was mostly searching around the mountain, so she decided to look by the Dizzitron. She zoomed over to the towering device and nosed around the clouds surrounding it. She looked on top of it and then finally trotted over to the control panel that worked the machine. She let out a silent cheer as she saw a silver horseshoe hooked around one of the levers. She took it in her teeth and flapped off, deciding to find the others and find out where their stash was.

She encountered Sugar Swoop atop a cloud hovering close to the mountain. "Hey guys, I found one," she declared, taking the horseshoe out of her mouth so she could talk. Sugar Swoop gave her a slap on the back.

"Awesome, Dash!" He congratulated her. "The stash is over here," he led her over to a crevice in the mountain. Rainbow Dash, however, didn't think this was the best place for their stash.

"Seriously, Sugar Swoop, a hole in the mountain? That's too obvious. We need to place our stash somewhere that the other team won't even think to look," Rainbow threw her hooves into the air to emphasize. The rest of her team gathered around to try and think of somewhere to hide their stash. Rainbow tapped her noggin as if trying to knock an idea into her head. She let out a gasp as she got an idea. She knew that pegasi tended to fly high above the ground to see things better. So the answer was simple. They needed to hide it _under _something.

"Did ya think of something?" Free Fall asked Rainbow, looking hopeful. Rainbow Dash nodded and motioned for them to fly around the mountain a little. The group were led to a large shrub perched on an outcrop of a cliff.

"We can hide the horseshoes under here," she placed her silver horseshoe under the shrub to demonstrate and then, as if given a silent command, Stargazer fluttered into the air and looked down at the shrub.

"Nice thinking, Rainbow Dash, I can't see it at all from up here," the charcoal coloured mare reported in that usual high, hippie-like voice of hers. Rainbow grinned to herself, congratulating herself on a job-well-done.

"Now, we need somepony to stay here and guard our stash just in case. Who wants to be our guard?" Rainbow Dash asked her team.

"Ooh, pick me!" Paradise raised her hoof. Rainbow Dash saw that none of the other ponies wanted to take this position so she allowed Paradise to guard the stash, reminding her that she had to pretend to look for horseshoes so she wouldn't give away their stash.

"As for the rest of us, Beau and Free Fall will look around the mountain some more, Sugar Swoop will try and find out where the other teams stash is, Stargazer and Smart Set will look around the air obstacle course and I'll look by the other training devices," She listed the team's positions and they eagerly split up to search for horseshoes.

Rainbow Dash managed to find one buried in a clump of clouds beside the racetrack and headed to the stash to put it there. Paradise was doing a good job being the guard. She was flapping around the clouds near the cliff face, making sure to keep one eye on the shrub at all times. Rainbow gave her a nod of approval, which Paradise quickly returned. The green mare was slowly talking to Rainbow Dash more, though she only did whenever Spring Song wasn't around. That wasn't very often at all since Paradise followed Spring Song around like a shadow. Dash almost felt sorry for Paradise. Spring Song treated her like a slave, when Paradise saw Spring Song as her BFF. Rainbow frowned as she realised that Paradise probably didn't even know what _real _friendship was. She wished she could help her. She sighed and returned to looking for horseshoes. She encountered Lullaby and Cinder searching by the Dizzitron. She was about to tell them that there weren't any horseshoes there before remembering that they were on the opposite team. Instead, she waved at them. Lullaby cupped a hoof around her mouth and called out:

"We're totally gonna win!"

Rainbow smirked before yelling back. "In your dreams!"

They both burst out laughing and Cinder giggled a little, too. Rainbow suddenly felt the air go cold and as she looked up from her spot at the end of the landing strip to see a familiar pink pegasus flapping down to talk to Lullaby and Cinder.

"Did you find any horseshoes, yet?" Spring Song asked Lullaby. The purple mare beamed as she held up her hoof. She had cleverly tucked the horseshoe in the silver band she was wearing.

"Nice job, Lullaby," Spring Song smiled at the other mare. "Now, go and put it in the stash and make sure nopony from the gold team follows you."

Rainbow Dash realised that Spring Song probably hadn't noticed her yet, which gave her the perfect chance to find the other teams stash and plan a way to steal the horseshoes and hide them again. She suddenly became aware of Spring Song speaking to Cinder. The timid blue mare shrunk back a little, not meeting Spring Song's gaze.

"_Well_?" Spring Song hissed at Cinder. "Did you find any horseshoes or not?"

"N-n-no. Sorry, S-s-spring Song," Cinder trembled, as sweat began to appear on her brow. Spring Song shoved her face in Cinders so they were nose to nose.

"Well, you'd better find some or I'll take every stuttering syllable of yours and shove them back down your throat," she threatened. Cinder flew off faster than Rainbow had ever seen her fly before. She was basically a dark blue blur. Rainbow felt her blood boil and marched over to Spring Song.

"Hey, Spring Song, what they hay was that for?" Dash poked the pink pegasus roughly on the shoulder. Spring Song gave Rainbow Dash a phoney smile.

"Oh, hey there, _Rainbow Dash_," she chirped, saying _Rainbow Dash_ the same way you'd say 'garbage'.

"Enough of the chatter, Spring Song, you didn't have to talk to Cinder like that, ya know."

Spring Song rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up, Rainbow _Crash_, Cinder can handle it. She may be the most useless cadet here, but she's think-skinned."

Rainbow raised her hoof to slap the pink mare senseless, before forcing herself to put it back down, tapping it on the cloudy ground instead to keep it occupied. "How dare you speak about her that way, you…you…" Rainbow couldn't think of anything insulting enough to say.

"Just go away, Dash. Don't you have some horseshoes to find…not that you _will _find any," Spring Song flapped away after that, leaving Rainbow Dash alone with her pent up anger. She briefly lost herself in a vision of strapping Spring Song to the Dizzitron before telling herself to just continue with the Horseshoe Hunt. She wanted it all to be over. Still muttering negative things about Spring Song, Rainbow Dash made her way back to Paradise at the stash.

"How many horseshoes are there, now?" she asked the green mare. Paradise fluttered down to land beside the shrub and lifted it up revealing nine silver horseshoes.

"One more to go," Paradise smiled brightly. Rainbow was relieved that this game would soon end. "Turns out that the silver team were finding their own horseshoes and hiding them all in a different stash and you should have seen their faces when Sugar Swoop stole them all," she added, giggling.

"Thank Celestia for that," Rainbow commented, wiping her brow. "You heard anything from Stargazer, Smart Set and the others?"

"Yeah, Beau and Free Fall found two around the mountain. Stargazer and Smart set found a gold one but apart from that, nothing," Paradise reported. "I'm just glad you didn't send anypony to look in the storm clouds. I mean you'd have to be a total pea brain to go in there," she added, looking warily up at the cluster of storm clouds that Dash had flown through in the race. A light bulb went off in Rainbow Dash's head.

The storm clouds!

Of course!

There must be a horseshoe or two hidden in there somewhere. It was the most challenging place to go in the entire academy, so it must be some kind of test of strength to see who could brave the tempest clouds. Rainbow took off without another word at full speed towards the cluster of clouds, ignoring Paradise's cry of 'I didn't know you were a pea brain!'

Rainbow gulped as she flew into the greyness of the storm clouds. She braved the strong winds and focused on trying to locate a silver horseshoe on one of the clouds. She looked and looked and looked with no luck. UGH! Maybe there weren't any horseshoes in here. Suddenly she saw something glint out of the corner of her eye. She gasped and zoomed over to it, trying her best to shield her eyes from the pummelling of the wind. She reached out a hoof and smiled as she felt something heavy and horseshoe-shaped. She triumphantly looked at the prize in her hoof only for her features to fall when she saw what it was.

A _gold _horseshoe.

"OH, COME ON!" Rainbow yelled, looking with fury at the horseshoe. Where in Equestria was the last silver one?

"Rainbow Dash?"

Oh no.

Spring Song loomed at one end of the cluster of clouds, one eyebrow raised. She caught sight of what Rainbow Dash was holding and began flapping over. "Give me that, Rainbow Crash. That's the last one my team needs!"

"What? There's no way you're getting this!" Rainbow clutched the horseshoe to her chest like it was some kind of precious treasure. "Why would I give you this anyways, 'cause I know it'll cause my team to lose?"

"Whoa, it's smarter than I thought," Spring Song muttered to herself. Rainbow felt her entire body burn as the word '_it_' came out of Spring Song's big mouth. She'd started calling Dash an 'It'!

"Go away, Spring Song. My team's gonna win and ya know what the best part about it is? There's nothing you can do about it!" Rainbow Dash taunted the pink pegasus, who gave the rainbow maned mare her signature scowl.

"Is that so?" She suddenly smirked. What was she up to? Suddenly, she lunged at Rainbow Dash and grabbed the horseshow, trying to tug it from Rainbow Dash's grasp.

"Hey, no fair!" Rainbow tugged harder. She then remembered that the cadets were free to fight each other for the horseshoes. Rainbow delivered a sharp kick to Spring Song's stomach, knocking the breath out of the pink demon-pony, causing her to clutch her tummy. Rainbow flapped her wings frantically, cursing as a furious gust of wind sent her tumbling over and over. She felt a strong pain between her ears and for a moment everything went fuzzy. She didn't realise that Spring Song had grabbed the horseshoe until she waved it in front of the cyan mare's face. Despite the throbbing in her head, Rainbow Dash grabbed Spring Song's hind legs as she tried to fly away and pulled her back, taking pleasure in the pink mare's squeals as she tried desperately to free herself from Rainbow Dash's strong hold. Rainbow winced as Spring Song suddenly kicked back with her left leg and made contact with Rainbow Dash's cheek. Rainbow clutched her sore cheek. She probed the inside of it with her tongue and tasted blood.

Spring Song was gonna get it.

Lightning cracked over their heads as Rainbow wrapped her front hooves around the fleeing Spring Song's waist and shook her, laughing with pride as she released the horseshoe, leaving Rainbow free to grab it and zoom away. The lighting crackled around her, darn near striking Rainbow as she weaved her way around the fast streaks of electricity. The wind was stronger and it was getting harder and harder to fly. To top it all off, it was raining. The storm cloud cluster in the Academy was the only place where you could find tempest clouds that never stopped spawning lightning. Usually, the entire area around it was safe from the thunder and other hazards. Rainbow knew that all she had to do to get to safety was make her way out of the clouds. She felt Spring Song tackle her from behind again and wrap her hooves around her throat. Rainbow gagged as the pink mare squeezed the air from her lungs. Rainbow managed to buck the mare from her back and turned to face her as she regained her control. Looks like they were gonna have to do things the hard way,

The two cadets zoomed at one another, Spring Song roaring in that stupid high voice of hers. Rainbow gritted her teeth as Spring Song rammed into her head-first. Each mare struggled at get a good hold of the other, pawing and punching each other. Spring Song managed to punch Rainbow's cheek, the same one as before, and Rainbow spat out some blood. She kicked Spring Song off her, still managing to keep hold of the horseshoe. Spring Song steadied herself and looked up just in time to get a slug in the face from Dash. Rainbow Dash became more frustrated as Soring Song blocked two more of her punches. They flew around each other, each glaring daggers at the other. Rainbow Dash knew that this was getting a little out of control but by now she was too angry to care.

Spring Song threw a flurry of punches at Rainbow's face, which the cyan mare blocked with ease. But with her hooves guarding her face, Spring Song had a clear target: her stomach. With a powerful hind-hoof-kick, Rainbow got the air pummelled from her. Rainbow felt tears sting her eyes as she clutched her throbbing tummy. This gave Spring Song more than enough time to sock Dash round the face again. Rainbow flew back, clashing with a storm cloud, wincing at the electric shock it gave her. The horseshoe was still safely in Rainbow's hoof.

Was it worth it? All this for a horseshoe?

Or was there more to it than that? Was Spring Song still mad at her for the whole Ray thing the other day? Spring Song just wouldn't listen to reason. When she told her that she didn't like Ray, the pink mare didn't believe her, but why?

"Hey, Dash, I know you like lounging bout and all, but this is a fight! GET UP!" Spring Song mocked, looking like a fierce beast with the blood trickling down her cheek, the lightning that crashed down all around her just added to her extreme evil-ness. Rainbow ducked as Spring Song whizzed towards her and the cyan mare punched Spring Song in her soft tummy as she sailed overhead. Spring Song bounced off the clouds, back into the fight and right into Rainbow Dash's clenched hoof. Spring Song clutched her jaw and spat out some blood before whipping round and returning Rainbow's punch, grabbing the horseshoe at last. Rainbow flapped up and used both hind legs to kick Spring Song in the gut, making the pegasus mare double over with a yelp of pain. Rainbow wrapped her fore hooves around Spring Song's windpipe and she squeezed. Spring Song began to splutter and choke and her eyes grew cloudy.

"Not so tough after all, eh?" Rainbow taunted, squeezing as hard as she could. Spring Song looked up to meet Dash's eyes. Rainbow was about to deliver a punch to the mare's face when her features softened and everything seemed to stop.

What was she doing?

She was fighting another pony over something as worthless as a stallion. Spring Song was bleeding heaving and now Rainbow Dash was strangling her. Judging by the limpness of her body, Spring Song was barely conscious. Rainbow felt her heart ache as she realised that she was being as much of a monster as Spring Song. She released the mare who took the biggest gulp of air ever, her messed up mane sticking to her face due to the rain. She looked like something that had just crawled out of the gutter, the gash on her cheek oozing blood one of her eyes swollen and purple coloured.

"Spring Song-" Rainbow Dash was suddenly knocked back by Spring Song again and pinned against a storm cloud that sent volts of electricity through her body.

"You! Useless! Pile of! Feathers!" Spring Song kicked Rainbow Dash roughly with each outburst. The two mares brawled for what felt like forever, punching, kicking, biting, ripping each other's fur until finally, Spring Song bucked Rainbow Dash away, right into the path of an oncoming lightning bolt. Rainbow felt her entire body sting like never before and the edges of her vision became blurry. She couldn't remember ever being in this much pain before. The electricity flowed through her veins like fire and she felt herself falling. She tried to flap her wings, call for help, anything, but it was like she couldn't control her body anymore. She was just a mind falling through the air, through the clouds. She felt her body go limp.

The last thing she heard was somepony calling her name before she blacked out.

* * *

"Rainbow Dash?"

The cyan mare tried to open her eyes but it was like they were glued shut. They were so heavy it was like trying to lift an elephant. She opened her mouth and a pained groan escaped her lips.

"She's awake, Doc!"

"S-Soarin?" Rainbow managed to open her eyes and she squinted at the sudden light. When her magenta eyes finally adjusted to the light she saw Soarin, Braeburn and Spitfire standing around her, looking down at her with concern.

"Wh-what happened?" Rainbow asked, sitting up. She was in a bed, _her_ bed, in _her _room.

"You got struck by lightning," Spitfire replied, passing Rainbow a glass of water, which she eagerly downed in seconds. "What were you doing up there, anyway?"

Rainbow tilted her head. "Looking for horseshoes, of course," she answered. It was Spitfire's turn to look confused.

"We never put any horseshoes in the tempest cloud cluster," she informed Dash. "It's too dangerous."

"But…there was a horseshoe there. A gold one. Spring Song had it," Rainbow explained. This was crazy. If Spitfire, Whiplash and Fast Clip never hid horseshoes up there, then how could there possibly be one tucked in a cloud? She was hurting too much to put much thought into it and the same nurse who had helped Fast Clip the other day showed up, holding a clipboard.

"It's great to see you're okay, Rainbow Dash. Luckily that lightning bolt only struck your wing otherwise things could've been a lot worse," she smiled down at Rainbow. "It's a good thing Spitfire was there to catch you," she added, looking gratefully at the Wonderbolt captain. Rainbow made a mental note to thank Spitfire once she'd got out of bed. Wait! That reminded her of something.

"I'm not bedridden am I, doc?" Rainbow asked hopefully. She hated being stuck in bed. The nurse shook her head.

"No, you'll be fine by morning. You just have to stay firmly on the ground for the rest of today, just to give your struck wing some time to get better. Struck wings are perfectly fine until overused, so just let it rest."

Rainbow heaved a sigh of relief, the fuzziness finally disappearing from her head. She sat up in bed and stretched, realising that she wasn't wearing her cadet uniform anymore. Somepony must have taken it off for her. She got up and shook herself, looking in the mirror on the wall. Her cheek had a band aid on it and a dark purple bruise was on her tummy. Apart from that, she was the same old Rainbow Dash. The nurse left after that after reminding Rainbow not to fly until tomorrow.

"How's about we go to the kitchen and get some pie?" Braeburn suggested. Soarin licked his lips.

"That sounds great, Brae. Race ya!" Soarin galloped out of the room and charged down the hall.

"The kitchen's the other way!" Rainbow Dash called after him. A moment later, Soarin whizzed past the door again and Rainbow rolled her eyes at his behaviour.

"I've gotta get back to my office," Spitfire excused herself, beginning to trot away. Rainbow put a hoof on the captain's shoulder.

"Nope. You're not getting out of it this time. You're gonna come to the kitchen with us whether ya like it or not, right Braeburn?" Rainbow looked over to the earth pony for back up. He shifted his eyes.

"Well…ya don't have to, but um…you could- Ah mean, err…" Rainbow raised a hoof to get him to shut up. It was a simple yes or no question.

"You could use a break," Rainbow pointed out. "Pleeeeeaaase?" she squeed, putting on a pair of puppy dog eyes that could turn a chicken hawk soft. Spitfire face hoofed.

"Ugh! If I say yes will you never do that eye thing again?" she asked, adjusting her shades. "It freaks me out a little."

"YES!"

The two mares jumped and looked over to see Braeburn jumping in the air. He became aware of their eyes on him and began trotting down the hall, grinning sheepishly and his face red. Rainbow shook her head, dismissing Braeburn's crazy behaviour.

"Is he usually that…" Spitfire fumbled to find the right word.

"Crazy?" Rainbow suggested.

"Yeah," Spitfire agreed.

"Yeah…he hangs around Soarin way too much," Rainbow chuckled. The two mares and Braeburn headed to the kitchen, where Soarin was already getting the ingredients. Rainbow headed through the door and turned to see Braeburn holding the door open for Spitfire, who gave him a nod of thanks. Braeburn closed the door but forgot to move, causing the door to slam into his head. Rainbow buried her face in a hoof, muttering something negative about the earth pony.

"Okay, let's bake, then," Braeburn put on his blue apron.

"NO!" Rainbow Dash and Soarin yelled in unison, surprising Braeburn.

"You can cook, we learnt our lesson about cooking without you yesterday," Soarin admitted, turning green at the memory. Braeburn raised a brow.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You don't wanna know," Rainbow replied, shaking her head. Braeburn shrugged it off.

"Ya wanna help, ma'am?" Braeburn asked Spitfire, who looked surprised he asked.

"Me? Oh…I don't bake," she replied, looking a little ashamed. Braeburn shook his head at her.

"Anypony can bake, ma'am. Ya just need to give it a try," he insisted. Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to say that that wasn't always true when Soarin clamped a hoof over her mouth for some reason.

"Sorry, Cowboy, I just _can't _bake," Spitfire repeated herself.

"Well at least watch, then maybe you'll change your mind?" Braeburn suggested. Spitfire looked away for a moment, before sighing and walking over to stand beside Braeburn at the counter. He looked pleased she'd decided to watch and began explaining how to make apple pie. Soarin finally took his hoof away from Rainbow's mouth allowing her to speak.

"What the hay was that for?" she asked him. Soarin chuckled, his eyes never leaving the two ponies at the counter.

"Oh…nothin'."

* * *

_Hi, everypony,_

_Nothing really happened today. Drills were fine although my team lost the game. There's no reason to worry about me whatsoever, so just carry on with your lives as normal._

_Yours normally, _

_Rainbow Dash._

Rainbow sighed in relief, relieved to have finished her letter. She had no intention of telling her friends what happened. She didn't even want to think about it. She flopped down on her bed after putting the letter in her saddle bags and looked over at Spring Song's empty bed.

She wished that they could just make amends, then none of this would happen. She was feeling fine now although she could feel a scar on the inside of her cheek. Rainbow got up and trotted across the room, opening up the window and sticking her head out, the night breeze ruffling her rainbow coloured mane. She could see the training grounds from here and her stomach lurched when she saw the cluster of tempest clouds. Spitfire's words from earlier about how horseshoes were never hidden up there returned and the cyan mare's suspicion grew. How did the horseshoe get up there? She had a feeling that this was no mistake. Somepony had put the horseshoe up there without Spitfire or her assistants knowing.

And she was determined to find out who.

* * *

**Endnote: Oh my gosh! That fight scene was fun to write. This is the first time I've ever written something like that and I apologise if it wasn't all that good. Tune in next time when Soarin takes Rainbow Dash on a day around Cloudsdale to clear her head.**


	10. An Intimate Trip, part 1

**Authors Note: It's time to start the big 1-0!**

**Ten chapters in two months? That's an academy record!**

**So, this chapter is the beginning of what I'd like to call the 'Golden Horseshoe Mystery' (you can tell I put a lot of thought into that name…NOT!) Over the course of the story Rainbow Dash will be trying to figure out who put the horseshoe from the last chapter into the tempest cloud cluster, causing her to get struck by lightning. I'll continue this note at the end of the chapter because at this rate my pre-chapter rants will become longer than the actual chapters.**

**So, to celebrate ten chapters of this story I figured that you guys would like to see a little more SoarinDash, so here it is. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Dismissed!"

Rainbow Dash felt relief wash over her as Spitfire let the cadets leave. After yesterday's events all she wanted was to flop down on her bed and take a good long nap. Her cheek was still sore from the times Spring Song had hit it and her tummy still bore that bruise, which had turned a blue colour. The cyan mare began to trot away when suddenly she was surrounded by the other cadets, who all began bombarding her with questions.

"Are you okay?"

"What happened?"

"Does it still hurt?"

Paradise slunk to the front of the group and, as if given an order, the rest of the cadet's ceased to make a sound. The green mare cleared her throat and spoke solemnly.

"I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash. I should've tried to stop you from flying into the clouds," she sniffled, hanging her head. Rainbow put a hoof on her friends shoulder.

"It's okay, Paradise, it was my fault for being such a…pea brain," Rainbow quoted Paradise, who let out a little giggle. Just then, Rainbow Dash was knocked to the floor by something heavy. Once her vision had cleared from the impact, Dash felt something hugging her tightly.

"Oh, Rainbow Dash, I was so scared when you got struck," Stargazer's hippie voice rang out, alerting Rainbow Dash that it wasn't Spring Song tackling her again. She heard a few quiet sobs and realised that they were coming from the charcoal mare. Rainbow sat up and pulled Stargazer into an embrace, letting the pegasus weep into her fur. Stargazer seemed more worried than anypony else and that surprised Rainbow.

"Hey, calm down, Stargazer. I'm fine," Rainbow stroked the mare's fluffy white mane. She noticed that Stargazer was wearing a necklace made completely out of bottle caps. She had worn a similar one yesterday and Rainbow had tried not to say anything about it. Stargazer must have some crazy hobbies.

"I know," Stargazer choked out through sobs. Smart Set flapped over to the mare. "C'mon, Stargazer, let's go to the mess hall," he assisted the mare to her hooves and led her away.

"Come on, Rainbow Dash, I'll get you a snack," Lullaby began trotting after them. The other cadets began ushering Rainbow to the door. As glad as Dash was to be the center of attention, she was still pretty confused and mad about this whole situation. Who had hidden that stupid horseshoe up there and what the hay was wrong with Spring Song. Why did she have to be so mad when Rainbow hadn't even done anything wrong?

Spring Song was at the back of the group, hanging her head making her short blonde mane dangle, hiding her face. Rainbow wanted to know what went on inside the pink mare's head. Was she sorry for what she did? Did she even care?

Rainbow Dash had so many questions, and right now she wanted answers more than anything.

* * *

The only time that Braeburn wished he wasn't an earth pony was when he had to pull food out of the ovens. He couldn't use magic to lift the trays out like a unicorn, so the only tool he had was his mouth. The real trouble was grabbing the oven glove in his mouth before sticking his head in the oven to get a hold of its contents.

This was what Braeburn was doing now, pulling out a blueberry pie and placing it on the windowsill to cool down. He managed not to burn his tongue this time, but he'd lost count of how many times he'd had the misfortune to do so before. Apart from that one flaw, he loved his new job, especially if it meant he could hang out with his old high school friend.

He turned away from the windowsill for a second to close the oven, relieved to have gotten the hard part of pie baking out of the way. He turned back a second later and was startled to see that the pie was gone.

"Wait- what the-" Braeburn looked left and right and groaned at what he saw. Soarin was sitting on the counter on the far side of the room, the plate of pie beside him. His mouth was full and he had blueberry juice splattered on his cheeks. They just stared eachother for a minute before Soarin spoke with a mouthful of pie.

"What?"

"Ya know that was for the cadets, right? Now Ah hafta bake another one," Braeburn scolded his friend. Soarin just shrugged and swallowed his mouthful.

"Well, that's what you're paid to do, so just keep baking," he smiled. Braeburn just shook it off, since the earth pony found it difficult to be mad at anyone. Whenever someone new came to Appaloosa he would greet them with a wide smile and plenty of enthusiasm, to show how nice his hometown was. Braeburn loved his town because it was almost completely populated by his large family. He personally thought that all towns should be like that, full of happy families.

He went to the closet where he kept all his ingredients and found another bag of flour before re-emerging and spreading a layer of the white powder on the counter top. The door suddenly creaked open and Rainbow Dash stuck her head in, the band aid under her eye must have fallen off during training because it was nowhere in sight and allowed him to see the scar it had covered. It seemed to be healing well; then again, Braeburn wasn't a doctor, so he couldn't be too sure. She looked a little worried about something.

"Hey, Soarin," the cyan mare greeted her mentor, who lit up at the sight of her. Soarin swallowed another mouthful of pie and wiped some of the blueberry juice from around his muzzle.

"Afternoon, Dash, how are you?" he asked her politely, though he winced a little at the sight of her cut. She had taken off her cadet uniform, showing off the purplish-blue bruise on her abdomen. She brushed her mane of her eyes before replying.

"I'm cool, I just needed to tell you that I'll probably be a little late for our training session," she informed the pale blue stallion, who raised a concerned eyebrow.

"How come?" he asked. Rainbow placed a hoof to the scar under her eyes and stroked it, comforting herself.

"I just wanted to go down to Spitfire's office to thank her for catching me, yesterday. I never got a chance before," she explained, taking her hoof away from her scar and instead diverting her gaze to the big bruise on her belly, pressing a hoof on it gently. Braeburn felt his cheeks ignite at the mention of the fiery maned mare. He thought back to yesterday when he had shown her how to make pie. He had assumed she'd walk off halfway through his explanation, but she had stayed there the whole time he'd talked, listening with interest. She hadn't done much talking, except a few 'okay's' or nods but Braeburn didn't really mind. At least he was brave enough to actually talk to her now. He'd discovered that once he started speaking to her it became much easier.

"No problem, Dashie, you go ahead. I'll be outside waiting for you when you're done," Soarin replied, earning a grin from Rainbow Dash.

"Thanks, Soarin, I'll be out ASAP!" she promised, turning around. Unfortunately, she didn't turn in time and bumped into the doorframe, yelping as she knocked her head on it.

"You okay?" Soarin chuckled. Rainbow laughed nervously and rubbed her head where she'd bumped it.

"I meant to do that," she insisted before dipping her head. "Okay I lied; I _didn't _mean to do that. I'm such a klutz." she admitted. "Don't laugh," she turned and bumped into the doorframe again. "UGH! When am I gonna learn?" she asked herself, still laughing. Soarin laughed along with her, even after she'd left.

"I wouldn't laugh," he said, though Braeburn was pretty sure he couldn't hear her now. "It's one of the reasons I love you."

Braeburn's ears pricked up. "What was that?" he asked Soarin, who turned to meet his friends gaze. Soarin shrugged again.

"What?" the pegasus stallion repeated the same answer from earlier. Braeburn was relieved he finally had something to tease Soarin with. He trotted over to the Wonderbolt.

"You just said that…you…" Braeburn began, only just managing to talk through his chuckles. Soarin's ears pricked up as he realised what Braeburn was getting at. He just dismissed it with a flick of his hoof.

"Oh, I just said I loved her. But, ya know, I said it chastely, like I say it to my mom," he explained. Braeburn wasn't convinced at all.

"That's where yer wrong, mah overweight friend," he prodded Soarin's tummy. "Usually, we say 'Ah love you' ta our parents in a silly way. Go on, pretend Ah'm yer mom and say ya love me," Braeburn instructed his pegasus friend, who shifted his eyes awkwardly, unsure how to respond.

"Luvoo," he said, barely audible. Braeburn raised a hoof, having got his point across.

"Ya see?" he smirked. Soarin blushed and shook his head in denial.

"I don't, because Rainbow Dash is one of my best friends and nothing more," he insisted. Soarin was a much better liar than Braeburn, so good that Braeburn was wondering if he had made a mistake after all.

"If ya say so," Braeburn shrugged. "But Ah'm pretty sure ya do, so ya should just ask 'er out," he added, returning to the counter to mush up some apples. He was relieved to finally have something to tease Soarin with. He sure wasn't gonna let this go any time soon…

"Says the guy who can barely _talk _to _his _crush," Soarin shot back.

…Much like Soarin wasn't gonna let _that _go. Braeburn flushed red again, focusing all his attention on the apples he was mushing beneath his hooves. That lasted about four seconds before he began teasing Soarin again.

"Well, if you're such an expert on this kinda thing, prove it!" Braeburn challenged the blue stallion. Soarin stood up straight.

"Ya know what, I will. I am gonna take Rainbow Dash on a day around Cloudsdale and _nothing _will happen, Wonderbolt's word," Soarin accepted, determination sparkling in his green eyes.

"You're on," Braeburn agreed, slitting his eyes. Soarin raised his hoof.

"Actually, I'm gonna add a little to the challenge," he grinned. "If I'm wrong and something _does _happen I will…fill my Wonderbolt uniform with apple sauce and fly around the track two hundred times."

Braeburn trotted into the closet again and came out a few seconds later with a few tins of apple sauce. He slammed them on the counter.

"You've got yerself a deal," the earth pony chuckled.

* * *

Spitfire scrawled her signature on the last piece of paperwork and slid it to her outbox pile. She let out a silent cheer and placed her head on her desk, relieved that she'd finally finished her work and had the rest of the day to just chill out. She could really use a nap and she didn't have any work to do later, so now was the perfect time to take a couple of winks. She reclined back in her swivel chair and folded her hooves behind her head.

"_All I really need is two seconds of quiet,"_ She thought, shutting her eyes and relaxing her mind.

Just then, somepony knocked at the door.

"_Ugh! I didn't mean that literally!" _she mentally yelled and sat back up in her chair, putting her professional face back on. She swore that if this was Surprise with a bunch of confetti to throw over her she'd-

"Ma'am, are you in there?"

Oh, it was just Rainbow Dash. Spitfire smiled a little as she heard the voice of her secret idol.

"Come in, Dash," she invited the blue mare inside. Rainbow Dash entered the room, wearing that classic 'Rainbow Dash Grin' of hers. She pulled up a chair and sat on the other side of Spitfire's desk. "Did ya need somethin'?" the golden mare asked the cadet, folding her arms.

"I just never got a chance to thank you for catching me yesterday, is all," Rainbow Dash shrugged. "I've never felt so useless in my life," she hung her head in shame. Spitfire felt her heart ache for the younger pegasus as she saw tears glisten in her magenta eyes. She pushed a box of tissues over to her and Rainbow grateful pulled a few out, dabbing hurriedly at her eyes. "I'm sorry, ma'am. I don't usually cry," she insisted, putting on her tough-mare face. Spitfire rolled her eyes.

"It's okay, Dash. We all cry sometimes," the fiery maned Wonderbolt reassured her friend. Rainbow looked up at that.

"Even you?" she asked. Spitfire shifted in her seat a little. She shrugged and nodded.

"Yeah…ya know… because I have allergies," she insisted. Rainbow seemed convinced at that and tossed the ball of tissues into the trash can by the side of the desk. While Rainbow was distracted with binning her soggy tissues, Spitfire let out a little sniffle. She didn't want to think about it. She _never_ wanted to think about it. The captain decided to change the subject.

"So, Rainbow Dash, what exactly happened up in the storm clouds? If ya don't wanna talk about it, I understand," she asked the rainbow maned cadet. Rainbow hesitated before replying.

"I…I just wasn't looking where I was going and that's when I was struck," she told the Wonderbolt, who raised an eyebrow.

"You sure 'bout that?" Spitfire questioned Dash. Spitfire had a built-in lie detector and she had a nagging feeling that Rainbow Dash wasn't being completely honest. "You can tell me anything, ya know? Was there somepony up there with you?"

Rainbow seemed a little startled at that. She looked away hastily. Spitfire put on a serious face and cleared her throat to make sure that Dash was paying attention to her.

"If there was somepony with you, I have to know. I was gonna announce it tomorrow in an academy assembly but you might as well know that whoever put the horseshoe up there must be punished, so right now we need as many suspects as possible," she informed Rainbow Dash. Academy assemblies were only held if there was an announcement or an emergency. Usually it was the first one, but this was most certainly an emergency. Whoever put that horseshoe up there was in BIG trouble.

"Fine, I'll tell you who was up there…but you didn't hear it from me," Rainbow decided, absentmindedly playing with her tail, which she had folded over her legs. "It was…Spring Song."

"Oh, her," Spitfire pulled open one of her desk drawers and fumbled through the folders in there. They were the cadets' reports and she'd made sure to put them in alphabetical order so she wouldn't get confused. _Rainbow Dash, Ray, Smart Set, Spring Song! _She pulled out the folder and pulled out the pink mare's application. "Okay, then let's have a looksee," Spitfire muttered. "Spring Song, aged 20, female, lives in Las Pegasus, clean record, bipolar, parents were both in the delivery service, and she suffered from a busted hoof last year," Spitfire read the application out loud.

"That explains a lot," Rainbow Dash murmured, gritting her teeth.

"What? The busted hoof explains something?" Spitfire asked. Rainbow shook her head.

"No, the bipolar part, ma'am, 'cause Spring Song has a _really_ bad attitude," the rainbow maned cadet explained. Spitfire didn't have a doubt in her mind that the two pegasi didn't get along.

"Listen up, Dash, in life there are gonna be ponies that you either get along with or don't," Spitfire gripped her pencil in her hoof as she continued her sentence. "And believe me; the ones that you don't get along with can make your life Tartarus! Equestria is full of a bunch of motherbu-" the pencil in her hoof suddenly snapped due to the fact that she was clenching it rather hard. Rainbow Dash raised a brow, clearly feeling uncomfortable. Spitfire cleared her throat and adjusted her shades, leaning back in her chair again.

"…Equestria is full of awful ponies," she finished her sentence in a more appropriate way. "But, listen to me, Dash. You can't show these ponies that you're bothered by what they do to you. Judging by that hoof shaped bruise under your eye, Spring Song really let you have it, and she will get punished for that, but for now you should just pretend she doesn't exist. Ignore. Ignore. Ignore," she repeated, wanting to jam all this into Rainbow Dash's head. "If she talks to you, Ignore. Ignore. Ignore. I know that you probably want to slap her into next week…"

Rainbow Dash nodded at this, smirking a little.

"…but no matter what she does, even if she provokes you, Ignore. Ignore. Ignore!" Spitfire said, again. "That way, she'll move on to somepony else."

Rainbow Dash stood up, determinedly. "Got it: Ignore. Ignore. Ignore!" she copied Spitfire, who stood up and hoof-bumped Dash.

"Now get outta here, Soarin's probably waitin' for you," Spitfire smiled at her blue friend. Rainbow Dash gave the captain a salute before flying out of the room.

"Yes, ma'am, thank you, ma'am!" she called over her shoulder. Spitfire closed the door and sat back at her desk, brushing the remains of her pencil into the trash can. She was glad that her pep-talk had cheered Dash up. Spitfire had had a few problems with bullies when she was a little filly, but there was always somepony there to make the world seem bright once again. She put her head in her hoof and tried to forget that last part. She was too riled up after her talk with Dash to take a nap now, so she pulled out the book she kept on the side of her desk: Anger Management for Dummies and opened it up to chapter 12: _Why Is Letting Go So Difficult?_

* * *

"You have to go a little faster, Dashie!" Soarin yelled up into the sky. He never thought he'd have to tell Rainbow Dash to pick up speed. He was trying to teach her a Tornado Twirl, where a pegasus flew swiftly through the air while spinning in order to create a thin hurricane trail. When done correctly it looked pretty awesome. But for some reason Rainbow Dash didn't seem to have her head in the game today. Maybe she wasn't in the right condition to practice today. Soarin could be putting too much pressure on her. He decided to call her down.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash, could you come down here a sec?" he yelled up to her. Rainbow obediently flapped down to the ground and folded her wings to her body. "Is something bothering you, Dashie? If I'm putting too much strain on that struck wing, just tell me," he told her, putting a hoof on her shoulder. Rainbow shook her head.

"Nah, I'm fine. It's just…I have a lot on my mind right now," she replied hesitantly. Soarin stood beside her and wrapped a comforting wing around her waist.

"Are you thinking about what happened yesterday?" he asked her, squeezing her a little. Rainbow Dash nodded, sitting on her hindquarters. Soarin sat down beside her and sighed. He wished there was some way to cheer her up. Then he remembered what he'd said to Braeburn earlier. "Hey, I know how to turn that frown upside down," he chirped, grinning down at her.

"What?" Rainbow asked, blowing her mane out of her eyes. Soarin stood up and spread his wings, as if he could take off at any moment.

"How would you like to go for a little trip?" he proposed. Rainbow seemed baffled by the question.

"What do you mean?" the cadet asked her mentor, standing up as well.

"We could go for a trip all over Cloudsdale. We could go to the museum, the theatre, everywhere! I'm sure that'll cheer you up," he explained. Rainbow lit up, especially when he said that he'd pay for everything they did.

"Ya mean it?" Rainbow glowed, smiling like there was no tomorrow. Soarin nodded, flapping into the air.

"Yep, I mean every word. So, let's go to the kitchen, grab some snacks and hit the road! I mean, we would hit the road if Cloudsdale _had _roads," he added, rubbing the back of his head. Rainbow flapped into the air and flew in circles around Soarin repeated her signature '_ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!'_

"This is SO AWESOME!" she squeed as she finally landed. "What are you just standing there for, let's go!" Rainbow lifted Soarin off the ground and flew him back to the mess hall. When they flew through the door into the hall, which was completely deserted except for Braeburn cleaning the tables, Rainbow still refused to put Soarin down. For all Soarin knew, Rainbow Dash could have forgotten she was actually carrying anything.

"What the hay is goin' on?" Braeburn chuckled as he saw his high school friend being lifted by the excitable mare. "Ya sure work fast, Soarin," he added in a teasing tone.

"I'll grab some stuff and then we can leave," Rainbow Dash placed Soarin down on the floor and zoomed through the kitchen and the sound of a fridge opening could be heard. Braeburn sat down on one of the chairs and put his back hooves up on another.

"So, ya never answered me. What's goin' on?" he repeated the question to Soarin, who sat beside him.

"I just invited her to go around Cloudsdale, like I said, and here we are now. You'd better put those cans of apple sauce away, buddy," Soarin replied, poking Braeburn's shoulder.

"So, ya basically asked 'er on a date," Braeburn told him. Soarin raised his hooves and scoffed.

"No way, Brae, this is _not _a date, it's an intimate trip," he corrected his earth pony friend. Braeburn chuckled and muttered _'date'_ under his breath. Soarin elbowed his old friend in the ribs.

"What'th not a date?"

Soarin turned to see Fleetfoot poking her head through the door. Braeburn snorted with laughter and nodded at Soarin. "Soarin's just asked Rainbow Dash on a date," he told the light blue Wonderbolt, who gasped with glee.

"_I did not!" _Soarin insisted, folding his arms. Why couldn't these two believe him? Fleetfoot fluttered over and sat on the other side of Braeburn, after pushing his back hooves off the seat.

"Thith ith great!" the lisping mare squealed. "You're gonna go on a bunch of dateth and then you'll get married and have a _ton _of foals and-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Soarin protested, cutting Fleetfoot off. "This is not a date; this is an intimate trip and nothing more."

"Of courthe it'th a date," Fleetfoot ignored Soarin, who briefly wondered if he should use his 'invisibility' to fight crime or for evil. Fleetfoot gasped and gripped Braeburn's arm. "Maybe we thould make it a _double _date!" she squeed. Braeburn looked confused.

"Pardon?" he asked her, making Fleetfoot's eyes bulge out of her head.

"Uh… I thaid that I could be in _trouble _if I'm _late_," she lied, trying to hide a blush. Braeburn raised a brow.

"Late for what?" he asked her. Soarin laughed silently as Fleetfoot bit her lip, trying to think of a way to reply.

"Late for...lunch!" she decided. Braeburn glanced up at the clock.

"But it's four O'clock in the afternoon," he pointed out. Fleetfoot shifted her eyes, beginning to look flustered.

"I meant…an early dinner. Yeah, I'll jutht be going now," she excused herself, flapping out the door. Braeburn shrugged it off and Soarin wondered how he could be so clueless. At that moment, Rainbow Dash came back out with her saddlebags full.

"Okay I've got apples, some carrot juice, muffins and, of course, some pie," she listed the contents of her bag and Soarin licked his lips as she mentioned pie.

"Let's go, then!" the stallion smiled and headed to the door with Rainbow at her side. Luckily, Rainbow Dash didn't hear Braeburn singing '_Soarin and Rainbow Dash sitting in a tree_'. He held the door open for Rainbow Dash as they left, shooting a final warning glare at Braeburn. He closed the door roughly to show the Appaloosan that he meant business before turning to Dash.

"All set?" he checked with her. Rainbow Dash nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course!" she smiled. The two pegasi flapped into the air and headed out to begin their date.

It's not a date! IT'S AN INTIMATE TRIP!

* * *

**Endnote: Okay, this chapter was dragging on a little, so I decided to split it into two parts. Nothing really happens in this chapter and I apologise for that but hopefully you'll be satisfied by Dash and Soarin's 'Intimate Trip' in the next chapter. **

**Anyway, like I said at the start, this is the start of the 'Golden Horseshoe Mystery'. To save metaphorical breath I'm just gonna call it the GHM. Over the next few chapters there will be a few hints as to who the possible culprits are. Since the Academy Assembly will be in chapter 12, more details will be posted there.**

**One last thing, I would LOVE for you to PM me your theories on who put the horseshoe in the cloud cluster. I'm not gonna tell anyone whodunit (who did it), but I really wanna know what you think. So, put on your mystery hats my friends because you're gonna need them. **

**See ya in chapter 11!**


	11. An Intimate Trip, part 2

**YAY! NEW COVER!**

**Authors note: Just a quick one this time, because I know how easily I can start ranting. In this MLP universe Equestria has more advanced technology than it does in the actual series. You have no idea how many times I've had such good ideas that involve modern technology. I mean, I know they're ponies but- *RANT ALERT*!**

**Oopsie. Okay, on with part two of **_**'An Intimate Trip'**_**!**

RosaSilvermist- I'm glad I changed your opinion about SoarinDash. Whenever I read that someone loves my story I jump up and do this little dance. (Meh, I'm a little crazy).

* * *

"So, what do ya want?" Soarin asked Rainbow Dash as they sat across the table from one another. They were at the local hayburger and, as usual, it was buzzing with customers. A few had come over to ask Soarin for his autograph and even asked Rainbow Dash for some, too. The rainbow maned mare seemed to love the attention she was getting. They had already given their order to the mare serving the customers and they had nothing to do now but wait. Soarin gasped when he saw something on the far side of the room.

"Oh my gosh, CRAYONS!" he squeed, zooming over to grab some and surprising a few fillies and colts. They seemed a little aghast that there was a grown up over there. He returned to the table with crayons of every colour of the rainbow and a large colouring book. Rainbow shifted her eyes awkwardly.

"Um…Soarin, aren't you a little old for that?" she asked him, using her menu to hide her face. Soarin gasped and looked at Rainbow Dash as if she'd just told him she was a murderer.

"You are _never _too old for crayons, Dashie, _**NEVER!**__" _he told her, clutching his colouring book to his chest. Rainbow shrugged and put the menu back down on the table. She may have been hanging out with a childish stallion, but this was not an ordinary stallion, this was a childish _Wonderbolt_!

"Here you go," the waitress from behind the counter appeared and put their meals in front of them. Soarin had ordered a large box of horseshoe fries and an even bigger carrot cola and Rainbow Dash had ordered the largest burger on the menu and a huge vanilla milkshake. The waitress eyed Soarin and his crayons. "Um…do you want some more crayons?" she asked in a sugary sweet voice that she only used around foals. Soarin nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes please, ma'am," he grinned as he began colouring in a rocket ship. The waitress headed over to the table with the crayons and returned with a small packet of them.

"Here you go," she said in that sweet voice again. "Please don't eat them," she added as if she were talking to a little colt. Soarin didn't seem to care and eagerly opened the box. Rainbow chowed down on her burger while Soarin coloured and crunched on his fries. Soarin finished colouring in his rocket and after staring at it proudly for a few seconds he folded it up and put it in the pocket of his officer's uniform. He looked over at Rainbow Dash who was wiping some ketchup from around her mouth. She was a messy eater, but then again so was he. He continued munching on his horseshoe fries whilst observing Dash with one eye. He noticed that aside from wiping mayo and stuff off her face from time to time she didn't really care about how messy she ate. She didn't even wipe her face with the napkins they had been given; she just used her hoof. Soarin knew that a lot of mares liked to have really good manners, but Soarin didn't see why. Who were they trying to impress? Personally, Soarin didn't give a flying feather about manners; he actually found them quite irritating.

"Soarin?"

The Wonderbolt co-captain's thoughts were interrupted by Rainbow Dash, who had almost finished her burger. She was looking at him with one eyebrow raised.

"What?" Soarin asked her simply.

"You were just staring at me," she replied. "It's a little weird," she added. Soarin hadn't realising he'd been staring at her until now. He cleared his throat and returned to gulping down his fries.

"Sorry," he apologised, mentally scolding himself. It was rude to stare at mares. _"Great, now _you're _the one concerned with manners," _he thought, realising he was going against the thought he'd had while staring at Dash. The two of them ate their food in silence for a few minutes. Soarin began slurping down his carrot cola and was about halfway through it when he heard Rainbow Dash groan. He looked over to her and saw that she was clutching her head in pain.

"Holy Celestia, Dashie, what's wrong?" Soarin exclaimed, feeling a wave of protectiveness for the cyan cadet. Rainbow tapped her head and squeaked out.

"Brain freeze!"

Soarin noticed that there was vanilla milkshake dribbling out the corner of Rainbow's mouth, so that explained that. Soarin felt relieved that this was nothing more than an ice cream headache and returned to his seat, Rainbow Dash recovering from her brain freeze a few moments after. Soarin knew how painful a brain freeze could be, especially after one time at an air show when he'd challenged Rapidfire to a slush-drinking-race at the after party. He'd been in the lead until his brain suddenly began to feel like ice and he'd fallen to the ground screaming. Not only did he have to be carried out of the party but Rapidfire beat him in the drinking race. It was a lose-lose thing.

Soarin let out a loud belch as he finished the last of his cola and Rainbow Dash burst out laughing. Soarin found himself laughing along with her. Burps were just so darn hilarious!

"You call that a burp?" Rainbow Dash asked the stallion. "Check this out," she breathed in before releasing an even louder burp. Soarin almost fell out of his seat with laughter. He'd been out-burped, that was certain.

"Nice one, he complimented her, wiping his eyes since he'd been laughing so hard. By that time, Rainbow was almost done with her milkshake, and Soarin was sucking up the last droplets of his soda. When there was nothing left in the cup, he kept on slurping, just to make that funny noise. Rainbow later joined in the slurping once she had finished her milkshake. After several minutes of slurping, the waitress from earlier marched over and ordered them to leave. Turns out, they were disturbing the other customers. Soarin looked around the food place and sure enough, most of the ponies in there were giving him and Rainbow Dash dirty looks. After they had left, they headed off to their next location: the movie theatre.

"I remember going to the Cloudsdale Cineplex when I was a little filly," Rainbow Dash recalled as they flew. "I never knew a screen could be so big!"

"You're lucky, Dash. When I was a colt, I never went to the movies. Thought, I remember my dad once told me about a time when _he _went to the Cineplex to see _An Officer and a Gentlecolt_."

Rainbow scoffed a little. "Whoa, that's an old movie," she commented, though Soarin couldn't tell whether she was talking to him or just thinking out loud.

"But it's still a cool one," he assured Rainbow Dash. They arrived at the Cineplex and walked in. Almost immediately, Soarin was completely mobbed by fans. After fighting them off and, of course, giving out some autographs, he trotted over to Rainbow, who at some point during the 'attack' had sat down on a plush orange couch with a magazine.

"You okay?" Rainbow asked him, not raising her gaze from her magazine. Soarin nodded and sat beside her.

"Yeah, I'm good. I almost got flattened and my pen hoof has a cramp but apart from that- ONE OF THEM STOLE MY TIE!"

Rainbow snorted with laughter. "Don't you enjoy being swarmed by rabid fans wherever you go?" she asked him. Soarin let out a half-hearted laugh and slumped lower into the couch, allowing himself to sink into it a little.

"You wouldn't think it was so cool if _your _mane looked like this," he pointed at his spiked mane, which was now ruffled from the fans attempts to pull out some of his hair. Why did they even do that? Suddenly a (crazy) thought entered his mind. What if they were planning to _clone_ him?!

"Hey, how about we see this movie?" Rainbow Dash interrupted his nightmare of a whole bunch of Soarin's. The pale blue pegasus looked at the magazine Rainbow was reading ad discovered it was a guide to what movies were being shown. Soarin had heard good things about the movie she was referring to: The Colt in Our Stars. Apparently it was supposed to be the best selling movie here. Soarin enthusiastically agreed and went to buy their tickets. Since it was most popular movie here, it was also the most expensive, but Soarin had promised Rainbow Dash that he'd pay for everything, and if there was one thing Soarin didn't do, it was break his promises. He brought a tub of popcorn for each of them and led Rainbow Dash into their screening room, Room 7, and they sat in the eighth row. Soarin personally wanted to sit at the very front, where viewers were able to sit on these huge beanbags to watch the movie, but according to the usher, whom Soarin had an argument with about the subject, if it wasn't on your ticket, you couldn't sit there. _"Stupid rules," _Soarin cursed in his head, before moving along the eighth row, so he and Rainbow could sit in the middle, where it had the best view of the screen. The place was packed with ponies of all colours and sizes, though there were no young fillies or colts since this was a PG-13 movie. A stallion with a large tub of nachos sat beside Soarin, and a couple of chatting teenage mares sat beside Rainbow Dash. A young stallion with a soda sat behind Soarin and immediately began slurping his drink obnoxiously loudly.

"When does it start?" Rainbow Dash asked Soarin after they had been sitting in the room for ten minutes. Soarin needed not reply because as soon as the last syllable escaped her mouth, the lights dimmed and the huge screen began playing the commercials.

Soarin personally hated the commercials before the movie because they always showed ones for other movies. He'd been to the Cineplex several times in the past few years and he had started to notice that all the commercials or previews as they were called when a movie was being advertised, gave away the ending. He remembered when the Wonderbolts had gone to the movies after an air show one time a few years ago and Spitfire had refused to go. When asked why she'd replied: '_Because I don't feel like paying thirty bits to sit in a dark room for two hours watching ponies chew with their mouths open and dealing with foals kicking the back of my seat!'_

Soarin began to see the cons of having somepony sitting right behind you. The stallion sitting behind him put his back hooves on the top of Soarin's seat. He decided to just go with it, since no harm was being done. The commercials were almost finished now and they were showing an ad for 3D glasses. Soarin also remembered how Spitfire had reacted that same day when she'd been told the Wonderbolts were going to see a 3D movie. She'd grumbled and told them: _'3D does _not _make your movie any better, it just makes it _closer! _If I wanted to see 3-Dimensional things, I would just go outside!"_

The movie finally started after the last advertisement and some brief opening credits. About twenty minutes into the movie, Soarin was pretty hooked. It had seemed a little depressing at the very beginning but picked up a little later. He became aware of some irritating noise coming from his left side. He looked to see the stallion with the nachos crunching loudly on his snack. Soarin shook it off and went back to watching the movie, but now that he'd noticed the crunching he couldn't seem to focus on anything else. Soarin prodded the stallion, who turned his head to address Soarin.

"What is it?" he asked the Wonderbolt.

"Sorry, but would you mind chewing your nachos a little quieter, please sir?" Soarin felt like it was a pretty dumb question, but right now he wanted to watch the movie without a single distraction. The stallion nodded and managed to crunch a lot quieter. Perfect.

"So, like, who's he?"

Soarin looked over Rainbow Dash to the two teenage mares from earlier. One was hot pink with a blue and white mane in a high ponytail, while the other was white with a yellow and pink checkered mane.

"He's one of the teachers from the support group," the white one said to the pink one. Soarin immediately realised that she was wrong and leaned over Rainbow Dash to correct her.

"No, no, he's not the teacher, there was only one teacher, he's the one who's going blind," Soarin explained to them. The two mares nodded in thanks and Soarin leaned back in his chair, resuming eating his popcorn. After about ten minutes, Soarin felt something hit the side of his head. "Hey, what gives?" he groaned, rubbing his sore head. Turns out, the stallion sitting behind him had tried to swat a fly with his back hoof and kicked Soarin.

"Er…sorry dude," he apologized, putting his hooves on his seat where they belonged and slurping his soda. Soarin exhaled and turned his attention back to the movie. It had just got to the part where the two main characters go to Amsterdam* when the two mares began speaking again.

"What's happening now?" the pink mare asked her friend, looking up from her phone. Soarin would have given the mare a stern look if it wasn't too dark for her to see him. Maybe if she stopped texting and paid attention, she wouldn't have to ask!

"They're going to Amsterdam to buy a book," the white mare replied, rolling her eyes. Soarin face hoofed. Why was this filly explaining it wrong? He leaned across Rainbow Dash once again, aware of the cyan pegasus grunting as he knocked her popcorn a little.

"No, they're going to Amsterdam to track down the mysterious author of the book who disappeared after its publication," he corrected her once again. Soarin leaned back to his own seat, once again knocking Rainbow Dash's popcorn and even spilling a little in his mane. "Oh, thanks," he said to Dash, plucking the pieces of popcorn from his hair and throwing them into his mouth. Just when Soarin thought that he'd be able to watch the movie in peace, he heard this terrible noise that made him jump clear out of his seat. Rainbow Dash fumbled for her popcorn as Soarin knocked the bucket from her hooves and skilfully caught it, glaring up at Soarin with dagger-like eyes. He mouthed 'sorry' and sat back down in his seat, trying to figure out what the heck that noise was.

SLLLUUUUURRRRP!

Soarin looked behind him. That dude with the soda was doing the same slurping thing that he and Rainbow Dash were doing back at the Hayburger.

SLLLLLUUUUUUUURRRRRP!

Soarin was beginning to see how you could become irritated with this kind of thing. He fixed his eyes on the screen and did his best to ignore the Hannibal Lecter noises gnawing away at his brain. By now the movie had reached the point where the two main characters were being sent away by the author.

SLUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRP!

"SHUT UP!" Soarin stood up on his chair and put his hooves on the back of his chair and staring angrily at the stallion, who dropped his soda with fright. It was a good thing looks couldn't kill.

"Is there a problem, sirs?"

Soarin looked to the side to see the usher from before, looking pretty un-amused at Soarin's outburst. Soarin sat back down in his seat and folded his arms, mumbling grumpily.

"No, everything's under control," he replied, shooting an uncharacteristically harsh glower behind him at the stallion, who had sunk lower in his seat. The usher rolled his eyes and trotted away, mumbling something about hating his job. Soarin looked over at Rainbow Dash, who had her face buried in her hooves mumbling 'why me?'

The rainbow maned mare tapped Soarin on the shoulder, whispering his name. Soarin shifted his eyes to the side to meet hers.

"Soarin, please don't make a scene," Rainbow Dash silently pleaded. "I'd appreciate it if we didn't get thrown out of here."

"We won't get thrown out, Dash, it's just some ponies can irritate you to the point of insanity," Soarin hissed his reply, fighting the urge to give the surrounding ponies menacing stares. Rainbow Dash blinked a couple of times before raising her brows in confusion.

"Who are you and what have you done with Soarin?" she asked, smirking slightly before turning to stare at the screen again. Soarin awkwardly sat through the…*hmm hmm* scene and then began to feel a little depressed when the main stallion announced he was going to die. When the stallion was dying in hospital and Soarin was on the verge of tears-

"What just happened?"

Soarin grumbled as that annoying pink mare piped up again. Soarin had never realised just how annoying somepony's voice could be. It was kind of like listening to an alarm clock first thing in the morning: plain irritating! That stupid white mare answered her friend.

"I think she gave him her cancer when they-"

"NO!" Soarin piped up not wanting to think about that scene. The surrounding ponies all looked over at him and Rainbow Dash raised a hoof.

"I have no idea who this guy is," she lied before burying her face in her popcorn bucket, which was almost completely empty by now. Soarin quickly sat down before the usher could notice the commotion. He leaned over Rainbow Dash again to talk to the two (pesky) mares.

"If you two were paying the slightest bit of attention, you would know that he already _had_ cancer…" he began mimicking the two mares' voices. "…and FYI, cancer can't be passed on like that!" he then sat back in his chair and watched the movie through slitted eyes. He was beginning to see why Spitfire hated going to the movies. Next time he wanted to watch something, he would do what any normal pony would and rent a darn movie!

After that, everything remained quiet, and Soarin found his usual good mood returning. He didn't usually snap like that…at all, but he felt a little on edge at the moment, not that he knew why. Once the movie ended, Soarin had tears rolling down his cheeks and he wondered how Rainbow Dash could stay so straight-faced. She must be made of stone or something. Soarin and Rainbow Dash left the Cineplex, one snivelling, one whistling. They leaned against the wall of the building where Rainbow Dash broke into a rant about the movie and how she was relieved Soarin didn't get the two of them banned for life.

"You okay, Soarin?" Rainbow asked the co-captain after she'd finished talking, noticing for the first time that he was sniffling. Soarin wiped his nose with a hoof.

"Yeah, it's just a stupid movie, I just get emotional easily," he admitted, biting his lip in embarrassment. Rainbow rolled her eyes and put a hoof on Soarin's shoulder.

"Don't worry 'bout it…we all cry sometimes," Rainbow chuckled as she said that, though Soarin had no idea that she was quoting Spitfire's earlier statement. "Ya know, putting your descent into madness aside, that was actually pretty fun," Rainbow smiled up at Soarin, who nodded.

"Yeah, it was," he agreed. Despite his irritation with the other viewers, he had genuinely enjoyed himself. He always enjoyed himself when he was with Dashie.

Soarin suddenly realised that it was true: he loved being with Rainbow Dash. He felt different when he was with her. He felt more energetic and smiled easier, probably because she liked to smile a lot too. She seemed to bring out a less professional, carefree side to him, which was something that most ponies couldn't do. He loved how he would feel an ecstasy of joy when she walked into a room, how her eyes would glow when he congratulated her on a fantastic flight, how his chest lurched whenever she told him he was awesome.

Soarin's brain buzzed as realization slammed into him like a wrecking ball.

Could he…_like _Rainbow Dash?

"Soarin, anypony in there?"

Soarin hadn't realized he'd drifted into thought until a blue hoof began waving in front of his face. He shook his head to get his mind working again. Rainbow Dash was gazing at him with obvious concern.

"Oh yeah, I'm…I'm right here," Soarin replied, suddenly feeling warm from head to tail. Rainbow gave him one of those huge grins and enthusiastically spread her wings, as if about to take off.

"So, where to now?" she asked him. Soarin gave her the one answer he could think of right now.

"Anywhere."

* * *

"Tho, he really thaid that he'd fly around the track with hith thuit full of apple thauce if he felt anything for Rainbow Dathh?"

Braeburn nodded in response to Fleetfoot's question. He was taking a fifteen minute break and the white maned mare had been with him in the kitchen the entire time, just sitting in the seat next to his. Fleetfoot let out a chortle.

"I hereby announce Thoarin to be the Chief Drama Maker of Cloudthdale," she announced, throwing her hooves into the air for dramatic effect. "I'll have to properly give him his title when he gets back."

"How?" Braeburn asked her, unsure of where the cheeky mare's plan was headed. Fleetfoot's eyes darted around the room and she jumped up when she saw something on the counter. She grabbed a large baguette and held it above her head.

"I gueth I could knight him with this or thomething," she shrugged. Braeburn chuckled at her plan. He'd learned that Fleetfoot was a pretty random pony from time to time. Just then, the door creaked open and Soarin entered, wearing a small smile.

"Afternoon, Prince of the Pies," Fleetfoot greeted Soarin as he walked over to them. "How'd it go?" she widened her eyes until Braeburn was sure they'd pop out. Soarin gulped and chuckled nervously. Braeburn knew that look on his face. Soarin always made that face when he'd done something wrong. The earth pony face-hoofed and looked up at Soarin with exasperation.

"Aw no, Soar, what did ya do?" he asked his friend, unsure of what to expect. Soarin sighed and glanced over to the table that Braeburn and Fleetfoot were sitting at. He trotted over and grabbed something that was on it. Braeburn's jaw dropped and Fleetfoot gasped when they saw what he was holding.

The tin of apple sauce.

"What're ya doin' with that?" Braeburn asked, blinking rapidly. Soarin flushed red, a feature that Braeburn got on _his _face almost constantly these days. The Wonderbolt stallion began heading out the door, looking over his shoulder at his friends as he left.

"I'm going to find my Wonderbolt's uniform, of course. I've got a track to fly around."

* * *

**Endnote: Holy Celestia that chapter was hard to write. I never knew how hard it was to write a chapter where almost nothing happens! I'm not particularly proud of this chapter but I'm glad that Soarin had his epiphany.**

***Dam- A dam means the mother of a foal.**

**That's one thing I can be proud of in this chapter because I don't think Amsterdam has been invented in the MLP universe yet. SWEET LUNA, I INVENTED A COUNTRY IN EQUESTRIA! *squee*.**

**Stay tuned for chapter 12, where the Academy Assembly is held and the search for the culprit of the GHM (Golden Horseshoe Mystery) continues. (Don't forget to PM me your theories on whodunit if you haven't yet).**

**Merry Christmas, everyone!**


	12. Academy Assembly

Captain Alaska- I'll try and find some way to weave Top Bolt into this story (I actually don't know why I didn't use it in the last one).

YoungBlood23- I'm glad you love my story *does happy dance*. Sorry, got carried away. :D

RosaSilvermist- Merry (late) Christmas to you, too! Have some *cyber cake*.

**Hey, everyone. Hope you had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. What was the best thing you got for Christmas this year and do you have any New Year's Resolutions?**

**I've got three resolutions this year:**

**Work out more.**

**Spend more time with family.**

**Begin writing an **_**actual **_**novel. (It could happen…maybe…)**

**Anyway, here's the first chapter of 2015. It sounds weird saying that. 2014 went by too fast!**

* * *

"I'm sure that all of you already know about the incident that occurred two days ago."

The fourteen cadets stood in single file in the Main Hall, listening to Spitfire addressing them. Rainbow Dash stood with her head lowered, not wanting to look up at the mare who was telling the entire academy about the 'Horseshoe Incident'. She tried her best to block out the sounds around her to no avail. She stood in the line between Lullaby and Sugar Swoop; the former had placed a comforting hoof on Rainbow's shoulder while the latter looked down at her sympathetically. Rainbow glanced over at Spring Song to find that the pink mare was already looking at her. They locked eyes for several seconds as If they thought they could shoot each other down if they looked long enough. Eventually Rainbow Dash looked away, cursing in her mind.

The Wonderbolts were all lined up behind Spitfire, while the rest of the academy staff stood along the side of the wall. Braeburn looked over at Dash from his spot beside Feather Duster the janitor and gave her a small smile, which Rainbow Dash returned. The least she could do in this situation was smile.

Rainbow looked from cadet to cadet, wondering if it was one of them who hid that stupid horseshoe in the cloud. It could be someone on the other team. She looked at the cadets on the silver team: Bumble, Spring Song, Ray, Butternut, Lullaby, Stains and Cinder. If they were responsible, they had pretty good poker faces. Rainbow Dash knew better than to start suspecting somepony without evidence (Pinkie Pie had taught her that lesson) and she realised that she was completely clueless. Right now, the culprit could be almost anypony.

"On Monday, a cadet who shall remain nameless-"

"_What's the point in saying that? Everypony already knows it was me," _Rainbow Dash thought huffily, feeling dozens of eyes trained on her.

"-was struck in the Cloud Cluster while searching for a horseshoe in the Horseshoe Hunting exercise. Well, you should all know by now that the Tempest Clouds are pretty dangerous and because of that, horseshoes are _never _hidden up there," Spitfire explained. "The pony who is responsible for this will be punished in a manner consistent with the severity of the reason for their crime."

Rainbow looked around and saw the cadets looking anxiously round at eachother, most likely wondering which one of them was a criminal. She even saw some of the Wonderbolts and staff looking around at eachother. It suddenly occurred to Dash that the culprit was so mysterious; it might not have even been a cadet. All of this was making her head hurt.

"In addition, anypony found to have knowledge of these events, who fails to speak up, will also be punished," Spitfire added, scanning the assembled cadets with that fiery gaze of hers. "So, if any of you know anything about this, step forward now," Spitfire was silent for a minute, waiting for somepony to come clean. Rainbow Dash looked down the line, left and right and saw that the other cadets seemed to be doing the same. It didn't look like anypony was going to say anything. Spitfire adjusted her shades before giving the cadets her usual serious glare.

"Very well, then. If you prefer to tell me what you know in private, my door is always open. There's also going to be a box outside my office that you can put an anonymous tip into if you want. Dismissed," Spitfire nodded at the cadets in farewell and the pegasi departed the hall. Rainbow walked beside Lullaby, Sugar Swoop and Butternut.

Butternut began ranting as soon as they left the room. "So who do you think did it guys? I read a lot of mystery novels, so I know that you have to look for clues; hey, maybe the Wonderbolts could get a detective to come to the academy to figure it out 'cause I've always wanted to meet one *GASP* maybe I could be his sidekick and then I could have one of those fun hats and-"

"Butternut," Lullaby prodded the excitable peanut butter coloured mare.

"Yes?" Butternut smiled at her fellow cadet.

"Stop," was all Lullaby said. Butternut shrugged and agreed to be quiet, which was a rare thing. "You okay, Rainbow?" Lullaby asked Rainbow Dash, who hadn't really spoken all day.

"Uh…yeah I'm good," Rainbow Dash replied letting her wings droop. As much as she'd enjoyed her day out with Soarin yesterday, she had become pretty depressed when she remembered that the Academy Assembly was being held that day. She hated being viewed as a victim. She didn't want to be felt sorry for, she didn't want anyone to be sympathetic, she was Rainbow Dash, and she showed no weaknesses!

"Whoever did this is a real jerk," Sugar Swoop muttered through gritted teeth. "They should be thrown in Cloudsdale prison."

Lullaby piped up from the other side of Rainbow Dash. "Actually, Swoop, I don't think you can get thrown in jail for something like that." Sugar Swoop raised an eyebrow at his friend.

"Lullaby, it was an incident that could have cost Dash her life…" he trailed off as he noticed Rainbow Dash's now colourless face. "…uh…sorry, Rainbow Dash, but anyway, it was still a dangerous act and something as severe as getting another pegasus struck by lightning is worthy of a three year prison sentence," the peach stallion explained. It was Lullaby's turn to look baffled.

"How in Celestia's name do you know that?" she asked him. Sugar Swoop just shrugged.

"Well, I used to want to be a Canterlot royal guard but…I didn't make the grade," he revealed. "I had to know a lot about the law but apparently that wasn't good enough."

"Maybe it was because of your fur," Butternut suggested. Sugar Swoop looked down at his peachy fur.

"My fur?" he echoed her. "What's wrong with my fur?"

"Haven't you noticed that all the royal guards seem to have either white or dark grey fur?" Butternut replied. Rainbow Dash butted into the conversation.

"Not true, guys. I've met a guard with orange fur once," she told them, remembering that stallion, Flash something, that Twilight bumped into. He had certainly looked out of place amongst the other guards. Sugar Swoop looked smugly at Butternut.

"See, fur doesn't matter," he insisted, smirking. "What were we talking about again?"

"Prison sentences," Lullaby reminded him. Rainbow raised a hoof to stop them.

"Guys, you can keep talking about this, but I'm gonna go get a snack," she told them, not wanting to talk about the horseshoe thing anymore. The other three cadets agreed that she could leave and bidded her farewell before heading off again, resuming their conversation. Rainbow Dash sat on her haunches and patted her tummy, realising that she wasn't even hungry. There was no point in hanging out with Soarin and Braeburn, because they were still in the Main Hall since a meeting was being held in there right after the Assembly.

She decided to just wander the halls until the meeting was over, since there wasn't much else for her to do. She walked straight past the kitchen, the bathroom and the dorms until she reached Spitfire's office. Sure enough that anonymous tip box was out there as promised. Rainbow really wanted to open it up to see if anypony had posted something in in, but since it required a key to open it, that wasn't possible.

"Hi, Rainbow Dash, what's up?"

Rainbow looked up from the box to see Bumble and Cinder behind her. Rainbow suddenly remembered Spring Song's outburst at Cinder and felt a stab of pity for the little blue pegasus pony.

"Hey, Cinder, you're not too shaken up after Spring Song yelled at you, are you?" Dash asked her. Cinder looked up at Rainbow Dash with those big brown eyes of hers that could make a fully grown dragon go soft.

"N-n-no, I'm okay," she stammered, looking down at the floor, making her pigtails flop over her head. Rainbow Dash felt so sorry for the small mare that it stung! She was just so innocent and sweet; Spring Song was a huge monster for chewing her out like that. It was like shouting at a little lost kitten.

"Well, I feel like I should do something, so…do ya wanna hang out?" Rainbow Dash offered Cinder and Bumble. Cinder looked up in surprise, one of her pigtails falling back into place while the other still hung limply over one of her eyes.

"R-really? _You_ wanna hang out with _me_?" Cinder pointed at herself, looking at Rainbow Dash like she'd grown a second head. Rainbow Dash nodded down at her.

"Sure, why not? You seem like a cool pony to chill with. You too, Bumble," Dash replied. Bumble beamed proudly, while Cinder's jaw dropped. She stayed frozen like that for a while before finally getting her senses back. She looked awkwardly down at the floor.

"Nopony has ever called me _cool _before," she admitted shuffling her hooves, looking like she wished she hadn't said that. Rainbow lifted up the blue mare's head.

"Well, they're crazy, 'cause I know you're a cool pony, Cinder. Ya just need to make it a little clearer. For starters, you can stop staring at the floor," Rainbow Dash told her.

"Heh…sorry," Cinder let her head dip down again.

"Uh, uh, uh," Rainbow tutted at Cinder, roughly lifting her head up again to show that she meant what she was saying. "You're doing it again," she added, and Cinder chuckled. Rainbow began heading down the hall.

"Now, c'mon, let's go outside. Drills were cancelled today 'cause of the stupid Assembly, so we have all day to do whatever we want. So, how's about we race through those hoops? That way we'll have an advantage when we have to do an exercise on them?" Dash suggested. Bumble enthusiastically trotted down the hall after her rainbow maned friend.

"You can count me in," she agreed. Cinder followed after, having to walk a little faster due to her shorter legs.

"Sounds like fun," she smiled cheerfully, making Rainbow Dash feel proud of herself. The Academy Assembly had made Dash think that it would be a pretty depressing day, but maybe now, with these two friends of hers, today wouldn't be so bad after all.

* * *

"Braeburn, you in here?" Soarin called out as he walked into the kitchen. The lights were on and he could hear the whir of the air conditioning, so somepony must either be in here or have just left. When there was no reply, Soarin made his way to a stool beside an oven and hauled himself onto it? Why does a stool have to be so tall? (THAT RHYMED!)

Soarin rested his head on the counter and just stared straight ahead at the wall. He was pretty tired because he'd been up all night trying to figure out his newfound feelings for Rainbow Dash (and getting apple sauce out of his fur). It felt right and wrong at the same time. Right because they were so alike and seemed like a pretty ordinary pair, but wrong because he was her mentor. It would be odd for him to have affections for his 'student'. All of this was just so confusing! He wanted to ask someone about this but he didn't know anyone who was an expert on this kind of thing. He had come into the kitchen hoping to just talk to Braeburn about all this but he wasn't even here! UGH!

The Wonderbolt co-captain cursed under his breath and closed his eyes. Putting all his worries aside, all he really wanted to do was sleep. Maybe things would seem clearer once he'd had a nap. Yes, all he needed was a little bit of shut-eye and everything would make sense. Soarin took one heavy breath and relaxed, feeling peaceful for the first time since he'd got back from his 'Intimate Trip' with Rainbow Dash.

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK!

"GAH!" Soarin jolted up in alarm and flapped high into the air, bonking his head on the ceiling. He crashed to the ground, having lost his focus and lay sprawled on his back, staring up at the spinning room. He was aware of somepony laughing and he tilted his head to the side, catching sight of a light blue pony rolling on the floor, cackling with laughter. Soarin growled and sat up, rubbing his head to try and get his eyes back into focus. He didn't want his eyes to be crossed like that mail mare, Derpy's.

"Fleetfoot, what the heck was that for?" Soarin bellowed at the guffawing mare, who sat up and wiped a tear from her eye with one hoof, the other hoof clutching an air horn.

"Heh…I couldn't resitht. You jutht looked tho peaceful," she lisped, trying (and failing) to supress her laughter. Soarin stood up and glared at his friend.

"I can't believe you can be so cruel," he scolded her. Fleetfoot shrugged her shoulders.

"Can ya blame me? I thaw you there looking all relaxed and I happened to have an air horn with me. You'd do the thame," Fleetfoot told Soarin, who was irritated to admit she was right.

"Yes, that and you were obviously in here when I called out to see if there was anypony here!" the blue stallion added, folding his hooves in frustration. Fleetfoot shook her head.

"Actually, you were here before me, I just flew in over the counter, tho that'th why you didn't hear the door," she explained, nodding at the counter where the food was served. Soarin followed her gaze and raised an eyebrow at her.

"I really hope none of your feathers came off and landed in the trays," he muttered, almost gagging as he thought of swallowing a feather. He'd done that as couple of times while preening his wings and that was _not _a pleasant experience. Fleetfoot gave Soarin a smug look and sat down on the stool he was on a minute ago before she'd blasted his brains out.

"There's no chance of my feathers falling in the trayth. Ya know why, Thoarin, because I can command my feathers to thtay in," she explained, leaning against the counter coolly. That'th right: I have complete control over my wings."

"Howdy, guys," Braeburn poked his head through the door and smiled as he saw two of his friends.

POMF

Soarin snorted with laughter as Fleetfoot's wings opened up. The sight of the blue mare, leaning against the counter with her wings like that and a red face was _priceless!_

"Yep, _totally _under control," Soarin teased Fleetfoot, who shot him an angry glower. Braeburn was totally confused.

"You okay, Fleetfoot?" he questioned the embarrassed pegasus, who folded her arms behind her head and put on a nonchalant grin.

"Yep, I'm fine," she lied. "Jutht thtretching my wings."

"Okay then. So, Soarin, how're ya feelin'?" Braeburn made his way over to Soarin and stood before him. "Ya know, with the whole Rainbow Dash thing?"

Soarin was surprised that Braeburn was asking him about all this and he suddenly felt guilty. Braeburn had enough on his plate with his Spitfire problem, but yet he was still helping Soarin with his Rainbow Dash problem. Soarin suddenly found himself wishing that he'd paid more attention to his friend's dilemma.

"Everything's fine, Brae, don't worry about me. I can deal with this on my own," Soarin decided to say, not wanting to force his friend to help him with any of his predicaments. "How are _you _doing?"

Braeburn shrugged. "Ah'm fine. Been workin' on a new recipe: Apple Cinnamon Crips-"

"Not those problems," Soarin interrupted him. "Ya know…" he mouthed 'Spitfire' and Braeburn immediately turned a shade pinker. He awkwardly looked away.

"Nothin'. Ah haven't talked to 'er since Ah repaired that machine," he shrugged again. One thing Soarin noticed was that he and Braeburn seemed to react differently to these kinds of things. Soarin didn't feel all that embarrassed about it, just confused, while Braeburn seemed to be both. Everytime 'She' was mentioned, Braeburn would turn red and become flustered. But then again, they were dealing with two very different kinds of issues. Rainbow Dash and Spitfire were very similar in that they were dedicated to flying and were both the two best flyers in Equestria, but it was the _stallions _that made their situations so different. Soarin and Rainbow Dash were so similar: they were both great flyers, shared a lot of the same interests, and were naturally great friends. But Braeburn and Spitfire were just such…opposites! Braeburn was happy, optimistic, cheerful, polite, caring and easy to get along with while Spitfire was a loner, a pessimist, strict, serious about work, a little grumpy and it was pretty difficult to get on her good side. It pained Soarin to know that the two had pretty much nothing in common, but he knew not to judge at first glance, after all he'd heard that opposites attract.

"Are you sure?" Soarin raised a brow, wanting to offer as much help as possible to his friend. Braeburn nodded his head.

"Eeyup, everythin's under control," the earth pony confirmed, though judging by his tone he was trying to convince himself as much as Soarin. Soarin put a hoof on his friends shoulder.

"Are you sure you don't want me to help you out, buddy?" he asked. "Maybe I could be your wingpony?" he suggested, though Braeburn looked absolutely mortified at the thought.

"No, Soarin. Ah think that's takin' it too far," he admitted. Soarin agreed, maybe being a wingpony in the early stages of Braeburn and Spitfires (non-existent) relationship was a bit too forward.

"What's taking it too far?"

Soarin looked to the side to see Fleetfoot eavesdropping on their conversation. Soarin and Braeburn exchanged glances. Soarin was _not _about to tell Fleetfoot that her crush liked another pony so he just made something up.

"_Braeburn's _taking it too far," he said, making Braeburn twitch in annoyance at having this all pinned on him. Fleetfoot looked at Braeburn.

"What are you taking too far?" she asked him, her eyes wide with interest. Braeburn looked over at Soarin, confused.

"Why don't _you_ tell 'er, Soar?" he suggested, looking smug. Soarin desperately tried to think of something to say. He suddenly got the perfect idea.

"Braeburn was just saying that he…wanted to take his…dog on a walk to…the Crystal Empire, but then he said: 'No…_that's taking it too far_!" he grinned in triumph at coming up with that. Braeburn nodded and agreed.

"So, Ah'm gonna walk him to Neighagra Falls instead," he added. Soarin was a little irritated at that since Neighagra Falls was _still too far_! Actually, come to think of it, Braeburn didn't even _have _a dog. Oops. Fleetfoot glanced up at the clock on the wall and jumped down from her stool.

"I've gotta get going. I bet Rapidfire I could beat him in a 100 lap race and I don't wanna be late," she told the stallions, rubbing her hooves together at the thought of Rapidfire eating her dust. She bid the two friends farewell and headed back over the counter, not losing any feathers in the trays by the way.

"See ya, Fleetfoot," Braeburn waved as she left. Soarin decided he should leave, too. He'd pretty much decided to forget about talking to Braeburn about Rainbow Dash. He had also decided that he was just gonna come out and tell her how he felt. It wasn't exactly rocket science.

"I'm gonna head out, too. Gotta meet Dashie for our training session and tell her I like her," he told Braeburn his plan. Braeburn's jaw dropped.

"Really!? You're gonna tell 'er _now_?" he blinked rapidly. Soarin nodded.

"Yeah, how hard can it be?" he cleared his throat and spoke to a bowl of fruit resting on the counter. "Rainbow Dash, you'll never guess, but I have a crush on you," he looked at Braeburn, smirking. "See, easy as pie," his mouth watered a little as he said 'pie'.

Braeburn rubbed the back of his neck. "Wow, Soarin. Ah know you're just talkin' to a bunch o' fruit, but that's still impressive. Ah wish Ah was as brave as you," he sighed, staring down at the floor. Soarin headed to the door.

"Don't worry, buddy, you'll get there someday," he assured his friend. "I'll see ya later," he then left the kitchen, wearing a determined smile. How hard could this possibly be?

* * *

**BOOM!**

Soarin cheered for Rainbow Dash as she pulled off a _triple _Buccaneer Blaze. That was the kind of move that, in a real airshow, would have spectators passing out from the sheer awesomeness of it. Rainbow swooped down and landed triumphantly beside Soarin. "Rainbow Dash, you were incredible!" he complimented her. Rainbow just shrugged.

"Meh, it was nothin'…but it was still _SO AWESOME_!" she put her hooves on her cheeks and squeaked out the last two words, making Soarin chuckle. She could be real sweet when she wanted to be. She was in a good mood, so now was the time to tell her.

"So, Dashie, I've gotta say something," Soarin felt his cheeks tingle with warmth. Rainbow squinted at him.

"Soarin, have you been exercising today?" she asked him. Soarin shook his head, wondering why she would ask something like that.

"Nope, why?" he asked her. She pointed a blue hoof at his face.

"Well, you look a little red, that's all," she told him. Soarin shook his head once again.

"Nah, I just have a cr-" Soarin blinked rapidly. His throat had just kinda seized up. That had never happened to him before. _"Speak!"_ he thought to himself, opening his mouth again. Nothing came out!

"You have a crah?" Rainbow Dash tilted her head. What was a 'crah'? Soarin fanned himself before finally finding himself able to speak again.

"No, I meant to say I have a-" he stopped again and growled at himself in frustration. Since when did it become so hard to talk? Soarin didn't know words could get stuck in your throat like that. It was actually pretty terrifying! Rainbow Dash waited while Soarin opened and closed his mouth, with no sounds coming out whatsoever. He tugged at the collar of his officer's uniform as sweat trickled down the side on his head. "Whew, hot day, isn't it?" he grinned the best he could. Rainbow Dash seemed a little befuddled since it was a particularly nippy late March afternoon.

"Er…yes?" Rainbow shrugged, shuddering as she noticed how cold it was.

"Cr-cr-cr-crush!" Soarin felt successful as he got a key word out. Rainbow Dash still didn't get the message.

"What about crushing?" she asked him.

"I have-" Soarin felt his throat freeze and the words got jammed once again. He swore in his head and wanted to slap some sense into himself. But he'd look ridiculous if he socked himself in the face. This was in no way normal. He needed to get out of there. He had been wrong: THIS WAS TOO HARD!

"Ya know, I just remembered I have to…" Soarin got an idea. "Buzz buzz buzz," he made phone noises and dug into his uniform's pocket. He pulled out the first thing he found and held it to his ear. "Hello?" he spoke into a pen. Rainbow took a cautious step away from him. "What's that, _my house is on fire?_ I'd better go. Bye," he 'hung up' his pen and put it back in his pocket. "Sorry about that Dashie; gotta bolt. See ya!" With that Soarin sped off into the sky as fast as he could.

"Er…bye?" Rainbow awkwardly waved after him.

* * *

_Hi, guys,_

_That Assembly I told you about was today. By the way, thanks for those get well gifts. Pinkie Pie, those cupcakes you sent were fantastic! I really want to know who put the horseshoe in the clouds so I can give them a stern talking to, but for all I know it could even be a Wonderbolt!_

_Say, Fluttershy I have to ask you for some advice. There's a pretty shy pony I've met here called Cinder and she's finding it really hard to come out of her shell. Can you tell me how I can get her to act a little braver because I think that she can be a much greater flyer if she stopped focusing on what other ponies think of her._

_I'm really looking forward to coming to the Spring Celebration in April. I've really missed you guys and whenever I get your letters it feels like you're really here. Speaking of you being here, I was wondering if you guys could visit me here. You could meet my cadet friends and I could maybe take you on a cloud ride._

_I'm gonna get some shut-eye now. I wasn't woken up by a bugle this morning because there were no drills, but tomorrow the 'Trumpet from Tartarus' will be back._

_Yours incredibly,_

_Rainbow Dash._

Dash put the letter in her saddlebag and sat on her bed, looking around at the empty room. According to Lullaby she was sleeping on the floor since Spring Song had taken her bed, so Rainbow Dash was waiting for-

"Hey, Dash!"

Rainbow beamed as Lullaby appeared at her door. The purple mare was holding a bag full of her belongings in her teeth and had a pillow balanced on her back.

"Hey, roomie," Rainbow greeted her back. Lullaby tossed her pillow on Spring Song's old bed and began unpacking. "You have no idea how relieved I am to get out of that room. I should have done this weeks ago."

"Here, let me help you," Rainbow got off her bed and began to help Lullaby arrange her stuff. Lullaby smiled over at Rainbow Dash as she spread one of her Wonderbolts poster on the wall beside her bed.

"I think I'm gonna like having you or a roommate," she told Dash. Rainbow returned her smile.

"I'm gonna enjoy having you here, too."


	13. Being Friendly

Rainbow Dash whizzed beside Lullaby as the final minutes of drills ticked by. They were practising creating tornados in pairs and Rainbow was pleased to see that theirs was the biggest. After the incident with Lightning Dust, Rainbow Dash had been practising her tornado control and she had to admit that she'd improved greatly.

"One minute left!"

Rainbow Dash heard a light bulb go off in her head. Her training with Soarin could finally come in handy here. "Hey, Lullaby!" Rainbow Dash called out over the whirring of the twister. Lullaby squinted through her flying goggles.

"What is it?" she called back.

"Would you mind getting out of here?" Rainbow asked her. Lullaby was bewildered.

"How come?" she bellowed. Rainbow Dash smirked.

"You'll see!" she replied. Lullaby hesitated a little before taking a sharp turn and exiting the tornado. Rainbow now had to control the tornado by herself and luckily her practise hadn't been for nothing. Now was the time to show everypony what she could do. She tilted her body down and began descending, flying round in circles faster and faster. She could feel the tornado getting bigger around her as she sped up.

She was going to show everyone the Soar Spin.

She was getting closer to the ground, now. At the last moment she pulled up and-

WHOOSH!

Powerful gusts of wind erupted around her, completely blowing Whiplash off his hooves and sending Fast Clip to the ground. She looked to the side to see the cadets staring at her in awe. She'd literally blown their minds! Dash swerved down to land on the ground right in front of Spitfire, who looked pretty impressed.

"Whoa, Dash. Not exactly what I expected from a tornado drill, but you've just earned a pretty good report today," Spitfire informed Rainbow Dash, who triumphantly flapped into the air and flipped backwards to celebrate. She was tackled to the ground by a few of the cadets.

"Rainbow Dash, that was _amazing_!" Lullaby praised her friend, ruffling her rainbow coloured mane.

"Yeah, I wish I could do that," Stargazer hugged Dash tightly.

"Where did ya learn that?" Bumble asked Rainbow, giving her a slap on the back. Rainbow Dash smiled and shrugged.

"I learned from the best," she replied. Spitfire blew her whistle, getting their attention back.

"Enough of the jibba jabba! Tomorrow you'll be taking a break from flying techniques and weather control to practice mid-air combat. Most ponies forget that the Wonderbolts are warriors, not just stunt flyers," Spitfire revealed. The cadets immediately began buzzing with excitement, except Cinder, who turned a little pale at the mention of fighting.

With that the cadets were dismissed and they headed to the Mess Hall. Lullaby trotted beside Rainbow Dash.

"Hey, Dash, do ya think you can teach us that awesome trick?" the purple pegasus asked Rainbow and seconds after she said that Rainbow was being swarmed by nearly all the cadets, staring at her with big pleading eyes. Rainbow gazed around at all the begging pegasi and felt a little pleased that they were all asking her for help with a trick. Was this how Soarin felt when he taught her?

"Meh, why not?" Rainbow Dash replied coolly, though inside she was repeating _ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh_! "But can I get a bite to eat first? I think we all need a snack after that tornado exercise."

After they all agreed to eat first, they walked through the double doors to the Mess Hall.

* * *

"Idiot, idiot, idiot!"

Braeburn cursed under his breath as Soarin repeated that word over and over again while slamming his head into the table. The two of them were alone in the staffroom, and Braeburn was seriously debating whether or not he should leave. Soarin was acting like a complete nutcase because of the whole Rainbow Dash fiasco from yesterday and it was beginning to drive Braeburn up a wall.

"Will ya stop that already?" the earth pony hissed at his friend. Soarin finally stopped bonking himself on the table after that and Braeburn sighed with relief. Braeburn and Soarin were at the coffee machine at the back of the room. "You're meant to be givin' me instructions, not sockin' yerself senseless!"

"Heh…sorry," Soarin apologized, rubbing his sore looking forehead. Braeburn rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the coffee machine and the polystyrene cup in front of him. "Why are you making me do this again?"

"Well, yesterday in the kitchen, your determination to confess your feelin's t' Rainbow Dash got me thinkin' 'bout mah situation with Miss Spitfire," Braeburn revealed. Soarin gasped.

"Are you gonna tell her?" he asked Braeburn. Braeburn did a double take.

"No way, Ah'm not that brave!" the Appaloosan said, feeling instantly nervous at the thought. Soarin exhaled and patted Braeburn on the back.

"Good for you, buddy, 'cause it's _impossible_!" Soarin sighed, his eyes glazing over. Braeburn slapped Soarin round the face for fear of the pegasus stallion doing it himself.

"Snap outta it!" Braeburn scolded his high school friend. Soarin sheepishly gave Braeburn a weak smile.

"Sorry… I needed that. But aren't you gonna tell me why we're making her coffee?" the Wonderbolt repeated his question from earlier.

"Well, remember when Ah first told ya 'bout all this? Ya told me t' just take baby steps and be nice to 'er, right?" Braeburn tried to jolt Soarin's memory. Soarin just stared at Braeburn for a few seconds before replying.

"Yes, but what does that have to do with coffee?" he asked. Braeburn sighed and muttered something negative under his breath.

"Well, instead o' doin' somethin' lame like givin' her flowers or a goat-"

"A goat?" Soarin raised an eyebrow. Braeburn reached up and took his cowboy hat off his head, reaching under it and pulling out a book titled _'100 things to know about crushes that you were afraid to ask'._ Soarin was about to ask him what else he kept under his hat when he flipped open the book to a specific page and read a few sentences.

"Oh, it said 'boat'…but how does a boat help- ugh, stupid book, FORGET THE BOOK!" Braeburn shoved it back under his hat roughly. "Anyway, Ah figured that getting' 'er coffee is as good a start as any," Braeburn shrugged, once he'd forgotten about his rage with the book and returned to his normal smiley mood.

"Oh, yeah, that is a good idea. Better than getting her a goat, anyway," Soarin joked. "Well, now that I know why we're doing this, she likes half a spoonful of sugar," he told Braeburn, who obediently spooned the right amount of sugar into the full cup.

"How much milk?" the earth pony asked Soarin.

"No milk; she likes it black," the pegasus replied. "That's it."

Braeburn nodded his thanks to Soarin and let his eyes slip sideways until they landed on the cookie jar. He suddenly felt pretty hungry. "Hey, Soarin. D'ya want a cookie?"

"Yeah, sure," Soarin licked his lips as Braeburn opened up the jar and tossed him a chocolate chip cookie, which was gone in seconds. Braeburn munched on his slower than Soarin did, just waiting. His time in the staffroom had taught him a lot of things about the pegasi here, mainly what times they liked to come here. He knew that Fleetfoot was always here during both sets of drills, Rapidfire came in here during the second half of drills for a nap and Spitfire always came in after drills to grab some coffee and then headed to her office, so she could come in at any moment.

"What's taking so long? I wanna see what happens," Soarin complained, flopping down on the couch. Braeburn fixed him with a stern glower.

"Nothin' will happen," he insisted. He was just trying to make friends with her at this point. Soarin looked like he was about to say something else but quickly changed his mind. Braeburn got the suspicion that the co-captain was about to say something that wouldn't help with this situation. At least the pie loving stallion could hold his tongue about certain things.

"Hey, Soarin," Braeburn recognized the voice and almost completely shut down. He managed to look to the side as the captain he had been waiting for came through the door. She looked over at him with that usual stern expression of hers. "Hey, cowboy," she added. Braeburn felt his cheeks threaten to turn red. He liked it when she called him 'cowboy'.

"Hi, Spitfire, what's up?" Soarin smiled at her. Spitfire shrugged.

"Usually us," she joked and Soarin chuckled.

"Yeah, because we're Wonderbolts and it's our job to be up-"

"Soarin, if ya have to explain the joke it's not funny," Spitfire told him. Soarin ceased laughing, though he was still smirking.

"So, why are you here?" Soarin asked her, looking over at Braeburn, who finally began functioning properly again. Spitfire gave Soarin a weird look.

"Soarin, you know I come in here to get coffee every day at the same time," she reminded him. Soarin faked a look of realization.

"Oh, now I remember," he lied. "Well, you don't have to worry about the coffee because…" he looked over at Braeburn, waiting for him to finish the sentence. Braeburn opened his mouth. Why in Celestia's name was his throat so dry? "_Because…_" Soarin repeated more harshly. Braeburn gave in to that stupid freezing sensation and Soarin face-hoofed. "Braeburn already made you some!" Soarin finished the sentence. Braeburn finally spoke.

"Yeah… Ah did. It's next to the Espresso machine," he told Spitfire who flashed him a smile before trotting over to the machine.

"Thanks cowboy," she said to him and Braeburn turned around to stare at the wall so she wouldn't be able to see his blush. Once he was sure he didn't look red, he turned back round to see Spitfire about to leave the room.

"See ya," Soarin called after her.

"Yeah, bye, ma'am," Braeburn waved at her even though she couldn't see him. Spitfire turned and nodded in farewell at the two of them. She turned to leave again but stopped in the doorway, pausing for a few seconds before looking over her shoulder.

"Hey," she looked over at Braeburn. Braeburn's pupils dilated as she looked at him and he did that stupid Look-Behind-You-To-See-If-She's-Talking-To-Somepony-Else-Even-Though-You-Know-That-The-Only-Thing-Behind-You-Is-A-Wall thing. Once he'd confirmed that there was nothing but a wall behind him and she _wouldn't _talk to a wall he looked back at her.

"Yes, ma'am," he asked her, smiling as usual. Spitfire gestured to the hallway.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" she asked him. Braeburn felt something like a firework go off in his brain and he suddenly forgot how to walk. He slowly put one hoof in front of the other, looking at Soarin as if to say 'come with me'. Soarin just gave Braeburn an eyebrow wiggle, which gave Braeburn the desire to punch him.

He finally made it to the hallway and Spitfire closed the door behind them. She then began walking down the hallway and motioned for Braeburn to follow her. It then dawned on Braeburn that he was alone with Spitfire in a hallway. He felt completely stunned, trying to remember how to walk, breathe and speak and he felt a little lightheaded. He suddenly found himself leaning against the left wall of the hallway and Braeburn suspected that he'd almost fainted and the wall had been the only thing keeping him from falling to the floor.

Spitfire only led him a few metres away, as if she wanted to make sure they were out of earshot. She held out her hoof to get him to stop before turning to face him. Braeburn suddenly found the floor interesting and began running a hoof along the wooden surface.

"So…what is it, ma'am?" Braeburn looked over at the golden mare. She took off her shades and folded them up before tucking them in the front pocket of her uniform. Braeburn finally got to see her eyes without her sunglasses on and was briefly dazzled by them. They were very…orange and they seemed to sparkle. Braeburn wondered if she was staring into his soul, and looked down to check before realising that was _ridiculous_!

"Listen, cowboy, I'm not stupid. So what is it?" Spitfire asked him. Braeburn was instantly baffled by the question. What was she talking about?

"Pardon? Ah don't really understand what ya mean?" he looked down at her. She looked a little angry.

"What do you want from me?" she asked him again. She didn't give him a chance to reply (not that he could have) because she hadn't finished talking. "You repair things for me, agree to a job assisting me, teach me how to bake pie and get me my stuff and you seriously don't think I'll get a little suspicious? So, what did you put in my coffee? Drugs? Poison!?"

Braeburn's jaw dropped. Why in the name of the princesses would he do something like that? He couldn't understand how somepony could mistake a kind gesture for the exact opposite. "Ma'am…Ah wouldn't do somethin' like that. Ah was just tryin' t' be friendly," he replied gently, despite the look of panic in his green eyes.

"Why?" Spitfire asked, surprisingly calmly. Braeburn took a second to calm himself down before replying, meeting her gaze.

"Well, back in Appaloosa we treat ladies with the greatest possible respect. Ah was just being polite," Braeburn replied, straightening up and speaking confidently. Spitfire looked away from him and down at the ground.

"Well, I'm not a lady," she sighed sombrely. Braeburn was once again shocked at this. How could a mare possibly say that? He smiled down at her warmly.

"That's not true…" Braeburn paused before saying the next half of his sentence. "Actually…you're the finest lady Ah've met," he turned a little pink. Spitfire's angry glare vanished and was replaced with one of shock. She looked up and met his gaze, looking confused, surprised and mystified all at the same time. For several seconds they just stared at each other, not saying a word before Spitfire suddenly began babbling random syllables. She turned away from Braeburn and grumbled, though she didn't turn far enough to hide her right cheek and Braeburn was surprised, and pleased, to see a light blush on her face.

"Well, you can just stop…"she spat, looking back at him for a split second before turning away again. "…it's better if I'm just…left alone."

Braeburn frowned down at her and he felt his spirits sink down to his hooves. All he'd tried to do was become her friend, but now she was mad at him! "Ma'am…" he stopped talking even though he wanted to say every possible thing that would make her change her mind. Maybe…maybe he should just give up. "Ah didn't mean t' make ya angry. I just…" he made up his mind. He'd rather give up now than be shot down later. He wanted what was best for her, and if that meant that he had to leave her be then…he'd do just that. "Ah'm sorry…" he turned and began heading back to the staffroom, head hung low and his chest feeling hollow.

"Hold up,"

Braeburn's ears pricked up as Spitfire spoke, so quiet he barely heard her. He turned to look at her. She was sitting on her haunches, staring down at the floor, looking a little guilty.

"I…I didn't mean that…" she apologized, scuffing her front hooves on the floor. "I'm sorry…" she spoke even quieter, as if she wasn't used to saying that word: 'sorry'. Braeburn felt his mood brighten immediately. Maybe all was not lost. He smiled softly at her and felt that familiar warm tingling he got when he was around her.

"Apology accepted, ma'am," Braeburn said gently. Spitfire looked up at him again. She looked different without her scowl and Braeburn meant that in a very good way. Without a grimace she seemed even more beautiful. She smiled gratefully at him and that just made Braeburn smile wider. She got up and turned around, most likely heading to her office. As she walked she turned and looked over her shoulder.

"See ya later, cowboy," she nodded at him, still wearing a small smile. Braeburn tipped his hat to her.

"Yeah…" he felt giddy. "See ya."

* * *

Lean a little to the left, Stains!" Rainbow Dash called up to the green-blue mare. Stains wasn't doing very well…at all. Her Soar Spin reminded Rainbow Dash of her pet tortoise Tank chasing his tail: It just wasn't gonna work out!

"OH NO!" Stains panicked as she completely lost control and was flung to the side. Rainbow Dash took off to catch her but suddenly caught sight of something. Beau was flying at incredible speed, moving clouds around. What the hay was she doing? Within seconds Beau had fashioned a massive throw pillow out of clouds. Stains crashed into it and clung on to it for dear life. Rainbow looked over at Beau, who was looking at her work proudly whilst helping Stains stand up. Rainbow Dash whizzed over to Beau and slapped her on the back.

"This is awesome, Beau. Where did you learn to do that?" she asked the dark pink mare. Beau just shrugged.

"It's a natural gift," she replied, sitting down on the cloud/pillow. "I'm just pretty talented when it comes to clouds."

"Well, you may not be able to pull off a Soar Spin but you sure can sculpt," Rainbow commented, jumping up and down on Beau's work. Stains raised a hoof.

"Hey, remember me? The pony who just face planted into a cloud?" she asked, still looking a little dizzy. Rainbow Dash chuckled sheepishly and walked over to check on her friend.

"You didn't hurt yourself too bad there, did you?" she asked Stains, who shook her head.

"Nah, I'm sure I'll be fine once I stop seeing triple," she replied, though Dash wasn't sure whether she was joking or not. Rainbow looked down at the other cadets, minus Spring Song and Paradise. Those two were somewhere else, Spring Song probably using Paradise as a hoof stool, while everypony else was out here, attempting Soar Spins. So far the only cadets who could do one were Rainbow Dash and Tempest. Tempest was still bragging about it by the time Rainbow Dash, Beau and Stains returned to the cloudy ground.

"Yeah, it was no sweat," he boasted. "I just flew down and turned- simple."

Rainbow Dash was about to tell him that it wasn't that easy, but she'd learned that with Tempest things just went in one ear and out the other.

"I wish I could do a Soar Spin," Smart Set groaned. Sugar Swoop put a hoof on the beige stallion.

"Well, Tempest has always been better than the rest of us colts," he sneered. Tempest heard that and flapped into the air.

"Too true," he smirked. "I can even do a Sonic Rainboom."

Rainbow rolled her eyes, knowing that he was just lying. She remembered Spring Song telling her on the first day of drills that he claimed he could pull a Rainboom off, but Bumble and Beau denied it. But Rainbow Dash wasn't gonna pass the opportunity to see another pegasus try. She smiled mischievously up at the orange stallion. "Is that so?"

"It _is _so!" Tempest replied, looking smug. Rainbow narrowed her magenta eyes.

"Prove it!" she demanded. Tempest got a competitive look on his face and grinned. He began ascending higher into the air, his shaggy green mane being swept back as he sped up.

"Sure thing!" he called down. Once he'd flown so high that the other cadets could barely see him, Rainbow Dash settled down on the ground waiting to see his epic fail. Lullaby sat beside Rainbow Dash.

"Do ya think he can really do it?" she asked, looking up at the orange dot in the sky. Rainbow snorted with laughter.

"No way, everypony knows that I'm the only pony who can do a Sonic Rainboom. It _is _my special talent after all," Rainbow Dash looked proudly at her cutie mark. "The whole point of a _special _talent is that nopony else can do it but you. Just like you…uh…Lullaby? What _is _your special talent?" Rainbow asked her purple friend. She had just realised that she had no idea what the other cadets' talents were. Lullaby looked down at her cutie mark: a nightcap with five musical notes around it.

"Singing foals to sleep," she replied. "I've had plenty of practice with two little sisters and a little brother."

"Oh, so what made you want to be a Wonderbolt?" Rainbow Dash asked curiously. Why didn't she just take a job at a day-care or a school since she was so good with foals?

"Well, I'm sure you've noticed by now but I'm not all that good at the stunt flying part of all this," Lullaby began. "But I'm a pretty good fighter. I first found my knack for it when I found a mare being abusive to a group of little fillies. So my instincts kicked in and the next thing you know I bucked her right in the chest. I wasn't all that pleased with myself that I kicked somepony, but when I saw how happy those foals were, how they all tackled me to the ground and hugged me until my lungs almost collapsed I saw how great it was to protect others. When I discovered that the Wonderbolts were soldiers as well as stunt flyers I decided that one day I'd join them and protect the whole of Equestria," Lullaby finished her story. Rainbow looked down at her proudly. She was really committed to helping other ponies, and Rainbow Dash liked meeting ponies like that.

"That's so cool, Lullaby. I guess you can show me how well you fight at drills tomorrow," the blue mare, nudged her roommate. She couldn't wait to show off her fighting skills, too. She just hoped that she wouldn't be paired up with Lullaby, because judging by her story she was a real good kicker.

"Here I come!" Tempest yelled from above. Rainbow craned her neck and squinted against the sunlight as the orange stallion began zooming downwards. He got faster and faster as the moments went by and Rainbow Dash could faintly see the air pressure surrounding him. He was getting faster still. Rainbow Dash wondered for a second if he was telling the truth. Could he really do a Sonic Rainboom? He was almost there. The pressure was getting tighter…and…

"WHOOOOOOOOOA!"

Rainbow Dash collapsed in laughter as Tempest was flung into the air, sailing right over the Academy to who-knows-where. She knew it: she was still the only pony who could do a Sonic Rainboom. Bumble and Beau took off into the air.

"We'd better go and find him," Bumble called back to the other cadets as they flew off to find their friend. Rainbow picked herself up off the ground and snickered. Lullaby was still beside her, also giggling.

"So, do you wanna head back to our room?" she suggested. It felt odd having a roommate again, but a good kind of odd. Rainbow nodded.

"Sure, I've got a letter to write anyway."

* * *

_What's up, guys?_

_I finally got to show the other cadets one of the tricks Soarin taught me. They totally loved it! Speaking of Soarin, I haven't seen him today. He was supposed to teach me how to do a Raincloud Double Backflip upside down, but he was nowhere to be found! I swear he hadn't taken a day off._

_Oh well, I'll talk to him about it tomorrow, which is also when I'll be practising mid-air combat. It's about time we get to the battling 'cause I can't wait to show the others some of the moves I used when we fought the changelings back in Canterlot. It'll be __**so awesome**_**!**

_Oh yeah, I have a new roommate. Her name is Lullaby and she's a _much _better roomie than Spring Song was. Speaking of Spring Song, the she-devil kicked Lullaby out of her own bed! What kind of moron does that? I bet even morons look at her and say 'Whoa, she's a moron!'_

_But enough of that! I'm really excited for the Spring Celebration. I found out that us cadets have a day off to go to our separate festivities. I'm gonna ask Soarin if he wants to come and I bet that Braeburn's coming, too. There's somepony else I want to come, too, but she's a pretty busy pony, so I wouldn't count on it._

_I'll see you in a few days' time,_

_Rainbow Dash._

"So you write them letters every day?" Lullaby asked Rainbow from her spot, tucked under the covers in the bed opposite Dash's.

"Yeah, we're really close and I really hate being away from them," Rainbow replied, thinking of all the good times she'd had with her friends.

"But it's all worth it, right?" Lullaby smiled over at Rainbow, propping herself up on her pillow. Rainbow nodded in agreement.

"It is. We'll become Wonderbolts and then my friends can come with me on all my tours!" Rainbow's eyes glimmered at the very thought of flying with her lifelong heroes, along with Lullaby.

"I wish I could come to the Spring Celebration with you Rainbow Dash," Lullaby told Dash, brushing the fringe of her orange and blue mane out of her eyes. "You're friends sound really cool."

Rainbow Dash smiled at this. She really wanted Lullaby to meet her friends, too. But hearing somepony say that they thought her friends were cool warmed her heart. She nodded and grinned, lying back in her bed.

"Yeah. They're the best."

* * *

**Endnote: Man, it feels good to write that chapter. The idea for Lullaby's backstory has been bouncing around in my head for weeks and I had to write it down. I wanted to explore the cadets' different reasons for joining the Academy, so I can rest easier knowing that one has been taken care of.**

**Ya know, it's just occurred to me that I have absolutely no idea whether people actually read these authors notes. I could be typing away to myself. Oh well, I'll just forget about that because I'm in a really good mood. My favourite TV series finished today, I'm back at home where I have all the electronics I could possibly need…**

…**and I'm hugging the Spitfire plushie I got for Christmas! *hugs plushie*!**

**Tune in next time in chapter 14 where the cadets have their first combat lesson! This is gonna be fun!**


	14. Mighty Wings

RosaSilvermist- I'm gonna have to work this one out in my head. Well we have this chapter, the next one, the one after that and one more after that and _then _Rainbow Dash goes back to Ponyville for the Spring Celebration. So we'll get to see the rest of the Mane Six in Chapter 18. Man, that chapter will be fun to write! The more Pinkie Pie the better! :D

Imperialcrystalgirl- Whew. I seriously thought that I may be writing those notes for nothing. It's true, Spitfire _does _rule. You saying that made my day *cyberhugs*.

DragonZeus1- YAY! We're 'Plushie Buddies'! *hugs plushie again*

Sparkling-nexis137- I'm so happy that you like learning about the cadets. More info about them will come in later chapters. Also, I love that you enjoyed the BraeFire moment. Writing about those two makes me smile like an idiot! :D

* * *

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

"Ugh, mom, I don't wanna go to school!" Rainbow Dash mumbled, still half asleep. "All the ponies wanna eat my tail to see if it tastes like skittles!"

"You'll miss breakfast!"

"I'M UP!" Rainbow sat upright in her bed. She looked around, realising she was at the Academy and not at her childhood home with her dad, Rainbow Blaze, and her mom, Firefly. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked over at Lullaby. The purple mare was still fast asleep.

Huh!?

Why hadn't she been woken up by the bugle? Rainbow looked over at the clock on the wall and her pupils shrunk as she saw the time.

5 O'CLOCK!

Who in their right minds would be up at five O'clock? Better yet, who would _wake her up _at 5 O'clock? It was bad enough having to be woken up by a loud horn at six, but now some moron was knocking on her door at five. _FIVE!_ Rainbow Dash marched over to the door and pulled it open, suddenly finding herself glaring into the green eyes of Soarin.

"What's the big idea? How would you like it if _I _came banging on _your _door at five in the morning?" Rainbow complained, blowing a lock of her messy mane out of her eyes. She didn't really care about her bedhead as long as she got a little more sleep.

"Sorry, Dashie, but I just really wanted to apologize," Soarin didn't seem the slightest bit shaken at Rainbow's outburst. Rainbow was instantly angered because she had no idea what he was talking about. Maybe she did, but her brain didn't function properly unless she'd had at least nine hours sleep.

"Apologize for what?" she yawned, trying her best to keep her heavy eyelids up. She felt her head tip backwards and quickly shook herself to keep herself from falling over.

"Apologize for acting like an idiot two days ago. I don't know what came over me," he looked down at the ground. Rainbow Dash face hoofed.

"You woke me up just for that? Soarin, you didn't have to; I thought that was just your normal behaviour," she groaned, the only thought in her mind was that she'd been woken up for something as stupid as this. Right now, she didn't care about Soarin's crazy antics. It was a natural thing that she'd grown used to.

"Oh, then…this was a waste of time," Soarin looked sheepishly away. Rainbow groaned and rubbed her temples as if she were having a migraine. "Let me make it up to you anyway," he reached into the pocket of his uniform and Rainbow wondered for a moment whether he was going to talk to a pen again. Instead he pulled out two pieces of paper.

"Oh. My. Gosh. Are those…"

"Two tickets to the Wonderbolts airshow tonight? Yes, they are," Soarin replied. Rainbow was wide awake now. She grabbed the tickets and stared at them as if they were the most precious of jewels. "One for you and one for a guest of your choice," Soarin reached into his pocket again and pulled out another one. "I'm saving this one for Braeburn. I'm sure he'll want to see her in her flight suit," he seemed to say that last part to himself.

"Who in her flight suit?" Rainbow Dash asked, tilting her head. Soarin's eyes bulged.

"Did I say that out loud?" he muttered, looking a little horrified. Rainbow was about to ask another question when she felt a pair of hooves grab her round the neck.

"Gotcha!" Lullaby chuckled, hugging Rainbow Dash. Dash dipped her head and mumbled something under her breath.

"Lullaby, how can you be so active at this hour?" she asked. Lullaby shrugged.

"My whole life I've been woken up at ridiculous times by crying foals, so I'm just used to being up early," Lullaby explained. Rainbow Dash threw her head back and yawned.

"I'm so tired, but now I'm way to excited to go back to sleep," she looked down at the tickets in her hooves. Lullaby gasped beside her and ogled the tickets with her now huge golden eyes.

"Are those tickets to the airshow tonight?" she asked breathlessly. Rainbow nodded, passing her one of the tickets.

"Yeah, you wanna come?" she offered. Lullaby looked at Rainbow Dash, then the ticket, then back at Rainbow Dash, then back at the ticket. This went on for a while.

"Really?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, you're my best friend here, so it only seems right that I should take you," she explained.

"Ahem," Soarin cleared his throat, eyeing Rainbow Dash. The blue mare grinned and rolled her eyes.

"My best friend here besides you, of course, Soarin," Dash assured the Wonderbolt, who gave her an appreciative nod. Lullaby began bouncing up and down with glee.

"This is _so cool_! My very first Wonderbolts airshow!"

Rainbow blinked a couple of times. "Wait…you've never seen a Wonderbolts airshow before?" she asked, trying to process this. Lullaby looked a little ashamed of herself.

"Yeah. I've never had the time with my sisters and brother to look after. Besides, I've never really had that kind of money. Airshow tickets are like fifty bits, Dash!" the mare told Rainbow Dash.

"Well, I'm honoured to be taking you to your first one. I promise you that it'll be awesome!" the rainbow maned mare vowed. Lullaby lunged forward and wrapped Rainbow in a rib crushing hug.

"THANK YOU!" Lullaby squealed, almost cutting of Rainbow Dash's circulation.

"No…problem," Rainbow wheezed, trying to breathe. Suddenly, another door opened and Smart Set poked his head out the door looking pretty mad.

"What's the deal, guys? Some of us are trying to sleep!" he complained, still wearing a sleeping mask. Rainbow raised a hoof as if to say 'See!' while Soarin guffawed at the sight of the cadet with a polka dot sleeping mask and Lullaby let go of Rainbow Dash so she could cover her mouth. The purple cadet sheepishly giggled and spoke.

"Um…oops."

* * *

"Okay, since this is a combat lesson, I will be in charge today," Rapidfire announced, looking at the line of cadets. Silver Lining and Fire Streak were with him, the latter reclining on a lawn chair. Rainbow Dash wondered how this would work. Would they all just fight eachother like a pack of wild animals, or would they be in smaller groups or pairs?

"I don't like this," Rainbow Dash heard Cinder whimper further down the line. The little blue mare was shaking like a leaf in the breeze and looked a little pale. Rainbow hoped that the timid pegasus wouldn't get hurt.

"Okay, so here's how things will work: The fifteen of you will be separated into three groups based on your strength and skill," Rapidfire, looked down at the clipboard in his hooves. He began calling out the names of the cadets and telling them which Wonderbolt to stand with.

Rainbow Dash was ordered to stand with Rapidfire himself, along with Lullaby, Spring Song, Butternut, Tempest, Bumble and Free Fall.

Paradise, Beau, Smart Set, Sugar Swoop, Stargazer and Ray were sorted into the group with Silver Lining.

And Cinder and Stains were told to stand by Fire Streak.

Rapidfire looked over the three groups. "Okay, so with me we have the Dragons, which is the highest combat group. Silver Lining over there has the Eagles and Fire Streak has two…" he looked over at Stains, who waved and Cinder, who hid behind her. "…Chickens," he finished.

"Ooh, ooh, ooh!" Paradise raised her hoof from her spot beside Silver Lining and jumped up and down. Rapidfire looked over at the green mare.

"Yes, cadet?" he allowed her to speak. Paradise put on her cutest pair of puppy dog eyes.

"Can I be a Chicken instead of an Eagle?" she asked sweetly. Rapidfire blinked a couple of times.

"What?" he raised a brow. "Kid, you're in a really good group, ya know. I'm not moving you to the lowest group."

"Oh…okay," Paradise shrugged, looking over at Fire Streak and winking at him. Fire Streak shifted his eyes and looked like he wanted to get the hay out of there. Rapidfire face hoofed.

"Okay then, here's how things will work. Your Wonderbolt overseers will pair you up- well, not you, Fire Streak- and each pair will engage in mid-air fights. Each of you must be at least 5000 feet high in the air otherwise you will be disqualified. The 5000 foot limit and fighting space is marked by those flags," Rapidfire nodded up to two flags perched on a pair of clouds. "Let me make myself clear, I do _not_ want any bloodshed, broken bones or tears...well maybe tears. Got it?" Rapidfire exclaimed.

"Yes, sir!" the cadets replied in unison.

"Then let's get started!" Rapidfire turned to the seven cadets in the Dragon group and frowned. "Stupid odd numbers," he cursed. He looked back down at his clipboard and started muttering things to himself. "Okay, looks like one of you will have to fight me. I was hoping it wouldn't come to this but there's no other option…unless one of you wants to fight that chair," he looked over at Fire Streak's chair. Fire Streak was leading Stains and Cinder to a spot away from the other groups when Stains tripped over one of the chair's legs and landed on her face.

"Heh…looks like it'll be a worthy opponent," Bumble giggled. Rapidfire blew his whistle to get everypony to stop laughing, even though he was suppressing a smirk.

"Pay attention! By the end of the day each of you will have fought in a battle and hopefully impressed me. I'm gonna work hard to make you guys great fighters…or at least as good as that chair," that's when he started chuckling.

"I'll fight the chair!" Paradise piped up from the Eagle group. Rapidfire looked over at the green mare.

"Why in the name of Luna would you want to do that, cadet?" he asked her. Paradise shuffled her hooves.

"Definitely not so I can search it for Fire Streak's fur and then use the DNA to clone him," she bit her lip and turned red. Rapidfire massaged his forehead and groaned.

"Okay, for the rest of the day I'm gonna ignore her. I swear if she says one more word I could strangle her," the Wonderbolt stallion increased his grip on the clipboard. "Is anything that comes out of her mouth…normal?" he asked his group.

"No," they all replied.

"Well, the Chickens will fight first, then the Eagles, then us," Rapidfire calmed down and read his clipboard. "So we just have to figure out who will fight who…" he scanned the sheet he was reading. "Okay, so I'll pair you up based on your level of strength, so…Lullaby, you're with Spring Song,"

Lullaby cautiously moved over to stand beside the pink mare. Spring Song looked at Lullaby as if she were something unpleasant on the bottom of her hoof. It didn't look like they'd have any trouble fighting eachother.

"Butternut, you're with Tempest,"

Butternut flapped over to Tempest and hoof bumped him. Tempest looked a little horrified that he had to fight a mare, though he didn't voice this out loud.

"Bumble and Free Fall are a pair,"

"Uh…okay," Free Fall stood next to Bumble, who patted his shoulder to wish him luck.

"And Rainbow Dash, you're with me," Rapidfire tossed his clipboard over his shoulder and cricked his neck side to side.

"Let's do this thing," he stretched. Rainbow Dash felt like dancing for joy. She was gonna fight a Wonderbolt! She was about to start repeating 'ohmygosh' when-

"Hold up!" Paradise called out. Rapidfire rolled his eyes and angled his ears to Paradise, even though he didn't turn to look at her. "If the Wonderbolts can fight cadets does this mean I can fight Fire Streak?" Paradise's eyes glazed over and she smiled dreamily. "And after I beat him up he'll see how strong I am, then we'll date for a few months and get married and have three foals," she sighed. Rapidfire finally lost it. He charged towards her, his eyes blazing with anger.

"Oh no…Paradise, shield your neck!" Spring Song called out as Paradise began running for her life, Rapidfire hot on her tail.

* * *

"You ready, Rainbow Dash?" Rapidfire asked the rainbow maned cadet. Rainbow nodded enthusiastically. After Fire Streak and Silver Lining had caught Rapidfire and calmed him down, he had taken a few deep breaths and regained his composure and returned to his group (now with clouds stuffed into his ears so he didn't have to hear Paradise any more).

"I am," Rainbow Dash followed up her nod with a determined flap of her wings. Rapidfire looked confused.

"What?" he asked, leaning closer to her. Rainbow Dash groaned and pulled the lumps of cloud out of Rapidfire's ears.

"I AM!" she bellowed and Rapidfire recoiled, rubbing his ears.

"No need to shout," the Wonderbolt snapped. Rainbow Dash flexed her wings, ready to take off. Stains and Cinder were puffing and panting, lying on their backs on either side of Fire Streak's chair, while the flame maned stallion himself lounged on the chair reading the latest issue of Pick Your Pegasus. The two Chickens had taken forever to start fighting. Neither of them wanted to hurt the other so they started off with gentle slaps. It was only when Rapidfire had warned them that if they didn't do something he'd make them do 100 push ups that they finally stopped slacking and started attacking. In the end Stains had won the fight when she veered out of control and crashed into Cinder by accident, sending the little blue cadet tumbling out of the sky.

Sugar Swoop had won his fight against Beau when he pulled on her wings and she lost focus. A pegasus pony's wings were their weak spot, especially when flying. Pegasus wings have sensitive glands in their bases that, when poked roughly, can cause the wings, and sometimes the whole body, to stiffen.

Paradise had won her fight against Stargazer by pushing the charcoal black mare out of the sky right in the middle of her lecture of why violence was never the solution. Painful _and _ironic.

Smart Set and Ray had been close but Smart Set had delivered the final blow to Ray's face and sent the stallion reeling in pain giving Smart Set enough time to buck him below the 5000 foot marker.

The Dragons' fights had been a lot more intense. Rainbow Dash was impressed to see that Bumble and Free Fall knew a lot of cool moves. Bumble delivered countless slaps round Free Fall's face, but the stallion eventually won put putting Bumble in a headlock until she gave up.

When it was Tempest and Butternut's turn, Tempest had complained that he couldn't hurt a mare. Butternut seemed to have no problems with hurting stallions though and she won the fight in no time at all, breaking an Academy Record.

Lullaby and Spring Song's fight had been the most interesting to watch. Rainbow Dash couldn't hear anypony cheering for Lullaby besides herself, but that was probably because Paradise was cheering so loud for Spring Song that ponies could probably hear her in Manehattan. Lullaby fought like a black belt and Spring Song was obviously intimidated. The pink mare had spent most of the fight flying in circles while Lullaby chased her. Finally, Lullaby caught up to her and twisted her back legs, sending the pink mare spiralling downwards, below the 5000 foot marker and into the clouds below, cursing the entire way down.

That just left Rainbow Dash and Rapidfire.

The two of them flapped up into the air and halted several metres above the two flags. Rainbow Dash knew that Rapidfire had much more experience than her, so the chances of her winning this fight were pretty slim, but she may or may not know more moves than him, so she could have an advantage.

"Are you ready!?" Silver Lining called from below, whistle in his teeth. Rapidfire saluted and Silver Lining tooted the whistle loudly. If there was one thing Rainbow Dash hated almost as much as the wake up calls it was the whistles. Rainbow dove forward hoof clenched and thrust it forward with enough force that it sent Rapidfire tumbling backwards. Rainbow Dash cringed as she realised that she may have just felt his skull.

Rapidfire had a hoof to his head and was glaring at Rainbow Dash with such malice that it sent a chill down the cadet's spine. Despite this she was _not _going to hold back. She threw another punch at Rapidfire's face but this time the stallion brought up a hoof to block it and countered with an upper cut to the soft flesh of Rainbow's neck. Rainbow felt her entire face throb with the force of a thousand heartbeats as his hoof made contact with her throat and she flapped backwards, choking violently and clutching her neck.

Rapidfire kicked Rainbow in the gut and sent her falling down. Panicking, Rainbow Dash pulled up, shocked to see that she had almost fallen beneath the marker. She wasn't going to give up. She had fought Spring Song and…well she hadn't won, but there was no way she was going to lose to Rapidfire. She zoomed back up, preparing to launch another punch at the Wonderbolt's stomach, doing her best to ignore her screaming pain in her neck. As she was about to make contact with his tummy, the Wonderbolt kicked down with a hind leg and bucked her shoulder…hard! Rainbow began to feel scared. Her opponent had an unfair advantage. He was larger, older, and had way more experience than her. She couldn't help fearing that Rapidfire could easily lob her head off if he tried hard enough and felt her blood run cold. She wasn't going to chicken out of this; she had never backed out of a challenge and she certainly wasn't going to start now. Trying to focus on anything other than her throbbing neck and shoulder, Rainbow Dash backed away and gave Rapidfire her most fierce battle glare. The Wonderbolt dove forward, hooves outstretched, ready to strike the cyan mare again and Rainbow Dash quickly spun to the side. Rapidfire flew through the spot that Dash had been in mere moments ago and cursed. He made a 360 degree turn and lunged at Rainbow once again. Rainbow Dash flapped upwards and felt Rapidfire zoom underneath her, missing her by a hairbreadth. Rainbow kicked down and roughly bucked the side of Rapidfire's head. He flew shakily for a moment, spitting vile words before throwing himself back into the fight, managing to grasp Rainbow around her neck.

She fought to breathe as Rapidfire squeezed. She felt frightened despite knowing that Rapidfire wouldn't let her die. She knew that this was just a tactic to get her to surrender, but Rainbow Dash wasn't one to give up. She thrust out with her back legs and felt her hooves pummel fur and flesh. Rapidfire yelped and the pressure around Rainbow Dash's neck vanished, giving her time to breathe and get back into a fighting stance. Rapidfire threw a punch at Rainbow's cheek and the rainbow maned pony practically felt her teeth shake. Rainbow Dash used as much force as possible to launch at uppercut at Rapidfire's chin and the Wonderbolt's head jolted backwards at a painful looking angle. Rainbow Dash was about to ask if she had busted his neck when he thrust a hoof (which she barely missed) at her face. Rapidfire drew a fore hoof back and Rainbow Dash prepared to make a hasty dodge when suddenly her back hooves were swept out from underneath her and she somersaulted as Rapidfire kicked them with a leg. Rapidfire flew forward and head-butted Rainbow Dash in the belly, sending her flipping backwards, clutching her sore stomach. While Rainbow Dash tried to fly straight again, Rapidfire roughly grabbed her by the bases of her wings and squeezed them. Rainbow Dash gasped and her wings froze. She began plummeting downwards and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

"Rapidfire wins!" Silver Lining called out after Dash had fallen below the 5000 foot mark. She managed to flap her wings again just in time to hover down to the ground. Lullaby rushed over to her and slapped her on the back.

"Nice job, Rainbow Dash. You were awesome!" she congratulated her friend. Somepony scoffed and Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as the familiar voice of her nemesis flooded her ears.

"Nice job, Rainbow _Trash_!" Spring Song cackled sarcastically. "I think that chair could fight better than you," she nodded over to Fire Streak's chair. As if on cue, the chair folded up and Fire Streak toppled to the ground. Spring Song looked at Dash smugly.

"Is that so? This coming from the pony who lost _her_ fight, too," Rainbow Dash folded her hooves and raised a brow. Spring Song opened her mouth to make a comeback but she couldn't think of anything. She babbled mindlessly for a second before calling Paradise over.

"Paradise, what good stuff did I do in my fight?" she asked her best friend. Paradise put a hoof to her chin in thought and gasped.

"You flew round and round in circles the whole time!" she exclaimed, giving a toothy grin. "I like circles!"

Spring Song groaned as Rainbow Dash and Lullaby burst out laughing.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash,"

Rainbow looked over to the side and saw Rapidfire, Silver Lining and Fire Streak standing there. She heard Paradise squeeing and asking Spring Song how her mane looked (Spring Song said it looked abysmal but Paradise mistook it for a compliment).

"Yes, sirs?" Rainbow Dash stood straighter out of respect. Rapidfire gave her an approving smile.

"That's some of the best fighting I've seen for a while, cadet. You may not have won but I don't think I've been beaten up that much for years," he congratulated Rainbow Dash. "Sorry about the curse words by the way. It's just a little humiliating…getting beaten up by a mare- and a cadet at that."

"Thanks, sir," Rainbow Dash beamed, trying not to squeal with glee. Rapidfire gave her a final smile and turned to leave with his fellow Wonderbolts at his side.

"Wait for me!" Paradise pounced forward after Fire Streak. The off-white stallion jumped in panic and took off, leaving a fiery trail behind him and Paradise chased after him like a homing device. Silver Lining tutted and turned to Rapidfire.

"She's a real nut isn't she?" he looked back up at the pursuing pegasus before looking back at Rapidfire. "Hey, lemme ask you something. If you had to go into battle would you want her with you?"

Rapidfire shrugged and shook his head. "I don't know. I just don't know."

* * *

_Just got back from a Wonderbolts airshow!_

_It was SO AWESOME! They all did Buccaneer Blaze's and I almost went blind and then they flew right through this cloud ring and it exploded into flames and then- _

_Sorry, my quill snapped 'cause I was writing so fast. Maybe it's best that I don't give you guys all the details anyway since it would probably take ten scrolls to write. The point is it was cool!_

_So as you can plainly see, I wasn't killed in combat training. In fact, I got to fight a _Wonderbolt! _I…lost…(Don't laugh, Applejack!) But I did pretty well anyway, according to Rapidfire, my combat trainer. _

_There's not much else to say other than I learnt that a chair can be as good a fighter as a pony. Don't ask._

_I'll see you soon at the Celebration. Pinkie Pie, I promise I'll give you a hundred hugs when I get back._

_Yours radically,_

_Rainbow Dash!_

"You're not hurt are you?" Lullaby asked Rainbow Dash as she put her letter in her bag ready to post in the morning.

"Nah, I'm fine. A little fight never hurt anyone," Rainbow shrugged. Lullaby looked like she was about to point out that Dash couldn't be any more wrong but decided against it.

"Heh…if you ask me Spring Song should be a Chicken," Lullaby chuckled. Rainbow Dash heartily agreed.

"You can't get any more chicken-y that her," she smirked. Lullaby shrugged.

"Well, unless you're an actual chicken," she pointed out and Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement, finding amusement in imagining Spring Song in a chicken costume. Rainbow flopped down on her bed and looked over at Lullaby.

"Ya know my friend Pinkie Pie wore a chicken outfit for Nightmare Night one year. Maybe I could borrow it and stuff Spring Song into it," she schemed. Lullaby cackled with laughter and sat up straight on her bed.

"We should totally do that," she decided. Rainbow Dash knew that there was no way they'd get Spring Song to wear such a thing unless it was with brute force but who was she to miss an opportunity to insult the pink mare.

"Or maybe we could get Twilight to turn her into a _real_ chicken," Rainbow Dash smiled evilly.

* * *

**Endnote: Weird ending, I know, but chickens **_**are**_** funny! **

**Anyway, I'm proud to announce that in the next chapter we take a teeny tiny time jump into the second month of the boot camp. Yes, finally it's April!**

**Seriously, March has been dragging on forever it feels like it's been March for three months (gee, I wonder why that is). **

**So, stay tuned for chapter 15, April 1****st****, which can only mean one thing:**

**PRANK DAY!**


	15. Pranks For Nothing

**Authors Note: Just a quick one to say PREPARE FOR THE PRANKS!**

**Also, I know this took forever to upload, but the length of this chapter should do the explaining for me. I was going to split it into two parts but couldn't find the right place to halve it, so instead you've got a jumbo chapter to feed your souls.**

**Special thanks to Captain Alaska who helped me come up with some of the jokes! :D**

* * *

"C'mon Lullaby, where are you?" Rainbow Dash muttered to herself as she waited in her hiding spot in a closet. She was in the shower room waiting for her roommate. Drills had just ended for the day so the cadets could do whatever they wanted for the rest of the day.

"Rainbow Dash, where are you?" the familiar voice of the purple pegasus echoed through the room. Rainbow opened the door a crack and motioned for Lullaby to come over. Lullaby enthusiastically jumped in and Rainbow Dash closed the door, shining her flashlight at Lullaby so she could see her better.

"Did you do it?" Rainbow asked. Lullaby smirked and nodded.

"Yep, it's all set and ready to go," she snickered. The two mares shushed each other as they heard the shower room door open. Rainbow Dash peered through the keyhole and sure enough Spring Song was there with her shower stuff. Rainbow turned away while she jumped in the shower; even though most ponies almost never wear clothes, it was still embarrassing and…wrong to see them getting into a shower. It was Lullaby's turn to look through the keyhole once they were sure that the door to the shower was closed.

"What's happening?" Rainbow Dash whispered, wishing that there was some other way she could see. Lullaby squinted and stuck her tongue out to focus.

"Nothing yet, she's just soaping herself down," she reported. Rainbow groaned. Twilight and Rarity had it easy since they could just use their magic to hold things, so the two of them have no idea how hard it is to hold a bar of soap with hooves! After several minutes, Rainbow began to cramp up from being stuck in the closet for so long.

"What now?" Rainbow Dash cricked her neck from side to side and stretched out her hooves as much as she could since they were beginning to go completely numb. Lullaby gasped.

"I think she's gonna use it!" she exclaimed. Rainbow shoved Lullaby to the side and observed their plan in motion. Lullaby was right. Spring Song was about to use the 'shampoo' they had sneaked into her bag. Lullaby pushed Rainbow Dash away.

"My turn," she grinned. Rainbow Dash had wanted to be the one to see Spring Song's reaction, but she had to make do with just listening. She pressed an ear to the door and strained to hear what was happening.

"What's taking so long?" Rainbow Dash grumbled. Lullaby frowned up at her.

"She dropped it; she's picking it up now," she replied. Rainbow cursed. Stupid hooves! "Here it comes," Lullaby silently squealed. It was completely quiet except for the hissing of the shower until…

"AAAARGGH! WHAT IN TARTARUS?!"

"C'mon, Dash, run!" Lullaby whisper-shouted whilst laughing like a maniac. The two mares shot out of the closet and zoomed out of the washroom faster than a scared Fluttershy. They weaved through the hallways until they reached the mess hall, where the cadets and a couple of Wonderbolts were talking and eating. Rainbow Dash and Lullaby quickly joined the table with Sugar Swoop, Tempest and Free Fall.

"What's up, you two?" Sugar Swoop asked before taking a bite of an apple.

"Oh…nothing," Rainbow Dash and Lullaby said together before breaking into a fit of giggles.

"What did you do?" Tempest leaned over to them. Rainbow exchanged looks with Lullaby.

"Should we tell 'em?" Lullaby asked, eying the three stallions warily. Rainbow thought for a second before shrugging and nodding. Lullaby opened her mouth to explain when-

"Who did this!?"

The cadets looked over at the door and their eyes bulged at the sight they were met with. They burst out laughing and Stains even fell of her chair, clutching her sides.

Spring Song was standing in the doorway, mayonnaise dripping through her mane and down her face before falling into a white puddle at her hooves.

And boy was she ticked!

"Who did this?" she snarled like a crazed animal. Paradise bounded over to Spring Song and sniffed her mane.

"Mmmm! Spring Song, you smell exactly like a sandwich!" the ditzy green mare smiled, licking her lips.

"Suits you," Lullaby joked, snickering. Spring Song looked over at the purple cadet with disgust.

"Well, I bet it looks better on me than it would on you," Spring Song boasted, still pretending to be better than everypony else even when she's covered in mayo. "What was this for anyway?" she asked. Rainbow Dash was about to say that it was because she was a complete jerk when Tempest broke her off.

"Don't you know what day it is?" he asked Spring Song incredulously. Spring Song shrugged her shoulders.

"Just tell me what today is before this stuff dries," she snapped as some mayo dripped off the edge of her nose, sending Lullaby into another laughing fit.

"It's the first day of April. So that means it's…" Tempest waited for Spring Song to finish his sentence.

"The start of another cruddy month," the blonde mare rolled her eyes. Tempest face hoofed.

"No! It's Prank Day!" he announced. Spring Song's eyes widened with realisation.

"Oh yeah, how could I have forgotten?" she asked herself, putting a hoof to her chin.

"Probably because all that mayo is clogging up your brain," Rainbow Dash scoffed, earning a hoof bump from Lullaby.

"Ha ha ha!" Spring Song laughed sarcastically. "Shut up Rainbow Trash, I already know it was you who switched my shampoo," Spring Song folded her hooves. Rainbow Dash put on her most innocent face and Lullaby copied her.

"Why would we do that, Spring Song?" she asked sweetly, doing her best impression of Rarity. Spring Song smirked slyly.

"Because nopony else could pull such an amateur prank," she insulted. Rainbow gave a little gasp. What was Spring Song talking about? She was the best prankster in Ponyville, besides Pinkie Pie. She and her pink livewire of a friend would often go out tricking anypony they happened across in the craziest of ways. The day before she left for the boot camp, she and Pinkie Pie had sawed off an inch of Granny Smith's Zimmer frame to make her believe she was getting taller. It worked!

"Well, I bet you couldn't pull a prank _half _as good as that," Rainbow Dash shot back at her nemesis. Spring Song's eyes narrowed and she grinned maliciously.

"Is that a challenge?" she asked. Rainbow Dash stood up and gave her an equally menacing stare.

"What if it is?" she raised herself to her full height, pleased to be a little taller than the pink mare. Spring Song got a competitive look on her face.

"What do ya say to a Prank-Off?" she proposed. Rainbow Dash smiled. This had to be the first thing Spring Song had said since the whole Ray incident that she'd actually liked.

"You're so on!" she agreed. She looked over at Lullaby, who was already getting to her hooves. "Lullaby and me versus you."

"-and Paradise," Spring Song put a mayo covered hoof on her friend, who happily licked some of the stuff off her, much to Spring Song's disgust. Ray got up from his seat and trotted over to Rainbow Dash.

"Can I help?" he asked her. Rainbow Dash was about to agree when Spring Song cut her off.

"No, Ray, you're gonna help me and Paradise because we're your friends," she insisted, looking to Paradise for support.

"Yeah, friends help friends," Paradise hugged Spring Song, not seeming to care in the slightest that she was soggy and covered in sauce. Ray looked back at Rainbow Dash, and then at Spring Song and Paradise, who were guilt tripping him big-time.

"Rainbow's my friend, too," he pointed out. Spring Song gave Rainbow Dash a glower of so much dislike that it made the cyan pegasus' blood turn to ice.

"Well, we're your best friends, right? We're the ones who went to all your races and stuck by your side like guard dogs," Spring Song listed.

Ray gave one more glance at Rainbow before hesitantly striding across the room to join them. Spring Song smiled up at him as he stood on her other side and reached up to nuzzle his cheek, making him shift uncomfortably and scoot away from her a little. Rainbow groaned. They were outnumbered three to two and from the looks of things nopony else was gonna join them. She gave the other cadets a look that said 'For Celestia's sake, somepony help us', but either they didn't understand her or they just didn't want a part of it.

"Okay then, let the pranking begin," Lullaby announced before heading out into the hallway. She caught a whiff of Spring Song and slammed a hoof over her nose. "Erk- Spring Song, you smell terrible, you should really have a shower," she said that last part with a teasing voice and Spring Song looked like she wanted to strangle Rainbow Dash's new partner in crime (pranking). Spring Song groaned and stomped into the hallway, hopefully heading back to the shower. The room was left in silence for several seconds before Bumble spoke.

"Well…that escalated quickly."

* * *

Braeburn grumbled as he removed the bucket form the top of his door. He'd spent the entire morning searching the kitchen for booby traps and tricks because today was Soarin's favourite day aside from his birthday and Hearths Warming:

Prank Day.

Every year in high school, Soarin pulled a bunch of tricks of the earth pony. But the problem was that Soarin always used the same jokes every year, so most of the time Braeburn could easily avoid a whoophie cushion or a fake sandwich. He picked up the milk spill on one of the counters (it was dried glue) and tossed it in the trash. That should be the last one. He sighed in relief and looked around at his prank-free kitchen. Searching for tripwires and fake vomit sure could tire a guy out. He trotted over to the fridge to get a drink out. When he opened the fridge he gasped at what he saw.

Everything in the fridge had a pair of googly eyes on it.

"What the hay?" Braeburn picked up an egg with a pair of eyes taped to it and groaned. It seemed that Soarin had learnt a few new tricks. Great…it looked like the stallion would have a harder time avoiding traps and tricks this year. He grabbed a carton of milk, laughing a little at the giant pair of eyes glued to it, and poured some of the creamy white stuff into a glass that was on the counter. He went to pick up the glass but was surprised to find that he couldn't lift it. Raising a brow he tried again, and again, and again. Until-

"GAH!" With one final tug, the glass came loose from the table with such force that the contents splashed all over Braeburn.

"BWAHAHAHAHA!"

Milk dripping down his face, Braeburn stomped over to his supply closet, which was where that laughing was coming from. He opened the door and-

"HAPPY PRANK DAY!"

Soarin thrust a bag of flour in his face, the white stuff sticking to his face and forming dough. Soarin snickered at his friend for a few moments before he burst out cackling and collapsed to the ground, banging a hoof on the ground as he laughed. Braeburn sighed and wiped some dough from his eyes.

"Seriously, Soar? Aren't ya a li'l old fer this?" he asked. Soarin wiped the tears that were leaking from his eyes and sat on his haunches.

"No way! If it's Prank Day, Soarin must play! Pulling jokes is what I do best,"

"So is making rather obvious rhymes, apparently," Braeburn muttered sarcastically. Soarin stood up and flicked a clump of dough from his friends shoulder.

"Lighten up, old timer. It's Prank Day, so you should have some fun. Help me trick the other Wonderbolts. Pwease!" Soarin made some (bad) puppy dog eyes. Braeburn grabbed a cloth and started wiping the dough from his face.

"Soarin, Ah'm not gonna help ya. Do Ah look like a pony who's good at pulling pranks?" he asked. Soarin squinted, looking Braeburn up and down.

"Good point," he finally said, putting a hoof to his chin. "Well, see ya later, Brae. I'm gonna go to the staff room to switch the salt and the sugar," with that, Soarin pranced out the room, whistling as he closed the kitchen door behind him. Braeburn looked around at the milk and flour covered floor.

"Ya know the least ya could do is help me clean up!" he called after his friend. Soarin opened the door and stuck his head through, blowing a raspberry with his tongue before leaving again. Braeburn put his face in a hoof.

This was gonna be a long day.

* * *

Soarin leaned against the arm of the sofa as almost all the Wonderbolts (and Feather Duster, the janitor) bustled about the room. Lightning Streak had a 'kick me' sign taped to his flank and was taken by surprise when, well, Surprise bucked him softly but sharply on that spot.

Soarin _loved_ Prank Day. Ever since he was a foal, he'd planted pranks everywhere he went, elementary school, middle school, high school, the Wonderbolt's Academy, and even now he was one of the best pranksters in Cloudsdale.

He was still waiting for somepony to make a cup of coffee with sugar when Spitfire came in, looking flustered.

"Alright, every- oh, boy, this place is vile," she plugged her nose. Soarin giggled. He knew that Spitfire thought that the staff room smelt strongly of old coffee and farts (_'Guilty," _he thought). The room turned silent at her complaint and everypony turned to face her. "Anyway, that aside, we need to be prepared!" she announced.

"For what, Captain?" Misty Fly asked from her spot next to Soarin on the couch. Spitfire took off her shades, like she always did when she was about to say something important.

"Today we have a visit from Inspector Windstar Wingsworth," she revealed. Instantly, panicked chattering bounced around the room. Even Soarin gulped with terror. Inspector Wingsworth was one of the strictest inspectors in the business, and every once in a while she would visit the Wonderbolts Academy to see how things ran around there. Most of the time they would get a good report, but other times they would barely get an okay report. Everyone always freaked out when she came and that sometimes made things go a little... haywire.

"Stop talking!" Spitfire tried to get them to shut their chew-holes, to no avail. "I CAN STILL HEAR TALKING!" she bellowed, finally getting their attention back. Blaze scoffed.

"It's like being at the Academy, again," she commented. Spitfire slitted her eyes at the yellow mare.

"You _are _at the Academy," she reminded her. "Anyway, stop panicking! As you may have heard, Wingsworth seems to get her kicks from closing down academies and schools, so we all have to be in top form," Spitfire continued her pep-talk. Rapidfire raised a hoof.

"With all due respect, Captain, can I just say to everypony that good Wonderbolts have nothing to fear from an inspection," he said, earning nods of approval from several pegasi.

"True," Fleetfoot spoke to Rapidfire from her spot beside to coffee machine. "Which is why I think you thould take the day off sick," she smirked at him. Rapidfire looked like he wanted to decapitate the mouthy mare. Silver Lining interrupted the two Wonderbolts' stare-fight.

"We're right behind you, Captain. If the cadets misbehave we'll just lock 'em in a closet," he suggested. Soarin didn't know if the eldest Wonderbolt was joking or not. Spitfire dipped her head to the floor and screwed her eyes shut.

"Oh, Celestia help us!" she prayed. She looked up after a few seconds of silent mumbling. "Do any of you have questions?"

None of the Wonderbolts had questions, so Spitfire began to leave, starting to sweat a little. "Then, good luck all of you. I'm gonna go brush my desk and polish my mane," on that jumbled up note, she left. Soarin stared straight ahead out the window as he tried to calm himself down. He didn't really do much in the Academy besides substitute for drills from time to time, so he had nothing to worry about. But-

GAH!

He did have stuff to worry about! He'd planted pranks all around the Academy. If Wingsworth was to trigger one then-

"URGH! GROSS!" Wave Chill spluttered as he took a swig of coffee. Soarin began to sweat fiercely.

He was in deep doo doo!

* * *

Spitfire sprayed the air freshener around her office, in full panic-mode. She was normally a calm and collected pony, but when the situation called for it, she could be the most panicky pegasus in the Academy. She sat at her desk, allowing herself a minute to breathe and tugged at her collar as she became aware of the sweat rolling down her cheeks.

All morning she'd been busy, rushing here and there to make sure the Academy was in tip-top shape. She'd reserved Inspector Wingsworth's seat in the mess hall, dusted the trophies, since Feather Duster had arrived late, replaced the toilet paper in the mare's bathroom, etc. Apart from the Wonderbolt's cracking under the pressure, she couldn't see anything that could go wrong.

"SURPRISE! HAPPY PRANK DAY!" Surprise yelled as she burst though Spitfire's door, throwing confetti all over her. Spitfire didn't budge; she was used to this happening. Surprise liked to throw confetti over the other 'Bolts, especially her for some reason.

"Surprise, do ya know what would _really _surprise me?" Spitfire asked, folding her hoofs. Surprise beamed.

"What?" she asked enthusiastically. Spitfire pulled some confetti out of her spiked mane.

"If you _didn't _do that!"

Surprise looked confused, but shrugged it off. "So, when is Miss Wingsworth gonna get here?"

Spitfire looked up at the clock on the wall behind her and tried not to start sweating again. "In about ten minutes," she put her hooves over her head and placed her chin on the desk, looking exasperated. Surprise hopped over to the captain and put a hoof around her shoulders, shaking her.

"Cheer up, Cap. I know what'll turn that frown upside down," Surprise reached into her curly mane and pulled out a small glass vial that was filled halfway with some greenish yellow liquid. Spitfire leaned away from Surprise, feeling suddenly cautious.

"I really hope that's not what it looks like," Spitfire noticed that the stuff looked a lot like…well, ya know.

"No, it's not what you think. This is a stink bomb. If you smash the glass it can stink out an entire room," Surprise blabbered.

"How's that supposed to cheer me up?" Spitfire asked her colleague.

"Let's go throw it in the mess hall and freak out the cadets," she invited, beginning to spring towards the door. "C'mon!" Surprise began to sing (to the tune of Do You Wanna Build A Snowman?):

_Do you wanna throw a stinkbomb?_

_Come on let's go and-_

Spitfire quickly put a hoof to Surprise's mouth to get her to shut up.

"Surprise, it's a nice thought, but I'm not going to stink out the room the inspector will be eating in," Spitfire disagreed with the white mare. Surprise groaned and put the stink bomb on Spitfire's desk. Suddenly, the door burst open and Soarin charged in.

"Spitfire, we have a huge problem!" he puffed. Spitfire stood to attention, wondering what could have gone wrong. Fire? Explosion? Death?

"Well, don't leave me in suspense, what's wrong?" the captain ordered Soarin to speak.

"I've put pranks all around the Academy and I was trying to find 'em, but I couldn't remember where all of them were and-"

"You. Did. WHAT!?" Spitfire shouted, making Soarin freeze. She felt her blood begin to boil. Soarin had done a lot of stupid things, but this was a new Academy Record. She clenched her hooves and began taking over the top deep breaths that she'd learnt in her anger management classes.

"I swear, I wouldn't have pulled all these pranks if I'd known the inspector was coming," Soarin defended himself. Spitfire rubbed her temples, panic alarms sounding off in her brain. This was very bad! If the inspector found out about all the pranks, or worse triggered one, the Academy could get closed down for good.

"Well, you have to do something about it! You made this mess so you have to sort it out," Spitfire gave her co-captain his orders. Soarin gave a shaky salute before backing out the door and rushing down the hall. About two seconds later a crash and a squelch was heard and Soarin could be heard speaking.

"Oh, that's where I hung that pie!"

Spitfire squeezed the sides of her head and mumbled. "The fate of the Academy rests on Soarin…"

Just then, as if two visits weren't enough, Fire Streak stood in the doorway. "Captain, inspector Wingsworth is here!"

Spitfire took one last breath and tried to reassure herself that everything would be fine. She turned to Surprise. "You, go and meet the inspector. Give her a guided tour. Paint a glowing picture of the Academy. And I don't mean that literally," she added that last part as Surprise reached into her mane and pulled out a paintbrush and some glow-in-the-dark paint. Surprise saluted and left. Spitfire leaned back in her chair, trying not to freak out. It was Prank Day, Soarin had left tricks lying around, and she was on edge.

Things didn't look good.

* * *

Rainbow Dash and Lullaby hovered above the door to the mess hall, snickering. Rainbow Dash was holding a bucket of glue and Lullaby had a bag of white feathers in her hooves. They were waiting for Spring Song and her entourage to come out the door and then- BOOM!

"My arms are getting tired," Rainbow complained, clutching the glue to her chest so she could shake the feeling back into one of her hooves. Lullaby gave her an encouraging smile.

"Just think, all this will be worth it to see the three stooges covered in this stuff," she said optimistically. Rainbow sneered playfully.

"Easy for you to say; you're holding feathers and I'm holding this heavy thing," she clutched the bucket tighter as it began slipping from her sweaty hooves. They suddenly head voices coming for inside.

"You look ridiculous," that was Ray's voice.

"I think it looks pretty," Paradise countered.

"All I care about is that it makes me smell better. I'd wear a mangled animal carcass if it would make me smell better," Spring Song explained.

"Well animal carcasses wouldn't-"

"I know that, Paradise, it was just an example!"

"Well, you could have used a different example, like a garland of roses or-"

"Paradise just shut up!"

"Okay…"

"Where are they?" That was Ray again.

"Probably hiding from us. I knew they'd chicken out," Spring Song replied. Finally, the three ponies came out the door, Spring Song wearing a pine scented car freshener around her neck. Rainbow Dash tipped the glue upside down and it splattered all over the trio of cadets, making them shriek in surprise. Lullaby shook the bag of feathers, making the contents tumbled down through the air and stick to their glue covered fur.

"Happy Prank Day!" Rainbow Dash and Lullaby chorused.

"Who are the chickens now?" Rainbow snickered, looking down at the sticky, feathery pegasi. It was kinda ironic since she and Lullaby were talking about turning Spring Song into a chicken the previous night.

"Point one to us!" Lullaby cheered.

"GUYS!"

"Whoa!" Rainbow Dash jumped as Soarin suddenly appeared flapping beside her and she accidentally dropped the now empty bucket. It only made her laugh harder when the bucket landed on Spring Song's head. The now sticky pink mare lifted the bucket and thrust it angrily to the ground.

"What's your problem?" she yelled up at Soarin. Soarin wrung his hooves in both embarrassment and fear.

"My problem is that there's an inspector arriving at any minute and I wanted to give you the heads up," the Wonderbolt replied.

"What's that got to do with us?" Spring Song asked. Soarin started sweating.

"Well, if you guys aren't on your best behaviour the Academy is doomed. So, no pranking, no making any messes and whatever you do, don't go to the medical closet," he explained.

"No pranking? Soarin that's not fair!" Rainbow Dash protested. "We're in the middle of a prank-off, as you can plainly see. And why do we have to stay away from the medical closet?"

Soarin grimaced. "Well, I kinda put in a rope snare to try and prank the nurse and I tied it up with an impossible knot. Hence the name, I can't untie an impossible knot, so unless somepony steps in the snare, there's nothing I can do to disarm it. Rainbow Dash face hoofed.

"Soarin, even you should be smart enough to tie a knot that isn't impossible," she scolded him. Just then, Surprise hurtled out of the mess hall at full speed.

"Outta the way, the inspector's here!" she took a sharp right turn. Soarin squealed.

"Just stay out of trouble, all of you!" he ordered them before flying away. Rainbow Dash looked back down at Spring Song and her companions, who were trying to shake the glue from their fur.

"Looks like you'll have to have another shower," Lullaby taunted the blond pegasus. "Again," she added. Spring Song growled and stormed back into the mess hall, Ray and Paradise following suit.

* * *

Soarin was pacing around outside by the Academy gates, trying his best to remember where he had hidden his remaining tricks. The janitor, Feather Duster was there, too, sweeping the path to the front door. Soarin sat on his haunches and tapped his forehead. Where could he have hidden them and why did he have to rig so many?

"Excuse me?"

Soarin and Feather Duster looked up from what they were doing to see her standing there. The tall white pegasus mare with the short copper mane and tail. She had some beige saddlebags over her back and was wearing a tweed uniform and tie. Her cutie mark, a white star within a black circle confirmed who she was.

Inspector Wingsworth.

"Good morning," Feather Duster greeted cheerily. Soarin gave her a half-hearted smile.

"Could you take me to Captain Spitfire's office?" Wingsworth asked them. Feather Duster leaned her broom against the wall and motioned for Wingsworth to follow her. The small grey janitor led them through the door, followed by the inspector, with Soarin bringing up the rear, racking his brain to try and figure out the location of his traps.

"The place is clean right?" Feather Duster asked the inspector, who nodded. "Yeah, we've been trying to get this place spic and span. We're getting a visit from that Wingsworth moron."

BUZZZZZ BUZZZZZ BUZZZZZ

Those were the alarm bells going off in Soarin's head. Feather Duster didn't know that this was the inspector. Wingsworth looked clearly insulted. Soarin was about to tell Feather Duster who this was when Surprise whizzed past again.

"Sorry, can't stop!" she panicked. The white Wonderbolt got halfway down the hall before halting. "Dang it!" she cursed before backing up, walking beside the others. "So, what do you think of the Academy so far?" she asked as if she had been there the whole time. Wingsworth cast a stern sideways glance at the hyper mare.

"I've only been here a minute but from what I've seen it seems fine," she replied. Surprise gave Soarin a relieved smile. At that moment, a pair of cadets that Soarin recognized as two of the pegasi that Rainbow Dash and Lullaby had pranked earlier walked past.

"C'mon, Ray, we need to get this paint to Spring Song as soon as possible," the green mare said to the stallion behind her, who was carrying two cans of paint on his back.

"What are you two doing?" Soarin asked them. The green mare pulled Soarin to the side and whispered to him.

"We're preparing our prank to get back at Rainbow Dash and Lullaby," she revealed. Soarin gave her a desperate look.

"I thought I said no jokes. If the inspector finds out about any of our pranks we're toast!" he hissed. The green cadet pouted.

"Ugh. Fine, we'll forget the paint thing. Ray, we're dropping the paint idea!"

The stallion cadet groaned as he sat on his rear, looking relieved to not be carrying the paint anymore.

Wait!

The cans of paint toppled off his back and cracked open on the floor, splattering the ground with black and white. "I didn't mean that literally!" the green one snapped.

"What's going on?" Surprise called to the three pegasi.

"Nothing!" all three of them sung, standing in from of the puddle of paint to block it from view.

"You guys go on ahead; I'll go and check on dinner!" Soarin excused himself as the others carried on walking. Once they were out of earshot he turned to the two cadets. "You need to clean this up, okay. I'll disarm any more pranks I can find. Between the three of us, we should be able to make sure the inspection goes according to plan," Soarin started to leave before he turned back to the others. "And please, don't freak out!"

"What? I'm not freaking out," the green cadet insisted. "This is a no freak-out zone. Nope. No freaking out here. Freak, c'est chic!" she smirked, her right eye twitching. Soarin nodded at her.

"That screams that you're freaking out!" he told her. The two cadets rushed off to the cleaning closet after that, leaving Soarin to set out on his 'quest' again.

* * *

Spitfire heard the voices coming from down the hall and sat down at her desk, folding her hooves and trying to look professional.

"This is her office," she heard Feather Duster's voice announce. Sure enough, a second later the door swung open. Spitfire smiled when she saw Inspector Wingsworth with Surprise and the janitor.

"Welcome to the Wonderbolts Academy. Always nice to get a visit from you, Inspector," she greeted. As she said that, Feather Duster's face fell.

"Inspector?" she gaped. She looked up at the white mare and frowned. "Dammit…" she quickly left after that. Spitfire knew that this wasn't the time to ask about the cleaner's behaviour, so she just ignored her and nodded at the chair on the other side of her desk, inviting Wingsworth to sit down. The copper maned mare placed her saddlebags at the side of the captain's desk and sat down. Surprise stood at the side of Spitfire

"So, here's our fact file of the Academy," Spitfire grabbed a thin book on the side of her desk and passed it to Wingsworth. "We're all very proud of the cadets."

Suddenly, Spitfire noticed something on her desk where the fact file had been seconds before:

Surprise's stink bomb!

Spitfire looked frantically from Surprise to the bomb as the inspector read. If the inspector noticed a stink bomb (or, if she didn't know what it was, a vial of p- ya know) she'd suspect that she was either pranking somepony or being gross. She had to find a way to solve this problem.

"Um…as you can see on page 3, the Academy has a pretty famous flower garden by the gates that is currently growing with the aid of fertilizer," she began to explain, leading up to her hint. "We need to get rid of the smell," she looked up at Surprise.

"Ooh, can I water the flowers, Captain?" the white mare asked. Spitfire mentally swore and tried again.

"You can but first, we _desperately need to remove the__** smell**_!" Spitfire's eyes flicked from Surprise to the stink bomb a couple of times before Surprise finally realised what was going on and silently gasped. The Wonderbolt reached forward with a hoof and brushed the stink bomb off the desk…

…and began to panic when it landed in Wingsworth's saddlebags!

Surprise tapped Spitfire's shoulder sharply. The captain shifted her eyes to the side to look up at her fellow flyer. "What?" she asked out of the corner of her mouth. Surprise mouthed something that Spitfire couldn't understand. Spitfire raised an eyebrow.

"_It's in her bags," _she hissed, using her hoof to mime the bomb falling off the desk. Spitfire gritted her teeth.

"Oh, for Celestia's sake!" she muttered. Inspector Wingsworth looked up from the book.

"Is something the matter?" she asked. Spitfire and Surprise shook their heads no. Wingsworth stood up from the seat and gave the book back to Spitfire. "I really must be getting on with this inspection," she announced, adjusting her tie. Spitfire bit her lip, trying to come up with a plan.

"Er…feel free to leave any bags here if you want?" she improvised. Wingsworth picked up the bags anyway.

"I think I'll take mine, thank you Captain," she nodded at the flame maned mare. "Do the other Wonderbolts and cadets know I'm here?"

"Oh, well…I may have said it to one of two of my most trusted colleagues, but don't worry," Spitfire answered, trying not to break into a sweat. "What you're about to see here is a perfectly normal day here at the Academy."

* * *

Braeburn hurried to the oven, pulling out another batch of apple fritters, almost forgetting the towel he used when pulling them out. The last thing he needed right now was _another _tongue blister! He wanted to make sure the inspector had every possible thing to eat. On an occasion like this, he wanted to make a good impression. When Soarin had come down to tell him about the inspection he was thrilled. It was kinda like going on the Great Equestrian Bake Off to show off his baked goods. So he was bustling about making fritters, pies, cookies, cake, you name it. He'd even made some ice cream for the occasion.

He put the new fritters on top of the previous stash on the serving counter and allowed himself a minute to catch his breath. Now that his mind wasn't focused on measuring flour, a startling thought entered his head. What if the inspector didn't approve of an earth pony serving pegasi? No, she wouldn't be that stereotypical. Right?

"Mmmm! Those smell good!"

Braeburn looked over at the counter to see one of the cadets, a small blue one with black and purple pigtails. She looked alarmed that he'd turned to look at her and looked away. "Sorry…just thinking out loud," she mumbled. Braeburn smiled at her shyness and trotted over to her, putting his fore hooves on the counter to get a better view of her. She was short for a pony of her age and her cutie mark was an eagle hatchling, still partly in its egg shell.

"Thanks, kid," Braeburn looked down at her. The cadet seemed pleased that he'd responded and smiled cheerfully back up at him.

"No problem," she shrugged, looking back at the apple fritters. "You're a really good cook."

"Heh…Ah try mah best. Ya can have one if ya want," he pushed the bowl towards her. The cadet instantly took one, having to stand on the tips of her hooves to reach the bowl and greedily munched on it.

"Thanks," she chirped with her mouth full, making Braeburn laugh again. She was a pretty sweet kid.

"So, what's yer name?" he asked her, feeling like he had to ask since she'd been so nice to him about his baking.

"Cinder," she replied after swallowing her fritter and licking the crumbs from around her mouth.

"Hmm…Ah wonder if anypony calls ya Cindy?" he asked her. She shook her head, though she looked like she didn't mind it. "Well, it's nice t' meet ya, Cinder," he held out his hoof for her and she instantly shook it. Suddenly, Soarin burst through the mess hall door, pushing a wheelbarrow.

"Outta the way, everypony, pits won't fill themselves!" he declared, bursting through the double doors to the training grounds. As the doors closed once again, the mess hall was filled with awkward silence. At this time of day, the cadets were almost always in here, hanging with their separate groups, talking about this and that, so it was uncomfortable to hear it so silent. The quiet was shattered when Rapidfire and the Streak twins burst through the doors.

"The inspector's coming, everypony act casual!" Rapidfire ordered the cadets. The cadets slouched down in their seats while the trio of Wonderbolt stallions leaned against the wall. "No, more natural," they all shifted their poses slightly to look less bored and more cool. Sure enough, no more than three seconds later the inspector entered the hall, looking blank. Rapidfire slammed a hoof on the ground.

"Cadets, stand to attention!" he ordered. The cadets all looked at one another unsure whether they should stand or not, since this had never happened before. Rapidfire gulped. "I said STAND!" he snapped. With that the cadets stood up straight and Braeburn could see Cinder shaking a little.

"What's happening?" Braeburn whispered to Cinder, shuddering at how loud he sounded in the muteness of the room. The cadet just shrugged and stared straight ahead at Rapidfire.

"It's surprise drill time, so all of you get your flanks outside to the track and give me three hundred laps!" he ordered. The cadets hurried out of the room, their looks of confusion mirroring Braeburn's. Rapidfire turned to Wingsworth and grinned. "We do this a lot, to show them that Wonderbolts could be called into action at any time," he lied. Just then, Surprise appeared in the doorway.

"Where's- oh, hello," she gave the inspector a tiny wave. She examined the empty mess hall. "Huh…where is everypony?" she asked. Lightning Streak replied.

"Just out doing their surprise drills," he said, winking at her to show her that this was all part of the act. Surprise didn't understand.

"What are surprise drills?" she tilted her head, making her curly mane bob a little. Braeburn face hoofed. He didn't like where this was going. He made a slicing motion over his throat to tell the white mare to zip it, but she just mistook it for a wave.

"Ya know, sometimes we randomly tell the cadets to get outside and do a certain number of wing ups or somethin'…" Lightning Streak ground his teeth with annoyance. Surprise scoffed.

"Well, I've never heard of those. Besides, doesn't it seems a little pointless if nopony's there to watch them?" she replied. Rapidfire, Lightning Streak and Fire Streak all looked at eachother.

"Er…you go, Lightning, it _is _your turn," Rapidfire insisted, patting his fellow Wonderbolt on the shoulder. Lightning Streak immediately turned to his brother.

"No, I think Fire Streak should go and watch the cadets. Top Bolt's on TV right now and I don't want to miss my favourite part," the light blue stallion excused. Fire Streak wrinkled his muzzle angrily at his twin.

"No, Rapidfire should watch 'em, I was gonna go get a snack," Fire Streak argued. Rapidfire gave the flame maned stallion a shove.

"You can get a snack any time. Just go out there and watch the cadets!" he ordered. The whole time they were arguing, Wingsworth wrote stuff down on the pad of paper she'd produced from her saddlebags. Braeburn buried his face in his hooves. At least he couldn't see things getting worse.

"ROUGE WHEELBARROW! ROUGE WHEELBARROW!"

Soarin warned the others as he rocketed through the doors, clutching onto the wheelbarrow, which was now filled with dirt, for dear life. It was completely out of control and Soarin's hind hooves were scraping the ground as he tried to get it to stop.

"Where are the brakes on this thing?!" he squealed as he zoomed past the group of ponies by the door. They all gritted their teeth and flinched as Soarin and the Wheelbarrow of Death collided with the wall, sending dirt, feathers, and a wheel flying through the air. Braeburn rushed over, helping Soarin to his hooves. The pale blue Wonderbolt groaned as he tried to stand straight.

"Ugh…why is everything spinning?" he asked, as he stared up at the ceiling. Rapidfire shoved his way between the two friends and poked Soarin hard in the chest.

"What in the name of General Firefly are you doing?" he asked the co-captain. Soarin's eyes crossed as he looked back at the senior 'Bolt.

"Oh, I'd love to tell…one of you…" he looked a little woozy. Braeburn stepped forward and raised his hoof pointedly.

"Maybe we should question 'im once he's been t' the nurse?" he suggested. Rapidfire looked irritated that the earth pony had stopped him from knocking Soarin into next week, but rolled his eyes and nodded anyway.

"Er…we're not usually like this, Miss Wingsworth," Fire Streak said to the inspector as Braeburn led Soarin out the door. Braeburn would have face hoofed if he wasn't leading Soarin along with one. Hopefully everypony could clean up their act (and the mess hall) before they did something that could cost them the Academy.

* * *

"Are you sure this'll work?" Lullaby asked Rainbow Dash as she finished squirting the last of the oil onto the floor. They were standing at the end of the hallway that had the cadets rooms lined down it. Rainbow Dash examined their trail of slippery slime and grinned a little evilly.

"Yep! When Spring Song, Paradise and Ray head down this hall, they'll slip on this oil, skid down the trail and crash into the wall here that I've layered with some super-duper-glue. Then they'll be trapped; trapped like pegasi on a wall in a hallway full of oil. Hey, that rhymed!"

"Actually, wall and oil doesn't rhyme," Lullaby corrected her friend. Rainbow shot her a bitter look.

"You're being a killjoy, Lullaby," she said blankly. Lullaby looked up at Rainbow as she realised a flaw in the plan.

"Er…Dash? How can we be certain that Spring Song and the others will come down here, first?" she asked. Rainbow opened her mouth to reply before realising that Lullaby actually had a good point. She put a hoof to her chin and though deeply for a minute before shrugging.

"I guess we'll just have to roll with it," she said coolly, before putting a hoof against the wall to support her as she leaned back. Lullaby's pupils shrank to the size of pins.

"Um…Rainbow…you kinda just put your hoof on the glue," she told the cyan mare, who looked at the wall in shock. Sure enough, her hoof was glued to the wall by the sticky stuff. She gasped and tried to heave her hoof off the wall.

"I can't get it off!" she exclaimed, pulling harder. Lullaby grabbed Rainbow by her shoulders and tugged as hard as she could, to no avail. She put a hind hoof against the wall to strengthen her pull. She tried a few more times before stopping to pant.

"Sorry, Dash, I just can't get you off…" she trailed off as she looked down at her back leg. "…I'm also sorry that I put my hoof on the wall, 'cause now it's stuck!" she grimaced, trying to pull off her hoof.

"Great, now we're trapped; trapped like an awesome blue mare and her sidekick on a wall in a hallway full of oil!" Rainbow snarled. Lullaby looked a little irritated.

"Wha- sidekick?" she exclaimed. "I never agreed to be your sidekick. Actually, why can't _you_ be _my_ sidekick?"

"Because I'm older!"

"Only by three months!"

"I'm a better flyer!"

"Well, I'm a better fighter!"

"Rapidfire disagrees!"

"Don't bring him into this!"

"Hi guys!" a new voice interrupted their argument. The two bickering mares looked behind them to see Paradise hovering above them. "Watcha doin'?"

"Oh, we're just playing some golf," Lullaby smiled. Rainbow looked at her friend as if she had just spoken in a foreign language. Lullaby snickered and looked at Dash. "It's funny because we're not," she giggled. Rainbow didn't look convinced at all.

"Is it?" she asked sourly before looking at Paradise, who was holding a scorecard. "Where did you get that?" Rainbow asked the green cadet, who looked at Rainbow Dash like she had just said the lamest thing ever.

"You're saying that you _don't_ carry scorecards with you wherever you go?" scoffed, shaking her head. Rainbow looked from Paradise, to Lullaby, who looked equally as confused, then back to Paradise.

"Of course I don't! Can we all just shut up about golf, already? We need to get off this wall!" she gestured to her stuck hoof. Paradise rubbed her hooves together before grabbing Rainbow Dash's other hoof and pulling as hard as possible. Rainbow felt a horrible pain in her hoof as she came free, leaving some clumps of blue fur behind. Paradise pulled her off with such force that Rainbow Dash rocketed forward and landed…right on the trail of oil. She hurtled down the hallway, slipping and sliding every time she tried to stop. She panicked when she saw a familiar mohawked stallion come round the corner.

"Paradise, where-"

"LOOK OUT!" Rainbow Dash warned as she sped towards him.

"WHOA!" Ray yelped as he turned to try and retreat. But-

CRASH!

Rainbow Dash slammed right into him, toppling the two of them to the ground. Rainbow was seeing stars and felt like she'd just been hit by a bus, but she opened her eyes to find everything blurred and spinning.

"Urr…why is the floor furry?" she asked, raising her neck so she could look at where she had landed…

…and looked straight down at Ray, who was staring up at her with equal shock. She gulped as she realised the situation.

She was on top of Ray.

Why was she on top of Ray?

Holy mother of Celestia, if Spring Song were here-

"What. The. BUCK!?"

Rainbow Dash jumped off of Ray as fast as she possibly could, Ray scrambling to his hooves at a speed that could rival a Wonderbolt's flying speed. The entire room seemed to drop to -100 degrees and a shiver went down Rainbow's spine as she saw Spring Song standing right by the corner, looking at Rainbow Dash and Ray like they had just grown extra wings.

"It's not-"

"We weren't-"

"It was my fault, Spring Song," Paradise suddenly appeared beside Rainbow Dash, freaking the life out of her. "I pulled Rainbow Dash off that wall and she crashed into Ray. That was all, I swear on my cutie mark!"

"I'm still stuck on here, by the way!" Lullaby called from the other end of the hall. Spring Song looked at each of the three ponies before her with an unreadable expression on her face. Rainbow Dash expected Spring Song to start yelling at her till the cows came home, but instead she said something completely different.

"Why were you stuck on a wall?"

Rainbow hadn't been expecting that; not at all. She clopped her front hooves together nervously, wincing as she realised that the base of her right one had been almost completely stripped of fur. Ouch. "Well…that was our next prank…" she didn't really have any reason to not explain the plan, now. "You were meant to slide down the oil and get stuck on the wall. Pretty clever right?"

"Yeah, real clever; look where your idea got us," Lullaby reminded Dash, looking down at her stuck hoof. Ignoring her, Rainbow Dash finished her explanation of the plan.

"Then you'd be trapped; trapped like pegasi on a wall in a ha-"

"I get it! We all get it! You don't have to say that again!" Lullaby told Rainbow Dash, attempting once again to free herself. Spring Song smirked smugly (**say that five times fast**) and took a step towards Dash.

"That's the best you can do? When you see what we've got planned for you, your stupid oil prank will look like a foal's idea. Ray, Paradise, where's the paint?" she asked her two friends. Ray and Paradise looked at eachother, looking pretty afraid.

"Well…about that…" Paradise rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof. Spring Song groaned and rubbed her forehead.

"What did you do?" she asked as if she wasn't surprised at all. Paradise chuckled nervously and spilled the beans.

"Well…we kinda dropped the paint and then Soarin made us clean it all up. So, the paint thing's down the drain. Literally, we had to rinse the mop we used to clean the paint in the sink," the green pegasus told Spring Song.

"Pfft. What were you gonna do with the paint, anyway?" Rainbow Dash asked. Spring Song huffed and gave Paradise an irritated glower.

"We were gonna paint you two to look like zebra's. That way, everyone would make fun of your stripes," Spring Song revealed. Rainbow Dash snorted with laughter. There were so many things wrong with that prank she didn't know where to start.

"Ha! First off, that's a little racist don't ya think. Second, we could have just washed the paint off. And third, how were you gonna paint us? Did you think we'd just stand there while you tipped paint all over us?" Rainbow listed the flaws of the plan.

"Well…we were gonna gag you and tie you up…ugh! Paradise, this is the last time I let you come up with the plans!" Spring Song accused her comrade. Paradise looked apologetically at Rainbow Dash.

"Believe me. If you knew what plan B was, you'd be thanking us," she put a hoof to her chin. "Where _did _I put that sledgehammer?" she asked herself and Rainbow's eyes bulged with fear. Spring Song shook her head to dismiss the conversation.

"C'mon, guys, let's go back to my room to plan our next prank," she shot a warning look at Rainbow Dash. Paradise dipped her head.

"I thought it was _our_ room," she murmured, looking neglected. She suddenly straightened up and her face lit with realization. "Spring Song, Soarin told us that we couldn't do any more pranks with the inspector here," she told her friend. Spring Song laughed as if Paradise had just told the most hilarious joke ever.

"Soarin? Seriously, Paradise, why would you listen to a nimrod like him?" she sneered. Rainbow felt her blood boil.

"Hey, don't talk about Soarin like that. He's not a nimrod, and he only wants to do what's best," she insisted, slamming a hoof down in a temper. Spring Song only laughed harder.

"Like teacher like pupil," she teased. Paradise looked down at the trail of oil on the floor.

"Don't you think we should clean this all up?" she asked and Ray nodded in agreement. Spring Song looked over at Rainbow Dash.

"Why? This was their mess, so they should be the ones to clean it," the pink demon pony replied. Even Rainbow Dash had to admit that this was fair, no matter how much she wanted to shove Spring Song in a cleaners outfit and make her dust the whole Academy.

"Oh…okay. But we really should stop all the pranks. If the inspector sees all this, the Academy could get closed down," Paradise ran a hoof through the oil, almost slipping. Spring Song motioned for Paradise to come closer, which the obedient mare did immediately. Spring Song put on her most serious face and then whispered loudly.

"Then let's not let the inspector see!" she tapped Paradise on her noggin, as if trying to hammer the idea into her head. Paradise for once stood her ground.

"Sorry, Spring Song, but it's too risky. I don't wanna be a part of this anymore," she spoke shakily, though her face stayed determined. She must not be used to arguing with Spring Song. The pink cadet looked completely baffled at Paradise's disagreement.

"Listen to her," Ray stood beside Paradise, putting a supportive hoof on her back. Spring Song's eyes darn near popped out of her skull.

"B-b-b-but…" she must have never dealt with a rebellious pair of friends before, either. She began trotting off in a rage. "Fine, then. As a lazy tailor would say: Suit yourself!" she fumed as she turned the corner. Ray and Paradise tutted and turned to Rainbow Dash.

"Let's clean this up," Ray looked down at the floor. Somepony cleared their throat behind the trio and they turned around to see Lullaby looking at them impatiently.

"Oh, hi, remember me? The pony you left stuck on the wall like a fly in a web?" she said sarcastically. Paradise flapped over the oil to help pull Lullaby off with her iron pony strength and Rainbow smirked.

"Sorry about leaving you, Lullaby," she grinned. "I completely forgot that you were trapped; trapped like a pegasus on a wall in a-"

"SHUT UP, DASH!"

* * *

"This is a disaster!" Spitfire paced back and forth in front of her desk, staring straight down at the carpet, which now had a small groove in it since she had been pacing for so long. Sweat dripped down the captain's face before splattering onto the yellow and maroon rug below her hooves. She hadn't been this panicky for a long time! Surprise sat in Spitfire's spinny chair, twirling it round and round and round, which would have driven Spitfire crazy on a regular day. But this was no time to focus on Surprise's crazy antics. "If Wingsworth finds that stink bomb we're finished!"

For a few seconds the room was silent, save for the creaking of Spitfire's chair and the soft sound of the golden mare's hooves as she trotted back and forth, trying desperately to think of a way to resolve their situation. Spitfire jumped as Surprise slammed her hooves down on her desk. "I've got it!" she exclaimed. Spitfire dashed to her desk, looking it over.

"Watch it, that's mahogany!" the Wonderbolt checked her desk for dents. She then realised that Surprise had said something of interest. "Wait, did you just say you had a plan?" she briefly forgot who she was talking to.

"Sure as sugar I did!" Surprise balled one of her hooves and slammed it into the other one. She then shut up, leaving Spitfire standing there waiting for a response that didn't come.

"So…" Spitfire prompted Surprise, who made a humming sound as if to say 'what?' "What's your plan?" the fiery maned mare snapped. Surprise sat up in the chair.

"Oh yeah, almost forgot that part. Here's the plan!" she put on her most serious face. "We can corner her when she's alone and then you can attack her. Then while you two are busy beatin' the stuffing out of eachother, I'll grab the bags!" she threw her hooves into the air as she finished, wearing what had to be the cheesiest smile ever. Spitfire stood still and blinked in disbelief. What in the name of the princesses was she hearing? She folded her hooves in front of her on the desk and gave Surprise a flat stare.

"It seems impossible, Surprise, but you've actually come up with a plan that would make matters _worse_!" Spitfire's features hardened, forming an expression that could make King Sombra quake with fear. Surprise didn't seem to care though; in fact she smiled even wider.

"Why, thank you!" she glowed with pride. Spitfire slammed a hoof on her desk, forgetting to check it for dents this time.

"It wasn't a compliment!" she yelled, making Surprise reel back in alarm at her sudden outburst. Desperation crept into Spitfire's voice. "We've got to think of _something_!"

* * *

Soarin was leaning against the wall in the kitchen, having just finished disarming one of the traps he had hidden in the mess hall. He had deposited an exploding orange inside the bowl of regular ones. A single tap could set the thing off. So Soarin had grabbed the entire bowl and thrown it outside, weight practically lifting off his shoulders as it blew up. Braeburn was busy hurrying from oven to oven, putting stuff in and pulling stuff out.

"Don't you think you've made enough food?" Soarin asked him. Braeburn paused in the centre of the room whilst running to pull out some cookies and quickly replied like he had no time at all.

"Ah need t' make as much food as possible to really wow the inspector!" with that, he pulled the cookies out of the oven and placed them on the side to cool off. Soarin was sweating just watching his friend run around faster than a bullet.

"Dude, I think there's enough food here to feed a small group of dragons for days!" Soarin commented, walking over to the many trays of food on the serving counter. Braeburn pulled out the last tray of food and set it down before promptly falling onto his haunches.

"Look, Ah don't need you t' tell me how to do mah job," he panted, taking off his stetson and fanning himself with it. Soarin was a little offended at that and folded his front hooves.

"Well, I cook too, ya know?" he sneered at Braeburn, who return his stare with a blanker one.

"Is that so? Name one thing that you can make yerself," he awaited Soarin's answer. The Wonderbolt answered almost immediately.

"Pizza," he smiled proudly.

"Ordering takeout doesn't count!" Braeburn snapped, though he was suppressing a laugh at Soarin's ditziness. Soarin looked like Braeburn had just told him pie didn't exist.

"Yes it does! I tell them what I want on my pizza and then they make it for me. I decide all the toppings and what kind of cheese I'd like then they do the hard part. So I can technically make my own food," he explained. Braeburn looked to the heavens in despair and mumbled something inaudible.

"Shouldn't you be findin' all yer hidden pranks?" Braeburn stood up and began sorting the food into different bowls. Soarin was immediately put on edge again. So far, nopony had set off any of his traps, except him when he stumbled over a tripwire on his way to the bathroom. All he had to do was get rid of the few remaining jokes and then he could unwind for the rest of the day.

"You're right, Brae. Here's a thought: why don't you help me? You could use a break," Soarin suggested. Braeburn shook his head.

"No! Just no! Ah'm not gonna get involved with anythin' that could result in me gettin' fired!" he refused. Soarin gave Braeburn a look that would make anypony feel guilty.

"Pfft. Some friend _you _are. Friends help friends, ya know," he looked away. "_This shouldn't take long_," he thought, beginning to count down the seconds "_5…4...3…2…1…"_

"Ugh! Soarin, ya know Ah'm one o' yer best friends, so don't gimme that kinda treatment. If this wasn't a really important job, Ah'd help ya, seriously, but there's no way Ah'm gonna risk losin' this job," he looked apologetically at Soarin. But Soarin was still ticked.

"Okay, fine! I'll go find the pranks on my own! I'd help you if _you _were in my situation," he fumed, beginning to head for the door. Braeburn started to follow him out.

"Well, Ah wouldn't be stupid enough t' get myself into this mess!" he argued. Soarin marched through the door with Braeburn on his tail.

"Are you calling me stupid?" Soarin asked, looking over his shoulder at the flustered looking earth pony.

"Maybe Ah am!"

"_You're _stupid!"

"Says the guy who went t' the Canterlot harvest festival dressed as a tomato!"

"Ya know we almost went three years without mentioning that!"

"Mah point is, Ah don't trust yer judgement,"

"And yours is reliable?"

"What's mah judgement gotta do with any o' this?"

"I don't know!"

"Just get outta here!"

"I was just leaving!"

"Idiot!"

"Jerk!"

"Imbecile!"

"Meany!"

"Goofball!"

"FLIGHT SUIT!"

Braeburn froze.

* * *

Spitfire was trotting down the hallway to the mess hall, with set mind and a plan. She and Surprise had been planning a way to get hold of Inspector Wingsworth's bags so they could get the stink bomb out of it. She had no idea what would happen if the inspector found the stink bomb, but it probably wouldn't be anything good. She reached the mess hall doors and peered through them; sure enough, Wingsworth was sitting at a table right near the door, scribbling something in her notepad. Perfect. If this plan was to work, she'd need to get as little distance between her and the door as possible. She let her gaze flick from Wingsworth to the saddlebags on the floor beside the table. This was her chance. She strode confidently into the room and walked up to the inspector, looking as casual as it was possible for her to get.

"Afternoon, inspector," she greeted. Wingsworth never looked up from the paper as she replied.

"Can I help you with something, Captain Spitfire?" she asked (actually she kinda snapped it). Trying not to be irritated by the inspector's rudeness, the Wonderbolt decided to find a way to distract her instead.

"Oh, I just wanted to see how the inspection was going," she lied, working her way over to the serving counter, which was totally loaded with snacks.

"I'll show you my report at the end of the day," Wingsworth answered flatly, writing something else on her pad. Spitfire cursed under her breath and scrabbled to find some other form of conversation. She noticed that she was standing right beside a stack of cookies and picked a couple up.

"Say, Inspector, d'ya want a cookie?" she asked, hoping that she could carry out the plan while Wingsworth was eating. The copper maned mare tapped the spot beside her on the desk.

"Put it there," was all she said. Spitfire was a little irked that she hadn't even said 'thank you', but did as she was asked. Wingsworth didn't even eat it, so to conceal her frustration with the mare, Spitfire began chewing her own cookie, surprised at how brilliant it tasted. She had to eat mess hall food more often.

"Ya know there's something you can put in the report. We have the best cook in Cloudsdale," she decided to push the inspector to write something positive. Her ears pricked up as she heard a distant squeeing sound coming from the kitchen. She shook it off; there must be a mouse in there or something.

"_I_ will decide what I put in the report or not, Miss Spitfire," the inspector rejected the idea. Spitfire walked behind the inspector, briefly making strangling motions with her hooves when she was sure she wouldn't be able to see her.

"Well, I can't wait to read it," Spitfire lied through her teeth, trying to sound as polite as she could, even though she was imagining Wingsworth getting beaten with a baseball bat.

"I can't wait for you to read it, either," Wingsworth replied. Spitfire halted. Did she mean that in a good way or a bad way? With the inspector's emotionless voice, it was practically impossible to decipher whether or not she was being rude or nice. She decided to just carry on as usual. If anything had gone wrong, one of the other Wonderbolts would have told her…right?

"Well, I'll just be on my way. Lots of paperwork to do," the captain dismissed herself, though Wingsworth didn't even acknowledge she was leaving. Spitfire made it to the saddlebags on the floor and hooked her right hind hoof under the strap that went over a pony's back. She began walking as fast as she could towards the door, not daring to breathe as she heard the bags dragging on the floor behind her. She was almost at the door…

"Captain?"

Spitfire cringed and turned around. Wingsworth had finally looked up from her pad. She forced a smile onto her face as the inspector completely botched up the plan.

"You seem to have your hoof caught on my bags," she shifted her eyes down to the golden mare's hooves. Spitfire looked down, too, pretending that she hadn't noticed.

"Oh, really? Heh…whoops," she picked the bags up in her teeth, feeling insanely annoyed that the stink bomb was right there in front of her nose and she could do nothing to solve the problem. She put the bags down gently on the ground and began to head to the door again; aching to get back to the office where Surprise was waiting so she could vent to the white Wonderbolt about how much she hated Inspector Wingsworth. Speak of the devil; the white coated inspector said a final sentence as Spitfire headed out the door.

"I'm watching you, Captain," she said cryptically. Spitfire let out a silent but angry breath and rounded the corner, but not before making a rude sign with her middle wingtip once the inspector's back was turned.

* * *

Rainbow Dash paced back and forth across her room, while Lullaby lounged on her bed, playing with a cup and ball, trying and failing to catch the little ball in the attached cup.

Once they had got Lullaby off the wall and cleaned up their mess, all four of the cadets had gone their separate ways. Rainbow and Lullaby had gone to their room to just chill, but Rainbow Dash was super alert. Ray and Paradise may have quit the pranking thing, but Spring Song was still in the game. The pink mare hadn't done anything yet, but Rainbow Dash could feel it coming, like somepony sneaking up on you from behind.

Rap Rap Rap!

Rainbow looked over at the window, where a familiar light blue pegasus mare was knocking on it. Rainbow and Lullaby headed over and opened the window.

"Bumble, what's goin' on?" Lullaby asked, her hooves dangling out the window. Bumble pointed excitedly over to the training grounds.

"High Winds has called everypony over to the Dizzitron. No exceptions for you two," she replied. Rainbow Dash and Lullaby swapped confused looks with eachother, obviously thinking the same thing. What was going on? This had never happened before. Lullaby dropped out the window, Rainbow Dash following close behind and let Bumble lead them to the Dizzitron. This was all very strange; this inspection was making everypony go overboard with drills and exercises. First, Rapidfire had made all the cadets fly laps (in the end nopony went to watch them) and now they were being called hours after drills ended to head to the Dizzitron. High Winds had better have a good explanation.

KRACKA-BOOM!

Rainbow Dash yelped with fear and jumped onto Lullaby's back, squeezing the breath out of her, as a lightning bolt crashed into the ground mere inches beside her. Memories flashed through her mind and it seemed like it was happening all over again. She was hurting, bleeding, falling…

"Rainbow Dash, what's gotten into you?" Bumble's voice pulled her out of her panic. Rainbow realised that she was clinging to Lullaby the same way a foal would hold onto her mother. She became aware of a choking Lullaby, a baffled looking Bumble and a cackling Tempest sitting on a thunder cloud.

…

…?

_A cackling Tempest sitting on a thunder cloud?!_

Rainbow Dash looked up at the orange stallion, who was laughing so hard that Dash was surprised he hadn't wet himself.

"What's your problem, Tempest? Rainbow yelled up at the guffawing cadet, who wiped an amused tear from his eye.

"Excuse me?"

Rainbow Dash looked down to see Lullaby, now blue faced, gasping out her words.

"I c-can't b-b-breathe!" she choked. Rainbow Dash quickly released Lullaby and the purple mare sucked in as much air as she could before falling to the floor. The stuff Lullaby had to put up with. Bumble went to assist Lullaby, allowing Rainbow Dash time to chew out Tempest.

"So? Could ya give me an explanation?" Rainbow finally got the attention of the mischievous pegasus, who lay on his tummy on the cloud, looking at Dash like he'd done nothing wrong.

"Lighten up, Dash. I need some Prank Day fun, too, and you seemed like the perfect target," he shrugged. Rainbow flapped her wings and flew up to him so she could look him in the eye, staring him down.

"Well, you should know that I'd be freaked out by lightning! Why would you even do such a cruel thing, especially so soon after…ya know," Rainbow Dash's voice softened as she spoke, shaking as she remembered how scared she had been when she was falling. If there's one thing a pegasus never expects to do, it's fall! Tempest began to look a little guilty

"Oh…yeah…sorry, Dash. I didn't mean to scare ya," he apologized, blowing his green mane out of his eyes. Rainbow caught sight of his cutie mark: three storm clouds in a triangle formation. Rainbow Dash's curiosity got the better of her.

"Hey, Tempest, how did you get your cutie mark?" she asked him. Tempest looked proudly at his flank.

"I was the first in my class to get my cutie mark! My dad works at the Weather Factory, in the storm cloud department, so he often took me there with him. When I was seven he finally let me give cloud making a shot and I'm guessing by the way that he and his co-workers were looking at me, I was pretty darn good at it. Then these awesome clouds appeared on my flank and confirmed it. I was destined to be a tempest cloud expert!" he explained, never taking his eyes off his cutie mark. Rainbow was impressed, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that Tempest wanted to use his cool storm cloud abilities in the 'Bolts.

"Hey!" Lullaby called up to the pair of pegasi. "High Winds is waiting, remember!"

Rainbow Dash and Tempest flew down to the ground and joined Bumble and Lullaby on the way to the Dizzitron. When they made it, all of the other cadets were there, being addressed by High Winds, who looked mildly irritated at the four new arrivals. High winds had a sphere shaped bag at her hooves. They soon discovered why they were all there when Inspector Wingsworth trotted over with her notepad. She looked super strict, that was for sure.

"Okay, everypony, stand straight!" High Winds barked. Rainbow had never seen High Winds act like this before. Usually she was easy going and sweet, and a little bit of a bragger, but now she looked like she was doing her best drill sergeant voice to impress the inspector. "So, tell me what we've been doing in evening drills!" she ordered.

"_Evening drills? What the hay?_" Rainbow Dash thought.

"Cloud busting?" Tempest suggested.

"Flag hunts?" Smart Set guessed.

"Sleep?" Stains asked. The clumsy mare looked like she'd just been woken up from a nap. High Winds looked at all three of them with a distraught look on her face. She shook her head and looked down at the bag on the ground beside her.

"No! We've been playing…" High Winds unzipped the bag. "…Stormball," she held up a rounded diamond shaped ball. Rainbow Dash was an expert on Stormball. When she was a filly she loved to watch Stormball matches with her dad, so she knew all the positions and all the rules by heart. "I'm pretty good at it, myself," she complimented herself, spinning the ball on her hoof only to have it fall off a half-second later. Wingsworth rolled her eyes and wrote something down. High Winds took that as an opportunity to get the cadets into their teams.

Rainbow Dash was with Lullaby, Bumble, Stains, Beau, Paradise, Smart Set and Tempest, while High Winds joined the team with Spring Song, Ray, Sugar Swoop, Stargazer, Free Fall, Butternut and Cinder, who stated that she had a phobia of balls. High Winds sculpted two goals out of clouds and then began the game.

Rainbow Dash didn't know all that much about High Winds, but this game of Stormball revealed that she was a pretty big cheater. She hardly ever passed the ball to anypony and whenever she did, she usually threw it way out of reach and then blamed_ them_ when they missed it. Very seldom did Rainbow's team get the ball and even when they did, High Winds would just shove them to make them drop the ball. Rainbow had been shoved by the Wonderbolt three times, leaving bruises on her shoulders, and the cyan mare made a mental note never to get on High Wind's bad side.

Halfway into the game the score was 12 points to Team High Winds, while Rainbow's team had 2 points. Rainbow could practically see Wingsworth scribbling down how terrible a role model High Winds was.

In the second half of the game, Rainbow scored five more goals, Stains scored one when the ball bounced off her head and into the goal and Tempest scored four by skilfully weaving his way through the other teams players. Well, that equals 12 goals altogether and that would have been a great score…

…if High Wind's team didn't have 21points!

And with three minutes left the odds were so not in their favour. By the time the other team had reached 30 points Rainbow Dash had pretty much given up on winning. No matter how many times the cadets told High winds that she wasn't playing fair, the Wonderbolt would carry on as if they had said nothing at all.

Rainbow Dash discovered just how competitive High Winds was when she barged into a member of her own team to get the ball for herself. If there was somepony coaching them, High winds would have been kicked out of the match about fifty times!

Finally, after much shoving, throwing and bruising, High Winds told the cadets that the Stormball game was over. The pegasi flapped gratefully to the ground and while High Winds cheered for her victory, the cadets nursed their bumps and bruises. Rainbow was in the middle of cringing at a purple bruise on her shoulder when Lullaby suddenly burst into an angry rant.

"Can you believe that?! I mean, in what universe would that foul playing be considered Stormball!? If High Winds had any sense at all she would follow the Celestia damn rules! They were invented for a reason!" she raved, stomping her hooves on the ground. Rainbow Dash groaned as she realised that there were _two_ competitive pegasi in the flock.

"Lullaby, I think you should calm down a second!" the rainbow maned pegasus tried to get Lullaby to relax.

"I _AM_ CALM!" Lullaby roared, looking a little savage by now. Rainbow Dash knew better than to say anything right now, so she kept her mouth firmly shut. "If Wingsworth wasn't here I would _so_ give High winds a stern talking to. Actually, better, I'd strap her to a chair and explain the rules of Stormball to her. TWICE!"

"Er…Lullaby?" Rainbow Dash tried to get the purple mare to stop yelling as a white mare began to trot her way.

"Then I'd make her watch all the Stormball videos ever and _then_ I'd…I'd…oh, I don't know what I'd do next!" she continued.

"Lullaby!" Rainbow tried to warn her.

"I have no idea what I'd do next but I would make her SUFFER!" with that last word, Lullaby threw her hooves out to the side…

…and hit Wingsworth right in the face!

Rainbow saw every single pair of eyes land on Lullaby as Wingsworth clutched her nose. Lullaby gasped and backed up.

"Oh. My. Gosh! I'm so, so, SO sorry, Miss Wingsworth," she tried to help the inspector to her hooves, only for the uniform clad mare to shove her away and give her a dirty look before getting to her hooves herself and striding off in a huff. Lullaby put her hooves over her mouth and sunk to the ground, looking close to tears. Rainbow Dash didn't blame her either. Hitting an inspector was probably the worst thing a cadet could possibly do, and Lullaby had done just that. This was the pony who held the fate of the Academy in her hooves, so imagining what could happen to Lullaby was painful. She could get banished from Equestria! Or thrown in a dungeon! Or banished and then thrown in a dungeon _in _the place she was banished to! Well, granted none of those things would happen.

But she _could _get kicked out of the Academy!

* * *

Rainbow Dash trotted beside Lullaby as they headed towards the fillies bathroom. The purple mare had been in tears because of the earlier events and so Rainbow Dash had offered to help her clean up. Lullaby's eyes had lost some of their redness, though she was still sniffling.

"Come on, Lullaby, you'll be fine. The inspector knows that it was an accident," Rainbow tried to comfort her friend. All Lullaby did was nod. Rainbow could tell that she wasn't going to get through to her friend, so they just walked the rest of the way in silence.

And guess who else was in the bathroom washing her hooves as they walked in. Rainbow Dash pulled Lullaby away from the door.

"Are you sure you wanna go in there? Rainbow asked Lullaby, who just looked confused.

"What? I didn't see who was in there," she replied, turning to look through the door, when Rainbow Dash held her back.

"Wingsworth is in there!" she hissed at Lullaby, who suddenly lit up. "Why are you smiling?" Rainbow asked her roommate, who pushed Rainbow Dash off her.

"This is my chance to explain what really happened. That way, there's no way she can punish me!" she plotted, determination sparkling in her eyes. Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, didn't know if she should be thrilled or terrified with the plan.

"But what if-" before Rainbow Dash could finish her sentence, Lullaby went through the door, leaving her talking to the air. Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and sent a prayer to Celestia as she peeked 'round the corner to watch her friend, not noticing the white hoof reaching out from under the toilet cubicle closet to Wingsworth. Lullaby nonchalantly alerted the inspector of her presence.

"Oh…hello, Inspector," she smiled sweetly. Wingsworth looked over her shoulder at the grinning purple mare, face unchanged.

"Oh, it's you," was all she said. Rainbow Dash could practically hear Lullaby's confidence drop to the floor, but the eager cadet soldiered on.

"Yes, it's me," she echoed, shuffling her hooves. "So, what happened earlier in…evening drills wasn't supposed to happen," she began to explain. Wingsworth started to walk past Lullaby.

"Please get out of my way," she snapped. Lullaby quickly sidestepped to block Wingsworth's path and reached into the pocket of her cadet's uniform.

"Wait. I would just like to make a donation to your business," Lullaby pulled out fifteen bits. Rainbow had always wondered what she kept in her pocket. Wingsworth looked from the money in Lullaby's hoof to the purple cadet's hopeful eyes.

"What? Is this a bribe?" the inspector asked, and Rainbow could hear warning sirens ringing in her ears telling her that this was going to go very wrong!

"No!" Lullaby defended herself. "It's a donation," she gave the bits to Wingsworth. "And you can choose to use it to improve your business or _keep it for yourself_!" Lullaby whispered that last part. Rainbow Dash looked down at the ground, feeling more and more worried for Lullaby with each second that passed.

"Do you think you can corrupt me with bits?" Wingsworth asked in disbelief. Her cadet's uniform hid it a little, but Lullaby was most certainly sweating.

"N-n-no!" she lied. For a few seconds, the two mares just stared eachother down until Lullaby reached into her pocket again. "Here. Have ten more," she gave Wingsworth another hoof full of bits and Rainbow Dash grimaced. Why could nothing ever go right?

"Captain?"

The three mares heard a voice coming from one of the toilet cubicles. While Rainbow observed from round the corner, Wingsworth and Lullaby trotted up to the cubicle to listen.

"No, I haven't got it yet," came the voice from inside it. Lullaby and Wingsworth mirrored each other's confused expression as the voice continued. "I'm just hiding in the toilet."

Whoa, for somepony trying to hide, this mare was doing a terrible job.

"She hasn't seen me."

Wingsworth pushed the (unlocked) cubicle door open to reveal Surprise sitting on top of the toilet, whispering into a walkie talkie. For several seconds, Wingsworth and Lullaby stared at Surprise, while she stared back, the silence only being broken by the faint sound of Surprise's name being called from the other end of the walkie. Surprise finally turned back to the walkie.

"She's seen me!" the yellow maned Wonderbolt whisper-shouted before smiling nervously at the inspector.

* * *

"Hey?" Spring Song tapped Rainbow Dash on the shoulder from her spot behind her in the lunch queue. Rainbow turned to glare at her, bracing herself in case she blew an air horn in her face or something. Luckily, none of that happened and Spring Song just pointed at Lullaby, who was alone at a table, softly weeping. "What's Lullaby blubbing about?"

Rainbow Dash told Spring Song to just mind her own business before scooping some mashed potato onto her tray. The counter was overloaded with snacks, so many snacks that Rainbow Dash felt a little nauseous just looking at them all. When Rainbow and Spring Song had finished getting their food, they both headed over to the table with Lullaby and sat opposite her. At the same time, Rainbow Dash and Spring Song began talking, asking about how she was, mixed with frequent jokes poked at her by Spring Song.

"Will you both just shut up? Can't you see that I'm upset?" Lullaby snapped at the two of them. The two of them ceased speaking and Rainbow Dash reached forward to pat the purple cadet on the shoulder.

"Sorry, Lullaby. I'm actually here to help," the rainbow maned pegasus assured her roommate. Spring Song propped herself up on one elbow.

"So, what's wrong?" she asked. Lullaby wiped her eyes and looked over at the blonde mare.

"I made a terrible mistake," she replied, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a tissue before blowing her nose into it. Spring Song reached over and patted her other shoulder.

"Well, carry on," she tried to pat her faster to rival Rainbow Dash so the blue mare picked up her patting pace, too. After a while, Lullaby just shoved their hooves away.

"Will you both just stop tapping me and listen. This is about _me_!" she scowled. Rainbow Dash looked accusingly at the mare beside her.

"Yeah, Spring Song," she said sourly. Lullaby resumed her explanation to Spring Song.

"I did something awful after the Stormball game. When I went into the bathroom-"

"Number one's or number two's?" Spring Song asked, smirking slighting. Lullaby's eyes popped out of her head.

"Neither!" she replied hurriedly. Spring Song carried on leading the conversation off to who-knows-where.

"Then what were you doing in there?" she asked.

"If you just listened you would know," Lullaby answered, sounding more and more irritated with each interruption.

"Spring Song, will you just zip it?" Rainbow Dash slugged her nemesis on the shoulder and Spring Song slapped her back, resulting in a hit-fight between the two pegasi.

"UGH! Can you both stop?" Lullaby slammed a hoof down on the table. Rainbow Dash and Spring Song folded their hooves on the table, still looking ticked with one another.

"She started it," Spring Song nodded at Rainbow Dash.

"Did not!" Rainbow Dash argued.

"Did, too!

"Can we just get back to _me_?" Lullaby broke the two apart. "Well, I went into the toilets and I…accidentally…bribed Miss Wingsworth," Lullaby buried her face in her hooves and Spring Song looked at Lullaby like she had just admitted to a bank robbery.

"Well, that's a career ender," the devil-mare commented. Lullaby looked up, tears beginning to flow again.

"Don't say that!" she gasped. Rainbow Dash was about to shove a hoof full of lettuce down Spring Song's throat, but the pink mare wouldn't stop talking.

"Well, I'm not saying it will lead to a prison sentence or anything, but it's hard to imagine you being accepted into the Academy anymore," she continued. Lullaby's tears were now flowing freely and she put her face flat down on the table. Rainbow Dash gave Spring Song a quick shove before lifting Lullaby's head up.

"Hey, don't worry 'bout, it Lullaby. I'll help you out," she volunteered. Lullaby didn't look all that convinced that it would do any good.

"I'll do something. I'd hate it if a cadet got kicked out," Spring Song offered. Lullaby looked absolutely mortified.

"Oh no, Spring Song, don't! You'll just make it worse," she declined, waving her hoof to dismiss the idea.

"Well, would you like me to do something?" Rainbow Dash asked again. Lullaby looked to the side, thinking before returning her gaze to her roommate.

"Well, that probably wouldn't be as bad…" she pondered the idea.

"Thank you," Rainbow Dash looked competitively at Spring Song.

"But I still don't think that's a good plan," Lullaby concluded and Rainbow's face fell.

"Oh, okay, we get it," Spring Song nudged Rainbow Dash and the blue mare turned to look at her. "She doesn't want us to do anything," she raised her eyebrows, as if trying to get Rainbow to understand a hint. Rainbow didn't understand what Spring Song was getting at. Lullaby rapped a hoof on the table to get the others' attention.

"Just to be clear, I _really don't_ want you to do anything," she repeated. Spring Song nodded.

"Yes, we understand," she insisted before turning back to Rainbow Dash. "She doesn't want us to do _anything_," she winked. "Do you get what I mean?"

"No, I don't," Rainbow Dash looked over at Lullaby, who shrugged. Spring Song groaned and repeated it one last time.

"She doesn't want _us…_" she paused and blinked a couple of times. "…_To get involved_!"

"Oh!" Rainbow Dash gasped, finally understanding. Lullaby whistled to catch their attention again.

"No, seriously, I don't want you to do anything," she said for the third time. Spring Song and Rainbow Dash both nodded, sharing a knowing look.

"We read you loud and clear, Lullaby," Spring Song smirked.

* * *

Rainbow Dash and Spring Song made their way through the maze of hallways, looking for the mare who had Lullaby's destiny written on a pad of paper. They'd been searching for ten minutes and hadn't found her yet and were beginning to worry. The day was almost over and soon Inspector Wingsworth would be showing Spitfire the Academy's report. Everypony had clearly had an off day and Rainbow and Spring Song were determined to make things right again!

"She's in here!" Rainbow Dash alerted Spring Song, as she peered through the door to the staff room, which was completely empty apart from the scribbling inspector. Spring Song joined Dash by the door and began explaining the plan one last time.

"Okay, once we're in there, just let me do the talking. I've planned everything in my head, got it," she told Rainbow Dash, who eagerly nodded. Spring Song pushed the door open and burst in. "Hey, Miss!" she barked and Wingsworth looked up from her writing, looking appalled.

"Excuse me?" she asked, surprised a cadet would snap at an inspector. Spring Song's face seemed to lose all the courage it had borne moments ago. She opened her mouth to say something, but the only think that came out was a strangled squeak. All this time, Wingsworth just stood there, emotionless as Spring Song spluttered out syllable after stupid syllable. Finally Spring Song turned to Rainbow Dash and pulled her forward.

"My friend here wants to talk to you," she hid behind Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash turned away so she could talk to Spring Song.

"What are you doing, I thought said you'd do all the talking!" she hissed at the pink she-devil.

"Well, I started the talking," Spring Song argued.

"So, you finish it!" Rainbow Dash snapped.

"I _will_ finish it; you just do the middle bit!"

Rainbow Dash resisted her urges to strangle Spring Song and turned back to Wingsworth, who didn't look like she'd moved at all. Rainbow cleared her throat and began explaining in the best possible way she could.

"Well…we just want to discuss the issue of Lullaby's 'behaviour'," Rainbow Dash made quotation marks with her wings on that last word. Wingsworth slitted her eyes and looked the two cadet's over.

"Go on," she nodded for them to continue. Rainbow Dash was feeling the pressure squeezing the courage out of her, so she pushed Spring Song forward.

"Your turn," she stepped behind Spring Song. Gosh, Wingsworth's stern eyes were extremely scary to look at. Spring Song began babbling again before finally saying something that made sense.

"Ya see, the money that she gave to you in the toilets…that…that was an accident because it-it fell out in her hoof," she looked at Rainbow Dash desperately. Rainbow couldn't think straight right now with Wingsworth's icy eyes staring into her very soul, so she just shrugged and nodded. "Well, that's that," Spring Song began heading back to the door.

"Bribing an inspector is an incredibly severe matter," Wingsworth said just before Spring Song could grab the door handle. The pink mare turned around to stand beside Rainbow Dash again and nodded.

"Yeah, we know that, of course…" Spring Song looked away before lighting up. "Say, how much did she give you?" she asked.

"25 bits," Wingsworth replied. Spring Song turned around and motioned for Rainbow Dash to do the same. Rainbow watched in both horror and hope as Spring Song produced five more bits from her pocket.

"What if we gave you five more bits?" she offered.

"You're just making this worse," Wingsworth sneered at Dash and Spring Song. The two mares turned back around and both pulled out all the bits they had.

"_Eight _more bits?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking down at the pathetic number of bits in her hoof. Wingsworth picked up her notepad and gave the two of them a dirty look.

"Right, I'm going to have to add this to the report. What are your names?" she looked at the two mares with blue eyes of hate. Rainbow was a little peeved that the inspector didn't know who she was, but decided to give her a fake name anyway.

"Danger Dash," Rainbow Dash used her fake middle name as her first name at the same time Spring Song said-

"Paradise."

* * *

Rainbow Dash, Soarin and Braeburn looked round a corner to see Surprise with her ear pressed up against Spitfire's door. The white mare looked over at the three friends and motioned with a hoof for them to come over. Rainbow led the way as they joined Surprise in eavesdropping.

"Well, I hope you had a great day at the Academy," Spitfire's voice was heard through the door. Rainbow Dash was surprised at how thin the door was. Rainbow shifted into a more comfortable position as Soarin crushed her against Surprise.

"Here's my report," the sound of crinkling paper suggested that Wingsworth was passing the report to Spitfire. "The results from the inspection are shocking."

There was silence for a moment before Spitfire started reading the report.

"Complete negligence of rules, cadets without supervision, insults, bribery, intimidation, roughness…" Spitfire's voice grew shrill and confused. "Serious misuse of a wheelbarrow!?"

"Oops," Soarin whispered, making Rainbow Dash roll her eyes.

"…satisfactory amount of bins and the food was delicious," Spitfire read, sounding slightly happier. "See, that's something we can be proud of. I told you the cook was good," she sounded a little smug. Rainbow Dash suddenly heard a loud thud and she, Soarin and Surprise looked right to see that Braeburn had collapsed to the ground, wearing a dopey grin. Rainbow had no time to ponder the earth pony's unconsciousness because Wingsworth had spoken once again.

"I'm recommending that the Academy be closed down immediately!"

"What's going on?"

Rainbow turned to see Cinder, Bumble and Tempest behind her. Rainbow put a hoof to her lips and motioned to the door. The three pegasi joined in the eavesdropping.

"B-b-but what about the staff and the other Wonderbolts? They work so hard!" Spitfire gasped, the sound of hooves slamming on the desk almost blurred out the ending of the sentence. "And what do I tell the cadets? They _love _the Academy!"

"I don't care what you tell them," Wingsworth replied, the sound of a bag zipping closed was heard. "If I had my way, this whole place would be burnt to the ground," she snapped. For a few seconds there was silence and Rainbow Dash turned around, shocked to see that practically every cadet and Wonderbolt had joined in their eavesdrop.

"Well…thank you for coming. Always nice to have a visit from you, Miss Wingsworth," Spitfire got up from her chair. Rainbow Dash was confused to hear that she sounded pretty chipper for somepony who had just been told that her Academy was being closed down. Hoofsteps got louder as the two mares inside approached the door. Quickly, everypony (including Braeburn, who had just been revived) scattered and leaned up against walls, talked, or just sat down, pretending that they hadn't been listening. Wingsworth and Spitfire emerged from the office, shocked at the number of ponies outside. Wingsworth was about to leave when Spitfire stopped her suddenly.

"Hold on, Inspector," the captain held up the report in her hoof. "You've forgotten to sign the report."

Rainbow Dash's jaw almost hit the floor. If Wingsworth hadn't signed the report then it couldn't be used to shut down the Academy. What was Spitfire doing? It was then that Rainbow Dash noticed a cunning look on the Wonderbolt's face as Wingsworth unzipped her saddlebags to grab a pen. Spitfire suddenly gasped as Wingsworth opened the bags.

"Hey, what's that in your bags?" she asked, looking inside it. Wingsworth tilted her head.

"What's what?" she looked down at the captain with pure dislike. Spitfire squinted and pointed out what she was talking about.

"_That_!" she told the inspector, who grabbed the whatever-it-was in her hoof. She pulled the thingy out for everypony to see:

A stink bomb!

"Wha-what's this doing here?" Wingsworth stared at the stink bomb with confusion and terror. Spitfire glowered up at the inspector.

"Inspector Wingsworth, why would you have a stink bomb in your bag? Pranking is strictly forbidden on Academy grounds," she recited a rule.

"I know that," Wingsworth insisted. Spitfire looked at the stink bomb in her hoof with what Rainbow Dash decided was fake confusion.

"Then why do you have that?"

"Captain, I assure you that I have no idea how this got into my bag," she stomped a hoof on the ground. Spitfire obviously knew more than she was letting on.

"Don't deny it," Soarin snapped at the inspector. "Do you have any proof that it's not your stink bomb?"

"Well…" Wingsworth's eyes shot all around the hall, as if she were trying to work out an escape plan.

"She's guilty!" Surprise scowled at Wingsworth. The inspector turned back to Spitfire.

"Captain, if you think that this changes anything-"

"It changes _everything_," Spitfire took of her shades, staring Wingsworth down, even though the mare was an entire foot taller than her. "Obviously a pony like you, a pony who would bring a _stink bomb _into an Academy, has no right to inspect academies at all! Face it, you're way to immature to be trusted with writing a report, and on a day like Prank Day, it would be the perfect opportunity for you to write a joke report. Am I right, or am I right?" she poked Wingsworth in the chest, not caring about being polite anymore.

"You're wrong!" Wingsworth snapped. Spitfire smirked slyly.

"Well, once again we must ask for evidence of your innocence," she didn't even give Wingsworth a chance to say anything. She held out her hoof. "I present to you Exhibit A!"

"What are you holding out?" the inspector looked down at Spitfire's empty hoof.

"Nothing! I'm holding out nothing because there isn't any evidence!" the golden pegasus put her hoof back down to the ground. Rainbow Dash finally saw an emotion on Wingsworth's face: defeat. She knew that there was no way out of this and with all these pegasi on Spitfire's side, there was no way she would be able to win this battle. Spitfire smiled menacingly the whole time as she slowly ripped the report up before Wingsworth's eyes. Surprise took the stink bomb out of the inspectors hoof.

"And _that_ is confiscated!" she stood beside Spitfire. The captain looked over to the back of the crowd.

"Feather Duster!" she called out the janitor's name. The grey mare flapped her wings so she could meet the eyes of her boss.

"Yes, captain?" she asked. Spitfire gave Wingsworth a shove.

"Would you please escort Miss Wingsworth from the Academy," she gave the small janitor her orders. With a salute, Feather Duster zipped over and gave Wingsworth a push to get her moving. Once everypony was sure that Wingsworth was gone for good, they all turned to Spitfire and gave her a round of applause. The beaming captain turned to the white mare at her side.

"Surprise?" she asked, smirking again. Surprise raised her eyebrows.

"Yes, Spitfire?" she asked, standing straight, as a cadet would in drills. Spitfire looked at the stink bomb in the poofy maned Wonderbolt's hoof.

"Do you wanna throw a stink bomb?"

Surprise squealed and jumped for joy. "Yes-a-rooni!" she cheered before the two mares began heading down the hall to cause havoc. Soarin appeared beside Rainbow Dash and put a hoof on her back.

"Thanks for not burning the place down," he teased her, and Rainbow gave him a playful punch on his arm. "Say, you wanna go practise now?"

"Yeah, I'd love to," she agreed, before looking over at a certain pink mare. "But there's something I've gotta do first," she added. Soarin shrugged and smiled.

"That's okay. I'd better head to the training grounds before Braeburn finds out what I wrote on his flank when he passed out," he snickered. Rainbow laughed, too. What was that about anyway?

"Soarin!"

"Oh no," Soarin snorted as an angry looking Braeburn stormed over. He nodded down at his flank.

"Can ya explain this?" he snapped. Soarin looked at his flank and burst into a fit of giggles again. Rainbow Dash couldn't see what it said at this angle, but Soarin could see that it said _'Property of Spitfire'_.

"I…can't…breathe!" Soarin cackled, almost falling to the ground. Braeburn scuffed a hoof on the ground.

"Ya won't be able t' breathe period when Ah'm done with ya!" he threatened. Soarin quickly made a run for it, laughing all the way down the hall and round the corner as Braeburn chased after him like a crazed bull. Rainbow trotted over to Spring Song.

"Hey," she greeted. Spring Song looked over her shoulder at Rainbow Dash and turned around.

"Hey," Rainbow's rival echoed.

"Listen, I just wanted to say thanks for tryin' to help me save Lullaby earlier. It was real good of you," Rainbow held out her hoof for Spring Song to shake. Spring Song looked down at her hoof and smirked.

"No problem, Dash," she grabbed hold of her outstretched hoof.

ZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAPPP!

"YOWZA!" Rainbow Dash felt a volt of electricity shoot through her bones, making her entire body quake and shake. When everything stopped stinging, Rainbow Dash noticed that she was now pretty singed and Spring Song was laughing and pointing at her, an electric buzzer strapped to her hoof. Rainbow Dash growled and shook off the pain.

It was so on!

Spring Song saw the danger and took off, speeding down the hallway with Rainbow Dash close behind. They flew down halls, in and out of doors and around bends until finally Spring Song flew into the medical closet.

Rainbow Dash landed in the doorframe and looked around the small room. Where did Spring Song go? Stumbling around, the blue mare looked up and down for her enemy.

Suddenly she felt something tighten around her hind hoof and suddenly she was swept off the ground. She felt the blood rush to her head as she found herself upside down with a rope wrapped around her leg. Finally Spring Song revealed herself, laughing like a nut.

"I knew you'd forget about Soarin's impossible knot snare," she said between bursts of laughter. She began walking causally to the door, still sniggering at the upside down Rainbow Dash.

"Spring Song, get me down from here!" Rainbow wriggled around, trying to free herself. Spring Song put a hoof to her chin, thinking.

"Hmm…nah, I don't think I will," she shrugged. "Here's an idea, Rainbow Trash: I'll go and grab a camera and you just wait here and _hang around_!" she joked before striding out of the room. Rainbow Dash tried one more time to free herself before letting herself hang limp. Folding her hooves she scowled at the door that Spring Song's tail had just disappeared through.

"Well played, Spring Song. Well played."


	16. Friends and Amends

**RosaSilvermist- Glad you thought it was funny. I love coming up with all the jokes. :D**

**PieLover139- Aw, thanks. I'm so happy that you like my story and don't worry, more horseshoe stuff is coming soon. :)**

* * *

"D'ya hafta sleep on there?" Braeburn asked Soarin, who was asleep on the serving counter. "The last thing Ah need is you moltin' in the food."

Soarin grumbled, not wanting to be disturbed. "Gimme a break, Brae, I need to get as much sleep as possible," he screwed his eyes shut, wanting nothing more than a few more hours sleep. He heard Braeburn trotting over to him.

"Ever heard o' beds?" he asked. "They were made fer sleepin' in," he poked Soarin in the ribs and the blue stallion kicked him away.

"You don't understand. If you did, you'd be sleeping, too!" Soarin sat up, looking seriously at his earth pony friend. Braeburn looked suddenly alert.

"What is it?" he asked. Soarin slid off the counter and shuddered at the thought of what would happen later. This was the part of his job he hated the most.

"I-I don't wanna scare you," the Wonderbolt looked dramatically off to the side. Braeburn hopped up and down like he was on a sugar buzz.

"Tell me! Tellmetellmetellme!" he ordered. Soarin looked down at the ground, even saying it made him want to die of boredom.

"It's…staff meeting day!" he revealed. "DA-DUH!" he threw his hooves into the air. Braeburn tilted his head, making his hat slope sideways.

"What was this?" Braeburn mimicked Soarin's 'Da-duh' thing. Soarin face hoofed.

"I was making the sound of a thunder clap, of course," he scoffed as if it were the most obvious thing ever. To his surprise, Braeburn didn't look disappointed or terrified, actually a little excited. "Why aren't you yelling to the heavens for the meeting to be cancelled?" he noticed the weird look he got from his friend. "Heh…not that I do that every time I wake up on a meeting day," he lied, making a bad poker face.

"Well, Ah think it'll be great, gettin' the heads up on ev'rythin' goin' on in the Academy," Braeburn said optimistically. Soarin laughed bitterly.

"We'll see what you think after the meeting," Soarin drifted into past memories of the meetings. Usually, they just talked about things that didn't concern him, like the state of training equipment or payment (actually he did care a little about that last one). He decided to go and nap elsewhere, hopefully somewhere soundproof since the cadets would soon be done with their second half of drills. When the cadets finished their training for the day the noise they made could disturb ponies halfway across Cloudsdale. Soarin didn't really blame them though. If he had to get up at six, then train until ten, have half an hour to eat and then do more training until two-thirty, he'd be pretty excited to get inside, too. That was his daily routine when he was at the Academy, and he didn't regret it for one moment. All of the blood, sweat, tears and bugle-wake-up-call's was all worth it in the end.

He looked out the large window at the cadets in the middle of wing up drills. Wing ups had always been his least favourite exercise, but he managed to get to the target number if he was rewarded with a pie. Just thinking about it made his wings ache, how it always made him exhausted and sweaty and he had to take a shower after.

He imagined Rainbow Dash exhausted and sweaty and in a sh-

*FWOOMPH*

Braeburn came out the kitchen door at that exact moment.

"Hey, Soar. D'ya know where the-" he stopped talking and halted as he saw Soarin with a… well, ya know. For what felt like hours, Soarin stared over his shoulder, red faced while Braeburn stared back, looking disturbed.

"Er…" Soarin said awkwardly.

"Yeah…" Braeburn replied, equally as awkwardly.

"Uh-huh…" Soarin looked down at the ground. This was followed by even more agonising silence.

"So…Ah'm just gonna…pretend Ah didn't see that," Braeburn excused himself and turned back into the kitchen. Soarin nodded in agreement.

"Let's never speak of this again," he called after his friend. He returned to staring at the floor, relieved when his wings finally folded back down. Braeburn poked his head back through the door a moment later.

"And…uh…you'll hafta forgive me if Ah don't make eye contact with ya fer the next month or two. Any problems with that?" he asked.

"Nope, none at all," Soarin replied.

* * *

Rainbow Dash sat at the table in the mess hall, her chin upon the table with Lullaby sitting on her right side, following her gaze across the room to the table where Spring Song, Paradise and Ray were sitting. Paradise was yakking away to Spring Song like she was some kind of celebrity, Ray was looking over at the other stallions, looking like he wanted to join them and Spring Song smirked at Paradise as she gave her compliment after compliment. Rainbow Dash just couldn't understand why Paradise saw Spring Song the way she did!

Rainbow Dash hoped that she wasn't the only pony in the dark. Paradise and Spring Song had the strangest friendship she had ever seen, if you could even call it friendship. She had a feeling that Paradise would call it 'Best Friendship' but Spring Song would probably have something different to call it.

Paradise probably couldn't stay away from Spring Song if her life depended on it and Rainbow Dash was almost 100% sure that if the two of them were if a life or death situation where only one of them could survive, Paradise would choose Spring Song's life over hers. Rainbow Dash couldn't argue that Paradise was one of the most loyal ponies she had ever met, besides herself of course.

But Rainbow Dash definitely blamed Spring Song for the majority of their shaky relationship.

All the blonde mare did was make Paradise serve her like some kind of slave. The poor green mare treated Spring Song like a princess…no, a _queen_! All Spring Song has to do is call her name and Paradise would be there, no matter why, when or where. Even when Spring Song was being her angry, jerky self, Paradise was at her beck and call.

The way Paradise acted, you'd think that Spring Song was an _actual _princess and she was her loyal guard. Every time Spring Song so much as looked at Paradise she would get this huge smile on her face like she'd just won the _lottery_! It was just too much!

"Rainbow Dash…Rainbow…helloooo?"

Rainbow Dash looked up at Lullaby's call to meet the concerned mare's gaze. "What is it?" Rainbow asked her roommate, her line of sight flicking back to Spring Song and her friends for a moment. Lullaby folded her hooves on the table and gave Rainbow Dash a serious stare.

"Dash…I think that this whole Spring Song thing is getting under your fur. You never know, maybe if you apologized to her, you can make amends. Ya know, Rainbow, you and Spring Song could be really good friends if you just put this silly Ray thing aside," the purple pegasus explained. Rainbow Dash looked at Lullaby like she was speaking in pig-latin.

"Lullaby, are you even hearing yourself? Sure, Spring Song and I got on before, but…everything's different now," Rainbow stared down at the table, wanting to look at anything other than Spring Song. Lullaby let out an exasperated sigh.

"I personally think that this has gone on long enough. You two can't even be in the same room without giving eachother evil looks," Lullaby threw her hooves into the air in frustration. Rainbow Dash gave Lullaby an evil look right there and then.

"That's not true. Remember the other day when we teamed up to keep you in the Academy?" Rainbow Dash gave Lullaby a playful tap on her noggin, as if trying to jog her memory. Lullaby slapped Dash's hoof away and leaned away in case she tried to rap on her skull again.

"Exactly, Rainbow, the two of you consciously joined forces to help me…and even though it didn't work out the way you'd planned; it proved that the two of you can actually help each other when you put your minds to it," she smirked up at Rainbow Dash. The cyan mare cursed under her breath. Why did Lullaby have to be right all the time? It was so annoying!

"So…you think I should just make amends with her again?" Rainbow sighed, putting her chin back down on the table and blowing a stray lock of her mane out of her magenta eyes.

"Well, I was actually hoping you would make _friends_, but you're close enough," Lullaby shrugged, snickering a little. Rainbow Dash screwed her eyes shut and wished for a moment that Lullaby could be stubborn like her. Finally, she lifted up her head and stared determinedly over at Spring Song.

"Ya know what... you're right…" she finally agreed. Lullaby examined a hoof casually, looking proud of herself.

"Dash, I'm always right," she smugly stated. For a few seconds they just sat there, neither saying anything, both staring at the table until Lullaby prodded Rainbow's shoulder. "Rainbow Dash?"

"Yeah?" Rainbow Dash looked up.

"Why are you still here? I thought you were gonna go over there and-"

"I know! I know! I was just gonna go!" Rainbow Dash lied, standing up and taking a few breaths before trotting confidently over to the table where her rival and her two friends sat. When she was a few feet away, she saw Spring Song's green eyes meet hers for a moment before she turned and whispered something to Paradise…loudly.

"Is she wearing her mane differently today? It just looks so…messy…well, messi_er_, anyway," she hissed to her friend, who giggled. Rainbow Dash didn't know whether Paradise was doing this against her will or not. She was almost as confusing as Pinkie Pie. She wanted to tackle Spring Song to the ground and beat every last insult out of her…but she remembered Spitfire's words 'Ignore, ignore, ignore' and that seemed to calm her down. Instead she approached the table and placed a hoof atop it, making sure that she had the pink she-demon's attention.

"What did I actually do to you, Spring Song?" she asked the question that she had wanted to know for the longest time now. Was it the race? Was it all Ray? She had so many questions that she didn't know how she had managed to keep them all locked up. "Just because I'm a better flyer than you doesn't mean that you have to hate me," she added, for extra reassurance. Spring Song's eyes bulged out of her head and she began to stand up. Paradise saw the danger and grabbed hold of one of Spring Song's arms.

"Spring Song's a _way _better racer than you!" she snapped at Rainbow Dash, which seemed to calm Spring Song down a little. Paradise looked a little uncertain at what she was saying, as if she were telling herself as well as the others. "She's way cooler and prettier and…pegasusier," she babbled. Spring Song sat down in her spot between Paradise and Ray, who had scooted down a couple of seats, and put a hoof around Paradise.

"See, Paradise knows best," Spring Song shook her friend playfully, making Paradise gasp with glee at her statement. Rainbow Dash instantly changed her mind, and she didn't care what Lullaby thought, there was no way she was apologizing to Spring Song.

"Look, I don't give a flying feather what you guys say or do to me anymore," Rainbow Dash stared Spring Song down. "I've got better things to do than let you put me down."

Spring Song narrowed her eyes evilly at the rainbow maned cadet. "Ya know, Rainbow Dash. I _was _gonna say sorry for treating you the way I did, but I don't think I'm so sorry anymore" she gave Dash a stare that could make a fully grown dragon cry. "You're the worst excuse for a pegasus ever, and I _hate _you!"

Rainbow Dash felt her heart ache at her words, but she refused to let it show. She snarled angrily at the blonde mare and turned around, stomping back to the table where Lullaby sat, awaiting her report, looking a little nervous.

"So…how did it go?" she asked, despite the fact that she obviously knew what the answer was. Rainbow couldn't get her enemy's last sentence out of her head. She wasn't a pathetic pegasus, _Spring Song _was! She groaned and put her chin back on the table, resuming the position she had been in before she had got up to 'apologize' to Spring Song (seriously, what insulting nickname should she give her?) and replied bluntly.

"…just peachy."

* * *

Spitfire loved her job, truly she did, but there were certain things about it that she would give up in a heartbeat. The airshow's, tours and fame were awesome, and she loved having so many fans all across Equestria, but if the golden mare had to pick the thing she hated the most about her job, it would be the staff meetings.

Once a month, she and the other Wonderbolts and staff would meet up in the staffroom to discuss whatever and all she really did was sit there, unless she had something of the utmost importance to say. But today was one of those days that she had nothing to say at all. The meetings all started with the staff sitting down in their separate spots, Spitfire sat on the chair beside the coffee machine just in case she got thirsty, then Silver Lining would begin the meeting since he was the oldest and from then on each of them would take turns sharing their concerns and news. It was times like this when Spitfire realised that she had nothing interesting going on in her life, except her job of course.

Another thing was that the weather was getting warmer, since it was in the middle of spring, so it was a little stuffy in the staffroom. She wished that she could just take off her captain's uniform, but it was mandatory for her to wear it during working hours. She envied Feather Duster, who didn't have to wear a uniform.

Silver Lining was talking about new food for the mess hall or something. Whatever it was, it didn't concern Spitfire, so she just sat in her chair, one elbow resting on the table beside her while she silently sipped her coffee. This. Was. So. Boring!

"Um…sir? Don't ya think there should be less fattenin' food on the menu?"

Spitfire's ears pricked up as she heard the voice of Soarin's earth pony buddy. He was sitting beside Soarin on the couch and, strangely, he didn't look bored at all. She scolded herself for acknowledging him and returned to drinking her coffee, trying to let its strong scent fill her mind to block everything out. However, she just couldn't turn her attention away from Braeburn. What did it matter if he was speaking? He wasn't speaking to her.

…so why was she listening?

"Well, yeah, havin' cookies an' pies are all fine an' dandy, but what if there was healthier stuff like carrots or sugar-free cider?" the earth pony suggested. Soarin sprung up from his spot slumped against the side of the couch and shook Braeburn in a panic.

"Dude! Don't get rid of the pie! DO _NOT _GET RID OF THE PIIIIIIIIIE!" he shook his friend so hard that his cowboy hat fell off. Braeburn picked up his stetson and bonked Soarin on the head with it before putting it back on his own. Silver Lining gave Braeburn an approving look and Soarin an irritated one.

"Great idea, Braeburn. I have to suggest that to my wife," he joked. Braeburn chuckled at the eldest 'Bolt's words and Soarin joined in a moment later. Spitfire's gaze was glued to Braeburn as he sunk down in his seat and resumed listening to the others talk. The two of them had barely talked since the 'Awkward Hallway Incident', apart from a few simple 'hello's' when they crossed paths in the halls. Oh, and once he had dropped by her office to fix a shelf. Other than that, nothing. In the short time he had been in her office he had just been so _friendly_, talking to her about his family and the cool stuff he'd seen in Cloudsdale. She hadn't really talked much to _him_ in that time, but the earth pony seemed to be able to make enough conversation for both of them. Truth be told, Spitfire was more of a listener.

He didn't even seem bothered that she wasn't much of a conversationalist; it was like he didn't expect her to do anything. She had to admit that he was quite the…gentlestallion, was the only word that she could think of to describe him.

He was helpful, cheerful and perky, which she definitely preferred to how she had thought him to be when she had encountered him for the first time, which was quiet, hesitant and shy.

She wondered if he was single.

"_HOLY CELSTIA STOP!" _Spitfire mentally yelled at herself and jolted up in her chair as the thought entered her mind. Her eyes darted around the room to check whether anypony had seen her sudden movement. Luckily she hadn't drawn any attention to herself. She settled herself down again and took another swig of coffee, still unable to get that lingering thought out of her head. She'd just imagined that he had a marefriend since he seemed like the kind of stallion that mares would flock to. She was actually surprised he wasn't married. For reasons unknown to her, thinking about all this made her feel uneasy, so she carried on sipping her coffee.

Without thinking, she looked over at Braeburn again and found that he was already looking at her. She sharply looked away, trying to make it look like an accident, painfully aware of the heat in her cheeks. She stared down into her cup as she drunk more coffee. After a while, which could have been ten minutes or ten _seconds_ for all she knew, Spitfire looked back over at him and, sure enough, he was still staring at her.

"_What?" _she mouthed at him.

"_That's right, blame everything on him," _she thought to herself. Braeburn just shrugged and smiled.

"_Sorry_," he mouthed back. "_This is just so borin'_."

Spitfire couldn't argue with him there; she couldn't even pay attention to a word anypony was saying. She gave him a small smile. "_Okay_," was all she mouthed. Braeburn flashed her a grin and Spitfire quickly turned her attention back to the lukewarm drink in her hooves.

She was just so confused and she hated everything about this! One moment she hated Braeburn for messing up her head, and then she hated herself for letting him. She didn't like how she enjoyed being around him and how she always felt…happy when she saw him. But most of all, she hated Braeburn for making her feel…things that she had never felt before.

She hated Braeburn.

The captain suddenly realised that she had drunk all her coffee and grumbled before tossing her empty cup in the trash behind her. She then propped her head up on her elbow and looked down at the white carpet, wanting nothing more than this stupid meeting to end. She heard somepony cough and she looked up, meeting the concerned green eyes of the earth pony that was sabotaging her mind.

"_Are ya alright?_" he mouthed. She gave him a brief nod before looking back down, realising that her worries were practically plastered onto her face. Right now the only thought running through her head was 'Why did he care?'

If he didn't care, then she would be fine right now; she wouldn't have all these questions and emotions attacking her brain and she wouldn't be angry with herself. If he just stopped caring, just like she had stopped caring years ago, then she wouldn't have any of these thoughts or feelings.

She hated him.

But... there was another part of her that loved it that she had somepony looking out for her, a part of her that loved it when he spoke to her, how he did things for her out of his own free will, how he would always smile at her, how his eyes would glow when he saw her.

She didn't hate him.

No…she _did_ hate him!

UGH!

Spitfire squinted with frustration as her mind whirled with all these mixed emotions. If there were any feelings that Captain Spitfire never had it was fear and…and…she couldn't even bear to think of it…The 'L' Word…

So why, all of a sudden, was she feeling both?

* * *

"That. Was. AWESOME!" Rainbow Dash cheered as she burst through the mess hall doors with Soarin following close behind her. "Did ya see me? I was all WHOOSH, and then all those clouds EXPLODED, like BOOM!" she rambled, jumping onto one of the tables and striking a triumphant pose.

"Could ya keep it down in there? Ah'm tryin' t' write!" Braeburn poked his head through the kitchen door. Rainbow Dash's curiosity got the better of her and she flapped over to the serving counter and peered over it to see what Braeburn was talking about.

"Whatcha writing?" she asked, folding her hooves. Braeburn held up some lined paper.

"Just a letter t' muh family back in AAAAAAAppleLOOsa!" Braeburn yelled that last part like he usually did, which actually freaked Rainbow Dash out a little. Gosh, this guy was _too _perky.

"You write letters, too?" Rainbow asked, interested since she was a fellow letter-writer. Braeburn nodded cheerfully.

"Yeah. Ah've gotta keep in touch with 'em somehow," he replied, sitting back down beside one of the ovens and scrawling a few more words with the quill in his teeth. That was another thing that Rainbow Dash was jealous of unicorns for; they could use their magic to write, too, so it was no wonder that their writing was all fancy schmancy compared to the other two races of ponies.

"Oh yeah, Dashie, I never asked. How are your friends doin'? Is Applejack still making those pies of hers?" Soarin asked. Rainbow rolled her eyes at the pie-loving pegasus.

"Yeah they're fine. In fact I just got my latest letter from them this morning. I'll never understand how Princess Celestia doesn't get freaked out when green fire suddenly appears and chucks a letter at you," she joked. "Pinkie Pie's planning the Spring Celebration and Rarity's working on the decorations. Twilight's gonna try and get the other princesses to make an appearance, too. And, yes, AJ's still baking those pies you like," she added. Soarin grinned.

"Awesome! Ya know Applejack's apple pie tastes amazing…" he sighed dreamily, drooling. Braeburn's head snapped round to face his friend.

"The buck did ya say 'bout muh cousin?" he asked, eyes the size of plates and pupils the size of pins. Soarin realised what Braeburn was getting at and gasped.

"NO! NO! NO! Not like that!" he insisted, waving his hooves in defence before pointing one accusingly at Braeburn. "And you'd better watch your tongue, buddy, this story is only rated T."

Rainbow Dash was baffled at Soarin's words, but shrugged it off. "Say, Braeburn, you're coming to the Celebration, right?" she asked. Braeburn nodded.

"Yeah, but it'll hafta be later in the day. Ah promised muh family that Ah'd go back to AAA-"

Soarin flew over the counter and slapped a hoof over Braeburn's mouth. "Don't say it. Just don't!" he ordered before removing his hoof. Braeburn shoved the pale blue Wonderbolt away.

"Ah promised Ah'd go home fer muh family's Celebration…" he looked away uneasily. "Muh pa's not okay with me celebratin' spring in Cloudsdale, so that's why Ah'm goin' home."

Rainbow Dash made her way over the counter and sat beside Braeburn. "Why can't you celebrate here?" she asked. Braeburn sighed.

"Muh pa doesn't exactly like pegasi…" he admitted, dropping the quill from his mouth. Rainbow was appalled at that.

"Wha- why not?" she asked, anger working its way onto her face. Why would Braeburn's dad have a thing against pegasi? Braeburn shrugged.

"Ah dunno. Just figured that he was jealous o' their wings or somethin'," he frowned. Soarin folded his arms with irritation.

"Yeah! Your dad was so hostile towards me!" he recalled, scowling at the memories. Rainbow Dash had no idea that earth ponies felt this way about pegasi. Braeburn looked over at Soarin with a reassuring smile.

"Hey, look on the bright side. Muh ma loves ya, Soar. Yer kinda like her second son," he said optimistically. Soarin smiled brightly at that.

"Yeah, she would always make me pie; whatever kind I wanted. Your mom was the best, Brae," Soarin complimented the earth pony. Braeburn must have decided to drop that topic because he returned to the Celebration conversation.

"So, anyway, Ah'll be stoppin' by Ponyville t' see muh family there, too," he told Rainbow Dash. "It'd be nice t' go to Ponyville when Ah don't hafta deal with a whole bunch o' relatives at the Apple Family Reunion."

Rainbow Dash giggled, remembering how Applejack had told her how a reunion had gone completely out of control. "Yeah, hopefully this time you won't have to rebuild anything," she smirked. Braeburn laughed along with her and Soarin joined them. Rainbow Dash was pleased that the two stallions were such good friends; even when they got into an argument they would always make up in the end, just like they did right at the beginning of the boot camp. She just wished that _she _could make amends with others that easily.

"Guys…can I ask you something?" she asked them. Soarin shrugged and Braeburn nodded, so Rainbow Dash spoke what was on her mind. "You two are great friends, right…but you sometimes get into arguments and scrapes? So, how can you forgive eachother?"

Soarin and Braeburn looked at eachother and then at Dash. "Well…you of all ponies should know that friendship is something that isn't easily fractured. You always come through for your friends in the end," Soarin replied.

"Yeah, me an' Soarin get into fights all the time, but since we're such good friends, we can always just get over it. That's what true friendship is, Rainbow Dash: stickin' by yer pals even when they screw up or disagree with ya," Braeburn added. Rainbow Dash had never known the two of them to be so wise. That definitely shed some light on her current problem, too. She and Spring Song were in the midst of their own battlefield, and Spring Song clearly wasn't going to apologize any time soon. And if Soarin and Braeburn were right about friends always forgiving eachother, then maybe she and Spring Song were never friends in the first place.

"Thanks guys…I needed to hear that," she smiled up at them.

"Don't sweat it Dash. We're always here for ya," Soarin trotted over to her and ruffled her multi-coloured mane. Rainbow Dash was glad that she had all these wonderful friends to help her through her situation, but deep down this still bugged her. She didn't like it that somepony hated her. It felt…sickening and it hurt like a wound in her heart. She wanted that pain to go away. She wanted to be liked by everypony. And even though she hated to admit it…

The thing she wanted most of all was Spring Song's friendship again.

* * *

**Endnote: Seriously, what insulting name should Rainbow Dash call Spring Song?**

**Also I've finally written an endnote that hasn't turned into a rant!**


	17. Correct Your Course

Luna'snight625- Stink Song…PERFECT! Not inappropriate and it's hurtful enough. I love it! *hugs*

Guest- LOL Ping Pong! That one's great, too! I have _got _to use that somehow. :D

**Authors Note: Oh no, the return of the bold writing. But this one will be quick.**

**I never thought I'd do this, but I'm gonna promote a story? Why? BECAUSE I LOVE IT!**

**So, if you want you can check out 'Vault: MLP One-Shot Collection' by Captain Alaska. It's super-ultra-extreme-awesomazing!**

* * *

"ARE YOU INSANE!?"

Rainbow Dash and Lullaby almost had heart attacks as Stargazer suddenly appeared in the doorway. The two friends were in their room, with Rainbow Dash telling her roomie about her desires to become friends with Spring Song again. Lullaby was pleased that Dash had come to her senses…but obviously certain ponies didn't agree.

"Stargazer? Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" Lullaby clutched her chest and hyperventilated, still recovering from her shock as Stargazer burst through the closed door, scaring them out of their fur. The charcoal black cadet folded her hooves and gave Rainbow a serious stare.

"No time for questions, Lullaby. Rainbow Dash, I don't know what's more ridiculous; you wanting to be friends with Spring Song again, or actually thinking _she'll_ want to be friends with _you_!" she began, looking infuriated with her blue friend. "I mean, from what you've seen over the last month, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that Spring Song doesn't really like you…like, _at all_!"

Rainbow Dash grimaced. Even though she was annoyed with her fellow cadet for barging into her room unannounced, she had a good point. "Stargazer…I just…I don't like it that somepony hates me. And, you know how important friendship is to me, so being the target of somepony's hatred just doesn't feel right! I want to be friends with her again so I'm 120% positive that everypony likes me," the cyan pegasus admitted, hanging her head.

Stargazer closed the door behind her gently and fluttered over to Rainbow Dash before wrapping her in a tight hug. Rainbow Dash tried to struggle free of her grip, but eventually gave up after several attempts. Stargazer pretty much had the strong grip of an iron pony.

"Well, Rainbow Dash, not everypony you meet in life is going to like you, and that's perfectly normal. It's practically impossible to be adored by every single earth pony, pegasus and unicorn in Equestria, so there's no point in wallowing about it. And, think about this as just another obstacle for you to overcome. Being enemies with another pony can be one of the toughest challenges you could ever have, but dealing with it can make you stronger in a way," she explained, squeezing her rainbow maned friend. Stargazer looked Rainbow Dash in the eye and Rainbow hesitantly and blankly stared back, not really in the mood to be lectured. "If you look at your situation…it's kinda like an airshow. When life throws you for a loop, you have to correct your course and keep flying."

Rainbow pondered the meaning of Stargazer's words. It was kinda like a riddle, and Rainbow Dash sucked at riddles, but she sort of understood what the black cadet was getting at, though she couldn't really explain it. Lullaby cleared her throat and the other mares turned to face her. She gave the two of them a little wave.

"Yeah, hello, remember me, the one who says that you _should_ make friends with Spring Song again?" the purple cadet glared at Stargazer. "You do realise that if you make up with her you won't have to deal with all that 'having enemies makes you stronger' baloney, right?"

Rainbow Dash looked from Stargazer to Lullaby and then looked sternly at her purple friend. "Lullaby…Stargazer's right. I've been spending most of the boot camp worrying about what Spring Song thinks of me…and I just don't wanna do that anymore. I've had it! I have _officially_ had it, Lullaby, with her constant irritating teases and her inability to leave me alone and let me be and do and say exactly what _I _want to be and do and say," Rainbow Dash looked down at the floor. "And, do ya know what? Until she can accept that I am no threat of any sort to her then she is just gonna have to STAY OUT OF MY LIFE!" she stomped a hoof on the floor and stood on all fours. Lullaby looked at Rainbow Dash like she had just declared war on somepony…which in a sense, she had.

"…wow…" was all she said after a minute of complete silence. After that, the three mares just stood there in silence until somepony else poked their head through the door.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash, what's all the commotion about?" Spitfire asked, her gaze flicking from Rainbow Dash to her two companions in turn. Rainbow Dash didn't exactly feel like explaining her problems to the captain, so she decided to just shrug and lie.

"We were just…

"Dancing," said Lullaby.

"Making sculptures," said Stargazer.

"…Making dancing sculptures," Rainbow Dash cringed at how ridiculous that sounded and face hoofed. Spitfire had a look on her face that suggested that she thought she had stepped into Crazytown and met the town council.

"Okay…that's not weird at all…" she looked away as if trying to remember something. "Oh yeah, Rainbow Dash, can I talk to you for a second?"

Rainbow Dash nodded and smiled before heading out the door and walking alongside Spitfire to her office. "So, what's up, ma'am?" Dash asked the Wonderbolt once she had closed the door behind them. Spitfire sat at her desk and put on her business face.

"Well, I've got good news and bad news. What do ya wanna hear first?" she asked, folding her hooves on the desk in front of her. Rainbow Dash decided on the one that would hopefully make her feel better.

"The good news, ma'am," she replied. Spitfire grabbed a slip of paper on the side of her desk.

"The good news is, somepony finally left us a little tip as to who put the horseshoe in the cloud," she revealed. Rainbow Dash lit up at that. That sure _was _good news if it meant they were one step closer to figuring out who had almost killed her.

"That's awesome!" she exclaimed, jumping for joy into the air. Suddenly, she remembered that there was some bad news, too, and a worried look adorned her face. "So…what's the bad news?"

Spitfire slid the paper to Dash. "This is what the note says," she allowed Rainbow Dash to read the note:

'_I put the horseshoe in the storm cloud.'_

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow and blinked a couple of times. Either the pony who wrote the note was playing a joke or just plain stupid. "Are you kidding me? We finally get a lead and the pony who wrote it is a complete dunderhead," she looked down at the note as if it were a piece of garbage, which it _was_!

"My thoughts exactly, Rainbow Dash," Spitfire looked down at the note with enough disgust to rival Rainbow's. "Well, due to the stupidity of the writer, we still have no idea who did it, but this proves that somepony's trying to fess up…or get on my nerves. Right now, that second one's working more than the first," she rubbed the side of her head with a hoof, as if she had a headache.

"Well, what do we do now?" Rainbow Dash groaned sombrely, resting her head on the desk. Spitfire just shrugged and leaned back in her seat.

"Well, I guess we should start interrogating ponies. This has gone on long enough and whoever has done this has to be punished. You can't just do something like that and get off scot-free," she replied, wringing her hooves. "You got any idea who could have done it?"

Rainbow Dash thought for a moment. The only clue they had was some useless paper and Rainbow Dash wasn't into mystery novels, so she knew next to nothing about how to solve a crime. "No, ma'am…I don't."

Spitfire grumbled and pushed her shades back up her nose. "Well, somepony had better own up soon or we may have to take drastic measures," she didn't look too pleased at the thought of 'drastic measures' that was for sure.

"Guys, is everything okay in there?"

Rainbow Dash looked over her shoulder to see Stargazer at the door. Spitfire glared sternly at the hippie cadet. "Stargazer, there's this thing called knocking. You might wanna try it sometime," she said. Lullaby appeared beside Stargazer and gave her an accusing look.

"See, that's _exactly_ what I said," she reminded Stargazer, poking her in the shoulder sharply. Spitfire cleared her throat to get the cadets' attention.

"I've got things to do, so you three can head down to the mess hall. Dinner's in fifteen minutes," she nodded up at the clock behind her. Rainbow Dash gave a salute before standing up and walking out the door. Just as they were about to close the door, Stargazer stopped them.

"Captain, are you okay? Your aura suggests that you're confused," she told Spitfire. If the Wonderbolt wasn't confused before she _definitely _was now. She put on a blank look before deadpanning.

"If you walked in on three cadets making dancing sculptures, you'd be pretty confused, too."

* * *

"Urrgh," Braeburn slurred, his head resting on the serving counter. "There's nothing to do!"

"Nothing for us to do," Soarin echoed from his spot flopped on his back over the dishwasher. He focused on the sound of the ticking clock in the background, swishing his tail in rhythm to it. Braeburn had enough food left from the inspection to last a whole fortnight, so the two stallions had nothing to ease their boredom.

"Why did I have to bake all that stuff?" Braeburn grumbled, pulling his hat down over his eyes. Soarin lifted his head up to glare daggers at his friend.

"Here's an idea. Maybe you should go back in time and listen to me?" he suggested sarcastically before allowing his head to drop again, accidentally banging it against the dishwasher. "YOW! Celestia's mercy, that hurt!" he sat up and rubbed the back of his head. Braeburn lifted his stetson up and smirked.

"Hitting our head, are we?" he teased Soarin, who got a playful look in his eyes.

"Really? The 'are-we's'?" he scoffed in disbelief. The 'are-we's' had been a part of many of their arguments in high school. Basically, they just put 'are we' at the end of a sentence to make it sound passive-aggressive. It worked on so many levels. "Thinking the 'are-we's' will make things less boring, are we?" he took his turn.

"Using three 'are-we's' in a sentence, are we?" Braeburn chuckled.

"Counting my 'are-we's', are we?" Soarin said before breaking into a fit of giggles. Maybe the 'are-we's' could make things slightly more entertaining. Just then, the door burst open and Rapidfire burst in along with Silver Lining and Fire Streak.

"Guys, you've gotta hide us! Our lives could depend on it!" Fire Streak panted, looking frantically around. Soarin and Braeburn stood to attention.

"Well, what's happening?" Soarin asked, getting a serious look on his face, like he always did when ponies' lives were in danger. Rapidfire began frantically galloping on the spot.

"Since we're in charge of the cadets combat training the three of us have to write the cadets reports, but…we refused!" he confessed. Soarin began to fear for his colleagues while Braeburn just looked disappointed.

"Seriously, that's it? For a minute Ah thought y'all were bein' chased by a guy with an axe or somethin'," he looked sternly at the three 'Bolts. Silver Lining began shaking, not with the cold, but with fear.

"We _are _being chased!" he spoke in a rushed voice. Braeburn just rolled his eyes, but Soarin, of course, was worried for his friends' lives. "Spitfire's looking for us and she could be here any second. Once she finds us we're dead. Literally DEAD!"

Soarin saluted. "Say no more. We'll find you a hiding spot, right Brae…Braeburn?" Soarin noticed that his friend had some kind of can in his mouth and he gasped. "DUDE! Are you gonna distract her with some kind of high tech knock-out-spray?"

Braeburn looked at his winged friend blankly and put the can down. "It's air freshener."

Soarin felt a little embarrassed then, and at the same time disappointed because he had been about to ask Braeburn if he was some kind of secret spy, 'cause of course only secret agents would have that kind of spray. "I don't think you'll impress Spitfire with air freshener!" he hissed at his friend before turning his attention back to the three on-the-run stallions.

"Quick, hide in the food storage room!" he bustled them into the closet and shut the door behind them, hearing some shuffling in there before the place became silent; and just in time, too.

"Hey, guys," Spitfire greeted Soarin and Braeburn, coming through the door. Soarin was surprised that they hadn't heard the mess hall door open, but suspected that she was just trying to be quiet so the three stallions wouldn't hear her coming. "You seen Rapidfire, Fire Streak and Silver Lining anywhere?" she looked around for any signs that they had been here.

"Nope," Soarin lied.

"Y-" Soarin quickly slapped a hoof over Braeburn's mouth to stop him from telling the truth. The stallion knew that Braeburn hated lying and even when he was bothered to fib, he would do a terrible job at it. His earth pony friend was the worst liar _ever_!

"You sure? They haven't come through here at all?" she stopped and sniffed the air. "Hey, it smells good in here," she stated. Braeburn shoved Soarin's hoof away.

"Thanks, it's just the new jasmine and rose air freshener," he smiled. Soarin rolled his eyes but felt relieved as Braeburn seemed to be distracted from the three fugitives hiding in the storage room. Hopefully the two of them could talk about air freshener outside, too, that way he could smuggle his fellow Wonderbolt's out of the closet and to their freedom.

"Yeah, it's a great scent, right. Ooh! Here's an idea, why don't you two go outside and discuss the amazing smell that is _oxygen_! I hear you can get it free from trees!" Soarin tried to prompt the captain to leave. He suddenly heard somepony sneeze from inside the storage room and covered his mouth to make it look like he was the one who had sneezed.

"What was that?" Spitfire asked, looking suspicious. Soarin tried to look as innocent as possible.

"Oh, it was just my…fur allergies," he lied. Spitfire looked at his as if he were completely insane.

"…You're allergic to fur?" she asked, raising a brow. Soarin tried his best to ignore the exasperated look he was getting from Braeburn as he tried to come up with a different excuse.

"Yep, strange, huh?" was all he could come up with. Braeburn let out a groan of agony and turned to Spitfire.

"Ma'am, they're in the-"

"ACHOO!"

The three ponies looked over at the storage room.

"…closet," Braeburn finished his sentence as Spitfire strode over to the storage room. She pulled it open and was greeted with Rapidfire crushed against a wall, Silver Lining munching on an apple and Fire Streak wiping his nose with a hoof. The three stallions froze as she gave them all a stare that could make a cockatrice wet itself.

"Um…" Silver Lining looked from the captain to his companions, then back to Spitfire. "…hi?"

Spitfire was _not_ amused. "Staffroom. Go." She pointed towards the door. None of the stallions looked like they were gonna leave. Instead, they all began whining and pleading with her, trying to persuade her to let them off work. "NOW!" she roared at them, and they instantly took off. Spitfire rolled her eyes underneath her shades and headed back to the door. "Sorry about that, guys. I'll just be on my way to deal with those three pussywillows," she speed-walked after the 'Bolts and closed the door behind her. Soarin scoffed.

"Well, now ya know why she's called 'Spitfire'. I've never seen a pony with such a short temper," he said to Braeburn.

"Yeeeeah," he said as if he wasn't paying attention, still staring over the counter as Spitfire's tail vanished through the mess hall door. Soarin suddenly saw a couple of cans of whipped cream on top of the fridge and flew up to grab them. He tossed one to Braeburn, who clumsily caught it in his teeth.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked his earth pony friend, who immediately appeared to understand what Soarin was getting at.

"Ah think so," he smirked, finding it hard to speak with the canister in his mouth. Then, the two of them reared up on their back hooves and cheered.

"WHIPPED CREAM GUN FIGHT!"

* * *

Spitfire stepped into the staffroom, ready to rage at the three stallions she had been chasing for at least fifteen minutes. Rapidfire was sitting on the chair beside the espresso machine, Silver Lining was flat on his back on the couch to the left of the room, and Fire Streak was looking out the window on the armchair on the right.

"Okay, you lousy- oh, Celestia, it stinks in here," she waved her hoof in front of her nose, trying to get her eyes to stop stinging. How everypony could stand being in a room that smelt of sweat and farts she'd never know. And with that she completely forgot the long rant she was going to bombard her colleagues with. "Anyway, I know that you don't wanna fill out these reports, but it's totally necessary! I have to fill out reports every day, and you don't see me complaining!" she yelled at the three Wonderbolts. Truth be told, Spitfire found filling out the reports to be boring and tiring. But at least it gave her something to do. "I mean, how hard is it to open up a folder, write the cadets report and then close the folder again?"

"In short, I'd rather poop in my hooves and clap," Fire Streak grumbled, not tearing his gaze from the window. Spitfire's left eye twitched, which was how the other 'Bolts knew when she was getting really annoyed.

"URGH! I swear, you three are gonna give me a stroke! So-"

"Oh, Spitfire, you're great and all but I don't feel like stroking you," Rapidfire joked, bursting into laughter alongside his two fellow fugitives. Steam was practically coming out of Spitfire's ears by now. She stomped over to the couch grabbed a cushion off it and used it to whack Rapidfire over the head.

"FOCUS!" she bellowed as he fell out the chair. She looked around the room at the three quivering Wonderbolts. "Listen up! You three are gonna go over to Silver Lining's office and you're gonna stay there until all the work is done!"

"No, I refuse to do it," Fire Streak insisted, putting an elbow on the arm of his chair. Spitfire absentmindedly scuffed a hoof on the carpet, wanting to hit something that wasn't the off-white stallions face.

"And why is that?" she asked as calmly as she could, even though there was a hint of venom in her voice. Fire Streak cleared his throat as if he were preparing for a speech.

"It's just wrong. The whole concept of the reports is wrong. We put a lot of effort into training these cadets and preparing them for a fight, and then what do we do? We have to tell 'em everything that they're doing wrong. So, I will _not _be a part of this," he folded his hooves. "…besides, The Great Equestrian Bake Off is on after work and I don't want to miss it."

"Oh, what, Bake Off's on?" Silver Lining sat up, appalled at what he was hearing. Instantly, the three stallions broke into a conversation about the TV show and Spitfire buried her face in a hoof. How could they talk about key lime pie at a time like this? She stamped a hoof on the carpeted floor.

"Oh, will you all just shut up about the stinkin' Bake Off!" she ordered them and instantly the room became silent. Rapidfire hesitantly spoke up.

"Let's put it to a vote. Who thinks we should skip writing the reports?" he asked. All three of the stallions raised their hooves in the air, looking triumphantly at Spitfire, who swore under her breath. Why was everything so damn difficult? Standing straight, she shifted her fiery gaze round the room at the three thorns in her side.

"Fortunately, Rapidfire, the Academy is not a democracy, it is a dictatorship. So, you will all fill out every single one of those reports without fail! I don't care if you hate doing it so bad that blood comes out of your ears and snot shoots out of your nose, you are filling out these reports whether you like it or not!"

The 'Bolts before her burst into a fit of chuckles and Spitfire groaned. "What, may I ask, is so funny?" she asked, sure that she was going to regret asking.

"You said snot!" Fire Streak chortled. That was the last straw! Spitfire completely lost it and roared at the Wonderbolts like an angry lion.

"GET DOWN TO THE OFFICE RIGHT NOW OR I'LL TIE YOU ALL UP AND THROW YOU CLEAN OFF CLOUDSALE! THAT'S AN ORDER!"

The stallions didn't need to be told twice. They whizzed out of the room and vanished down the hall, leaving a dust cloud in their wake.

* * *

Rainbow Dash pushed the kitchen door open, wanting to ask Soarin if he was ready for training.

"Hey, guys do you- what the feathers went on in here?" she looked around the room, which was completely covered with whipped cream. Soarin and Braeburn stood in the center of the room, each grasping a can of cream, staring at her wide eyed. They, too, were covered in the white stuff.

"Whipped cream gun fight," Soarin held up the can, sheepishly grinning. Rainbow looked to the heavens, wondering if the two stallions ever did anything that wasn't completely insane.

"So…are you too busy for training or…" Rainbow Dash made circular motions with her hoof in the air, waiting for Soarin to respond. The pegasus tossed the can to the floor and shook the whipped cream from his fur, splattering it over Braeburn's face.

"AGH! Right in the eye!" the earth pony yelped as he slapped a hoof over his right eye. Soarin chuckled nervously.

"Um…whoops," he shrugged. Braeburn clearly wasn't amused and stomped into the closet, muttering that he'd be back once he found a mop. Soarin sauntered over to Rainbow Dash and flicked the last of the whipped cream from his tail. Rainbow put a hoof to her chin, thinking before shaking her head.

"Nah, this still isn't as weird as the dancing sculptures thing," she recalled, thinking back to the events in her room earlier. Soarin looked baffled.

"What?" he asked as if he had been listening to an alien speak. Rainbow Dash shrugged.

"It's not important," she insisted. "So, training, no training, what?" she repeated her question from before. Soarin nodded his head, putting on his instructor face.

"Yep, wanna learn a Barrel Blaze?" he asked. Rainbow Dash gasped. The Barrel Blaze was, of course, Blaze's signature trick. It involved flying forward in a series of barrel rolls until a trail of lightning was left behind you.

"You bet your wings I do!" Rainbow flapped into the air with enthusiasm. She flew behind Soarin and began pushing him out the door. "C'mon, let's get outside so I can totally ace the Barrel Blaze!" she whooped before she and Soarin left the room. At that moment, Braeburn came out with a mop and bucket.

"Okay, we gotta get this place cleaned up, so Soarin, you take the-" he looked around at the empty room. "Guys? GUYS!"

"Let's just quickly find Blaze; I'm sure she'll love it if you learnt her trick," Soarin led Rainbow Dash through the halls. Rainbow was practically shaking with excitement like she always did when she was training with Soarin. She wished that she could show her friends back home everything that she had learnt with him.

Then she got an idea.

"Hey, Soarin, can I ask you something?" Rainbow Dash prodded his shoulder. He turned to face her, smirking.

"You just did, but go ahead," he joked, flicking a front hoof as a sign for her to speak.

"The Spring Celebration's in a couple of days, and I just wanted to know how long the Wonderbolts have to be at the Cloudsdale Celebration?" she asked the question. Soarin was bad at maths, so he took his time in figuring out the answer.

"Well, we only have to stay until our air show is over, but we usually like to hang around afterwards. Why?" he finally replied, giving up completely on figuring out the exact time.

"I was kinda hoping that you'd stop by Ponyville afterwards so we can show my friends all the awesome stuff you've taught me. Can you do that?" she asked, giving him puppy dog eyes that could make a hydra go soft. From the looks of things though, the puppy dog eyes weren't even necessary.

"I can do _better _than that, Dashie," Soarin looked pleased with himself. "I bet I can get all the Wonderbolt's to go to Ponyville and perform. All those ponies down there would love it if the 'Bolts performed for their Spring Celebration, right? What do ya think of _that_?"

Soarin almost got the breath knocked out of him as Rainbow Dash lunged at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him so tightly he couldn't move. "You're the BEST, Soarin!" Rainbow Dash squeezed him, rubbing her cheek against his to show her appreciation, too excited to acknowledge how warm it was. When she finally let him go, he sucked in as much air as he could, both hating and enjoying being strangled by Rainbow Dash.

"Thanks," he croaked, rubbing his throat to get the pain to go away. Rainbow Dash bounced around him, happy as Twilight was when she received her cutie mark.

"This is gonna be SO AWESOME! I can't wait for Scootaloo to finally meet you!" she flew round and round in circles so fast it seemed like she had an endless amount of energy.

"Scootaloo?" Soarin raised a brow. Rainbow Dash realised that Soarin had no idea who the little orange filly was. She landed beside him and told him.

"Scootaloo is my little sister, not by blood, but she's cool enough to be my sister," Rainbow explained, Soarin nodding along as she spoke. "She'd love to meet the Wonderbolts, I just know it!" Rainbow smiled like an idiot, making Soarin cackle with laughter. Rainbow slitted her eyes at him. "What's so funny?" she folded her hooves.

"Your face just then," he mimicked her expression, and instantly Rainbow Dash began laughing along with him. It _was _pretty funny.

"Hey! Will you two keep it down out there? We're trying to work!"

Rainbow Dash and Soarin looked at the pony talking to them. "Rapidfire?" they asked in unison, and the senior Wonderbolt shushed them again. Rainbow trotted over to the door and saw Silver Lining and Fire Streak slumped at Silver's desk, a stack of folders in front of them.

"Work? It kinda looks like you're napping to me," Rainbow Dash commented, looking over at Rapidfire, who sighed with exhaustion.

"Yes, work. We're writing up you and the other cadets' combat reports…and it's so _boring_!" he groaned, his wings drooping to his sides.

"Rapidfire, are you slacking off _again_?" Rainbow looked down the hall and saw Spitfire standing there, glaring flames at the Wonderbolt stallion. Rapidfire gulped nervously and walked back into the office.

"No, of course not, I was just telling Soarin and Rainbow Dash to shut up. They were distracting us," he told her, shaking a little.

Spitfire looked through the door and saw Fire Streak and Silver Lining asleep at the desk. Cursing, she walked behind them and put a fore hoof on each of their backs.

"WAKE UP!" she yelled at them, and the two stallions shot upright in their chairs, throwing their clenched hooves around just in case they were being attacked. Silver Lining grumbled when he saw that it was just the captain and Rainbow Dash chuckled at their silliness.

"What's the big idea, Spitfire?" the silver stallion rubbed his eyes. Spitfire slammed a hoof on the desk beside the reports.

"The big idea is that you three are supposed to be writing these, and instead you're all sittin' on your rumps like the lousy hay suckers you are and driving me out of my mind!" the fiery mare replied, the two stallions almost wetting themselves at her outburst.

"…Please don't hurt us," Fire Streak squeaked, putting his hooves together as if he were praying. Spitfire nodded at the reports.

"Could you at least just fill out _one_?" she pleaded. Fire Streak, Rapidfire and Silver Lining all looked at eachother as if they were trying to telepathically discuss a way out of this. Silver Lining eventually surrendered and grabbed the report at the top of the pile. Grabbing a pen in his teeth he scribbled something at the bottom of the page and closed the report again. He suddenly lit up with realization.

"Say, that really _didn't_ take long," he admitted, smiling at how easy this was. Spitfire rolled her eyes and left the room, standing in the doorway to address the three stallions.

"Now will you _please _fill out the rest without any fuss, I've got things to be doing, myself," she begged. Rainbow Dash couldn't believe that the three stallions had been trying to get out of doing such simple work. She could probably fill out those reports in her sleep.

"Of course," Rapidfire stood beside his two colleagues at the desk. He looked over at Spitfire. "Captain, do you think you could give us a hoof, though?" he asked her. Spitfire shook her head.

"I wish I could help, really I do, but…" she smirked mischievously. "It's nearly time for Bake Off," with that she turned and walked down the hall, probably enjoying the sound of the three stallions complaining at her. Soarin and Rainbow Dash exchanged looks and laughed before continuing their search for Blaze.

* * *

_Hi, guys!_

_Have you ever seen anypony do a Barrel Blaze? Have ya? _

_Well, I know only one. One of the Wonderbolts, Blaze tried to help me learn her signature trick and…it didn't go so well. It turns out doing fifty barrel rolls in a row and not throwing up is pretty much impossible, so yeah, that's one trick I won't be showing you at the Celebration._

_Speaking of the Celebration, I have a HUGE surprise for you, and no, Pinkie, I won't tell you what it is no matter how many cupcakes you send me._

_I'm gonna hit the hay now, we've got more combat training in the morning and I need at the strength I can get._

_Yours secretly,_

_Rainbow Dash._

Lullaby stretched out on her bed, smiling over at Rainbow Dash and she put her letter in her saddle bags. "I can't wait to get back home, Dash. I really miss my sisters and brother," she folded her hooves behind her head, staring up at the ceiling.

"Yeah, I understand how ya feel. I miss my friends like crazy!" she agreed, putting her saddlebags at the end of her bed so she wouldn't forget it in the morning. Lullaby looked over at Rainbow Dash with curiosity.

"Hey, Rainbow, you've never told me if _you_ have any brothers or sisters," she stated, sitting up.

"That's weird; I mean just earlier I told Soarin about my little sis, Scootaloo. Strange," she chuckled at the coincidence. Lullaby gasped with interest.

"You have a little sister? Ooh, tell me about her," Lullaby flopped her front hooves over the side of her bed and rested her head on top of them. Rainbow Dash looked over at Lullaby, ready to tell her everything.

"Okay then, well, me, Scoots, Rarity, Applejack and their little sisters went on this camping trip and..."


	18. The Spring Celebration

**Authors Note: This chapter features a special appearance from Captain Alaska's OC, Checkered Flag! :D**

* * *

"Ponyville here I come!" Rainbow Dash cheered as she rocketed down from Cloudsdale towards the place that she called home. After a month of living in the sky she couldn't wait to get back home and reunite with her friends and tell them about everything that had happened at the Academy. Well, maybe she'd downplay the parts where her life was in danger, of course.

She wondered what had been going on down there while she'd been training at the Academy. They'd written to her a lot, of course, but they could have secretly gone on some crazy quest and not told her because they didn't want her to feel left out. Rainbow shook it off, knowing that her friends wouldn't keep anything from her.

This was gonna be great! She missed doing stuff with her friends, pulling pranks with Pinkie Pie, flying with Fluttershy (when she had the courage to get her hooves off the ground), reading Daring Do with Twilight, competing with Applejack for the title of Iron Pony and…well, she couldn't really think of anything she and Rarity did together, unless she was being used as a mannequin for one of the white unicorn's latest designs.

She thought of seeing Scootaloo again and recalled when she had first told Scootaloo about going to the boot camp. The poor little filly had been heartbroken.

"When can I see you again?" she had asked with tears in her eyes. Rainbow Dash had pulled her in closer and hugged her little sister tightly.

"I promise that I'll be back every chance I get," she had whispered to the little orange filly as she snivelled into her chest fur. "And when the four months is over I will fly with you every single day to make up for it."

Scootaloo had looked up at Rainbow Dash with eyes bigger than saucers. "But, I'll miss you too much," she said in a voice that almost made Rainbow Dash choke up herself. Rainbow Dash had ruffled the filly's purple mane and draped a wing around her.

"I'll miss you too, Scoots, more than anything. But I'll write to you and the others every day, so in a way you can still talk to me," Rainbow assured her, looking into her glistening purple eyes. Scootaloo had hugged Rainbow Dash again after that and Rainbow remembered wishing that she could take Scootaloo with her. But in the end, she had left for the Academy and Scootaloo had been there with her friends when she took off, waving and wishing her good luck.

Rainbow Dash hoped that the little filly had been okay while she was away and that her absence hadn't distracted her from her crusading with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. She had to make sure that ponies all over Ponyville could see that she had returned to make sure that Scootaloo and her friends could see her no matter where she was. Rainbow Dash could only think of one way she could make that happen.

A Sonic Rainboom of course!

Smiling as the adrenaline pumped through her veins, Rainbow Dash flapped her wings as hard as she could, feeling the pressure building up on her sides immediately. She loved the feel of the wind as it whipped at her face, and the bullet like sound she made as she whizzed downwards through the sky like a rainbow coloured meteorite.

But what she loved best was when the pressure got so hard that for a moment it hurt, because that meant that the Rainboom was about to happen and boy did she _love _it when it happened.

*BOOM!*

Rainbow Dash whooped with glee as the familiar multi-coloured explosion appeared behind her and an ear shattering boom echoed through the air, surely alerting everypony down there of her arrival. She made a rainbow arc over Ponyville before zipping down and landing outside town hall, greeted by the cheers of the ponies who had seen the Sonic Rainboom.

She hadn't even been on the ground five seconds before-

"RAINBOW DASH!"

Rainbow was knocked to the ground and rolled over and over before finally settling on her back on the cobblestone ground. The world spun around her in a mix of blue, white and…pink!

"Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow Dash reached up and wrapped her hooves around her pink friend's waist, pulling her down and ruffling her poofy mane.

"Noogie fight!" Pinkie Pie returned the ruffle and sprung off Rainbow Dash, helping her up.

"Oh my gosh, Rainbow Dash, I've missed you so much! I know that it's only been a month but it felt like forever! Are they treating you alright at the boot camp, huh? I don't know why they wouldn't or who _they _are, but if they've upset you at all I'll kick 'em in the shins and-"

"Pinkie!" Rainbow Dash clamped a hoof over Pinkie Pie's muzzle. "I'm fine, okay. Pinkie Promise," she chuckled. Pinkie Pie sighed in relief and hugged Rainbow Dash again.

"Sorry, Dashie, I've just missed you so much it hurts! I made a cupcake for every day you were gone and it's just too many!" she wailed. "Seven cupcakes!"

Rainbow Dash titled her head to the side. "Pinkie Pie, I've been gone more than seven days," she told her livewire of a friend. Pinkie looked off into the distance and squinted.

"Oh…there's a 75% chance that I ate most of the cakes, but it was STILL TOO LONG!" she threw her hooves into the air again. "There's so much catching up to do, Rainbow, so let's go over to Sugarcube Corner, you look like you could use a cake."

"Don't you mean a break?" Rainbow corrected Pinkie Pie, who shook her head.

"No, you could really use a welcome back cake. Or, a cake break, if you prefer," she grinned widely. Rainbow Dash couldn't say no to that. The cakes from Sugarcube Corner were the best!

"Rainbow Dash, you're back!"

Rainbow looked over to the side and saw a familiar butter yellow pegasus rushing over to her. Rainbow threw her hooves to the side and allowed Fluttershy to squeeze her. After a few minutes of hugging, Rainbow Dash looked down at the pink maned mare, who was still hugging her.

"Are ya done yet?" she asked. She could feel Fluttershy shake her head as she squished her tighter.

"Almost," she held on for a few more seconds. "There, all done. Oh, Rainbow Dash, I've missed you so, so, SO much!" she fluttered into the air with excitement.

"Same here, Fluttershy. I've missed having my BPF around," Rainbow Dash was touched to see that the yellow pegasus was so pleased to see her. Fluttershy looked a little confused.

"BPF? What's that?" she asked. Rainbow rolled her eyes.

"Best Pegasus Friend, of course," she replied, earning a smile from Fluttershy, who looked honoured to have the title of BPF bestowed upon her. Rainbow Dash became aware of somepony squeeing not to far way. Looking over her shoulder, Rainbow Dash was blinded by something shiny and she shielded her eyes.

"Rainbow Dash, darling, it's been so long!" Rarity's thrilled voice rung out through the blinding light. Rainbow rubbed her eyes and blinked a couple of times. She became aware of Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy rubbing their eyes, too. Rarity was standing before them, wearing a purple dress littered with so many glittery sequins ponies could probably see her from the moon.

"Rarity, I think the day is bright enough without you wearing that," Rainbow joked, squinting. Rarity put a hoof to her chin.

"Well, that does explain why so many ponies looked away from me when I walked down the street. For a minute there I thought they just didn't like it. I guess it could use fewer sequins…oh well, can't get everything right the first time," she looked down at her dress.

"What's with the fancy get up anyway?" Pinkie Pie popped up at Rainbow Dash's side, startling her. Rarity struck a pose at Pinkie Pie's words.

"This is part of my new collection, Spring Sparkles, and seeing as today is the Spring Celebration, it only seems convenient that I should wear it about town. I bet everypony will be wearing one by tonight," she explained. Rainbow Dash looked around and noticed for the first time that the town was decorated with different coloured lights and flowers of practically every kind in honour of the Celebration.

"Well, if the streetlamps suddenly break then they'll surely come in real handy, right, y'all?" a southern accented voice came from the other side of Rainbow Dash. The blue pegasus whipped round and was met by the smirking face of Applejack.

"AJ!" Rainbow Dash launched herself at Applejack, who hugged her back just as fiercely.

"It's good t' have ya back, pardner," Applejack hoof bumped Rainbow Dash and chuckled. "Sure been quieter than usual 'round 'ere since ya left," she commented. Rainbow could understand why; most of the disruptions in Ponyville were caused by her crashing or an explosion from a Sonic Rainboom.

"Well, I'm back for a whole day, so thing will be back to normal for a little while…well, as normal as they get," she added, earning nods of agreement form the ponies around her.

"Oh nonononononnonono!" somepony's panicked voice caused the five friends' heads to turn. A familiar purple alicorn trotted towards them with her nose buried in a scroll, sweat running down her face. Spike was at her side, looking flustered.

"What's the matter, Twi?" Applejack asked, standing to attention. Twilight Sparkle looked up from the list she was reading and addressed all of the ponies with a worried tone.

"I ordered magenta coloured lilies to decorate the castle…" she held up a red lily that she had tucked under one of her wings. "THIS IS CRANBERRY!" she dropped the list and spread her four hooves further apart in a complete panic. Spike buried his face in a claw and grumbled.

"Er…Twilight," Rainbow Dash raised a hoof, finally getting the purple princesses attention. "Hi," she waved. Twilight nodded and floated her list back up with her magic, reading it again.

"Oh, hi, Rainbow Dash," she read the next few lines of her list before gasping and dropping the scroll, which landed on Spike's head. She wrapped Rainbow Dash in her telekinetic magic and floated the blue pegasus over to her. She grabbed Rainbow around her waist and squeezed her. "You're back! You're really back! All my friends are together again! This is so great!"

"Yeah! This is gonna be the bestest day ever!" Pinkie Pie sprung into the air with glee. Rainbow was glad they were all together again, too. They'd been through so much as a group that being apart for so long just felt…unnatural.

"I have to agree with Pinkie Pie, it's absolutely marvellous to have you back, Rainbow Dash. And I do say that the Cloudsdale sunlight had done wonders for your complexion," Rarity agreed, looking closely at Rainbow's fur.

"Um…thanks?" Rainbow Dash examined herself, not exactly sure what state you had to be in to a have a good or bad complexion. Meh, she'd leave stuff in this category to Rarity.

"Aww, this is the sweetest reunion_ ever_!" Pinkie Pie chirped, pulling Rainbow Dash out of Twilight's magic grip. "But not as sweet as the cake I made for Rainbow Dash at Sugarcube Corner. So, less yakkin', more snackin'!" she began springing towards the sweet shop.

"Mmmm, cake sounds lovely. Thanks, Pinkie Pie," Fluttershy licked her lips and followed after the pink earth pony. Twilight rolled up her scroll after Spike gave it back to her and tucked it under her one of her wings, which she had discovered were extremely useful for holding stuff when one's saddlebags had been set on fire by a dragon with irritable bowel syndrome.

"Yeah, I sure could use a snack. I skipped lunch because I had to deal with _someone _eating another of my castle walls," Twilight glared angrily down at Spike, who folded his arms and scowled.

"Gimme a break, Twilight, it's a palace made of crystals! If you had to get a castle the least you could do is make sure it didn't look like a dragon's greatest dream!" the little purple dragon huffed. Rarity patted Twilights number one assistant on the head.

"Aww, don't feel bad, Spikey-Wikey, I promise I'll get you one of my precious baby blue sapphires when I go back to the boutique later," she assured him, making Spike light up like a candle.

"Thanks, Rarity," he smiled dreamily up at the unicorn of his dreams before following her towards Sugarcube Corner. Applejack patted her tummy.

"Ah sure hope Pinkie has some o' those apple cinnamon cupcakes Ah love so much. Ah'm so hungry Ah could eat a horse…" she became aware of the stares she got from Twilight and Rainbow Dash and grumbled. "Great, now Ah'm a background pony _and _a cannibal. How low can Ah stoop?" she slumped off after that. Twilight gave Applejack one final cautious glance before gazing warmly at Rainbow Dash.

"It's really great to have you back, Rainbow Dash; we've got so much to talk about. I finally got some new books for the library…I can't believe I'm _still _replacing all the ones that exploded," she gave a half-hearted chuckle. Rainbow Dash put a wing over Twilight's back and squeezed her.

"You're not still sore about the library, right?" she asked. Twilight shook her head.

"Nah, I'm over it. It was just important to me, that's all," she replied. Rainbow could understand her pain. Well, she'd never had her house explode, but she could basically get how it must suck to lose the place that you had called home for years.

"Well…I'm sure a cupcake could cheer you up. Right? Right? Riiiight?" she poked Twilight in the ribs and the purple alicorn shoved her away.

"Of course. Nothing like Pinkie's cupcakes to cure what ails you," she agreed, walking alongside Rainbow Dash to the store. Rainbow Dash was just so happy to be home, with these friends that she treasured more than anything in the world, and all the cupcakes she could ever want.

And she knew for absolute certain that everything was certainly fine.

* * *

"So…sparkly!" Pinkie Pie drooled as another firework went off in the sky. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie and the rest of their friends, plus the Cutie Mark Crusaders were sitting on a hill watching the firework show as the sky exploded in an array of colours and glitter. They matched Rarity's dresses perfectly.

"Oh, come on, Rainbow Dash, can't you just tell me what the surprise is, already?" Scootaloo pleaded her big sister as she clambered up to sit on her head, her purple tail flopping into Rainbow's eyes.

"Well, if I told you it wouldn't be a surprise, would it, Scoots?" Rainbow Dash looked up at the little orange filly, who let out an irritated sigh. The sound of two ponies arguing snatched their attention away.

"Will ya just leave me alone, cuz? Ah don't need ya tellin' me where the fritters go!" Applejack's voice rung out from her spot beside the food table.

"Well, it's too crowded over there. They should be on the left side o' the table!" Braeburn argued. Rainbow rolled her eyes at the two of them. She didn't know what she preferred more, listening to those two arguing or listening to Braeburn and Soarin bicker. The earth pony had arrived from Appaloosa not too long ago and greeted his family like the most civil of ponies…then ten minutes later he began arguing with Applejack about the catering. Typical.

"Ooh, fritters!" Pinkie Pie suddenly fell down from the sky and grabbed the entire plate of fritters, devouring all of them. She finished munching and turned to the confused faces of the two cousins. "What?" she asked innocently. Applejack sighed and shrugged.

"Well, that's one problem taken care of," she said optimistically, Braeburn nodding in agreement. Rainbow Dash's ears perked up as she heard a familiar whooshing sound overhead.

"Everypony, here's the surprise!" she called her friends over. Scootaloo stood up on all fours, still on top of Rainbow Dash's head, staring up at the starry sky. The orange filly looked around before bending over to look Rainbow Dash in the eyes.

"I don't see anything," she complained. Rainbow Dash pushed Scootaloo back up and pointed at the sky.

"You will in a little while. Just watch," and as soon as she said those words, twelve blue and yellow streaks shot through the sky in a diamond formation. Scootaloo squealed with glee and fell clean off Rainbow Dash's head, managing to flap her tiny wings hard enough to hover down to the ground.

"THE WONDERBOLTS!" she yelled, hopping up and down beside Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, who were squeeing like fanfillies, too. The 'Bolts performed their signature firework trick, earning applause from everypony before swooping down towards the ground, Soarin, Spitfire and Fleetfoot heading over to Rainbow Dash.

"So, how was _that_?" Soarin asked Rainbow Dash, taking off his flight goggles. Rainbow Dash gave him an appreciative hoof bump.

"20% cooler than I imagined," she replied. Spitfire and Fleetfoot pulled their goggles down around their necks and looked around.

"Gotta admit, this place looks a lot nicer than the Cloudsdale Celebration," Spitfire commented. "Not as many flowers in the clouds."

"Yeah, and the firework'th look a lot better than the latht time I wath here," Fleetfoot added. Rainbow Dash raised a brow.

"What do ya mean?" she asked the white maned Wonderbolt. Fleetfoot's eyes fogged.

"I wath thot down from the air by a rocket. Wortht. Pain. Ever," she answered, before letting her eyes flick around. "But…" she gasped as she saw something in the distance and got a hungry look on her face. "Well, helloooo," she smirked, rubbing her front hooves together as she laid eyes on a familiar red stallion. Soarin looked confused while Spitfire face hoofed.

"Oh no, Fleetfoot. Don't go stalking again," the captain told her colleague, who began trotting away. Once she was a few metres away, Fleetfoot looked over her shoulder with a cunning look on her face.

"I'll watch with binoculars at the minimum dithtance as laid down by Trenderhoof'th lawyers," she ignored her boss. Spitfire rolled her orange eyes and stared after the other Wonderbolt.

"Great, I have a feeling I'll be bailing Fleetfoot out of jail again by the end of the night," she muttered. Rainbow Dash looked even more confused and Spitfire could clearly see it. "Oh, Fleetfoot kinda has a stalking problem…it's caused trouble more times than I'd like to say…and that usually gets us a nice lawsuit or two."

"Yikes," Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head, looking after the retreating blue Wonderbolt. Spitfire just tutted and shrugged.

"Well, I'd like to say that she has enough sense not to get in trouble but…I can't because she doesn't," her face fell. She suddenly noticed Scootaloo peering at her and Soarin from behind Rainbow Dash's back. "Oh, who's this?" she asked. Rainbow Dash looked behind her and smiled softly at her little sister. Wrapping a wing around her, she pulled the filly forward. The orange pegasus seemed a little starstruck that two Wonderbolts were before her; the two most important ones at that.

"Soarin, Spitfire, this is my li'l sister, Scootaloo," Rainbow Dash presented Scootaloo to the pegasi. Scootaloo shyly waved, not saying anything. Spitfire smirked at the bashful expression on the filly's face.

"Never knew you had a sister, Rainbow Dash," she commented. Soarin stepped forward and playfully ruffled Scootaloo's mane.

"You sure are cute," he told her, earning a half squeal half giggle from Scootaloo. Rainbow Dash turned back to Spitfire.

"She's not my sister by blood, as I told Soarin the other day, but I agreed to take her under my wing, right Scoots?" she looked down at Scootaloo, who was trying to get her mane back into place since Soarin had finished messing it up. The filly finally said something, having gotten over the shock of meeting some celebrities.

"Yeah, Rainbow Dash is the best sister ever!" Scootaloo threw her little hooves around Rainbow Dash and squeezed her. Rainbow Dash giggled and hugged her back, nuzzling the top of her head. Spitfire's eyes glazed over for a second and Soarin shot her a worried glance.

"Uh-huh," she murmured, before shaking the sense back into her. "So, Scootaloo, can ya fly like Rainbow Dash?"

Scootaloo shook her head. "Nah, I can't fly yet, but Rainbow Dash is gonna teach me, ooh, and I exercise my wings on this awesome scooter. Wanna see?" the excitable filly asked, hopping up and down. Soarin chuckled at her enthusiasm and nodded.

"Sure, I'd love to see you on your scooter. Lead the way kid," he agreed, and Scootaloo squealed with anticipation before bouncing off with Soarin and Spitfire in tow. Rainbow Dash was about to follow them when she felt a hoof on her shoulder. She turned to see Twilight Sparkle, looking at her with excitement.

"Rainbow Dash, that was so nice of you to get the Wonderbolt's to come to the Celebration; this totally makes up for me getting the wrong flowers earlier," the alicorn hugged Rainbow Dash for what seemed like the millionth time that day. She then began jumping up and down on the spot. "And I managed to persuade Princess Celestia, Luna, Cadence and Shining Armor to make an appearance. They're pretty busy with their own celebrations in Canterlot and the Crystal Empire, so they won't be able to stay long…but what the hay, they're coming!" she squealed, looking pleased with herself.

"Com_ing_, Twilight? Don't you think you're mistaken there?" a voice came from behind the purple princess. Rainbow Dash smiled up at the pony standing behind her gleeful friend. Twilight, however looked appalled at being accused as wrong.

"Yes, of course I'm sure, I'm always sure, how could I possibly be-" finally Twilight looked up at the pony behind her and got what had to be the hugest smile on her face. She threw her arms around the pink alicorn.

"Cadence! I'm so happy to see you!" she cooed, nuzzling her old foalsitters neck. After what seemed like an eternity of hugging, the two sisters-in-law pulled away and did their special chant and hoof-shake.

"_Sunshine, sunshine_

_Ladybugs awake!_

_Clap your hooves_

_And do a little shake!"_

Rainbow Dash bowed down to the Princess of Love with respect and then rose again a few moments later. "It's good to see you here, your highness," she greeted. Cadence chuckled.

"You don't have to bow to me, Rainbow Dash, I'm your friend," the princess told the pegasus, who nodded despite the fact that it felt strange not to bow to an alicorn. Sure, she never bowed to Twilight, but that was different. She had known Twilight before she became an alicorn, so she shouldn't bow down to her just because she had a fancy new set of wings. She was still the same old Twilight Sparkle in her eyes.

"Twily!" a white stallion appeared on the scene and squeezed her to his chest. Twilight seemed a little uncomfortable being crushed against him, but she wore that same old humongous smile anyway.

"It's great to see you, too, BBBFF," Twilight nuzzled her big brother's cheek when he finally let her go. She looked up at him with playful sternness splashed across her features. "But I still wish that you'd visit more often," she pointed an accusing hoof at him. Shining Armor chuckled at his little sister and ruffled her mane, in a style similar to how Rainbow Dash ruffled Scootaloo's mane.

"_It must be a thing that older siblings naturally do_," Rainbow Dash concluded, smirking at her friend and her brother. Speaking of Scootaloo, where was she? Just as the thought entered her mind, an orange blur whooshed by on a scooter, making a U-turn before whizzing back the way it came, skidding to a halt beside Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo hopped down from her scooter and took off her helmet, shaking her mane out before smiling widely up at her big sister.

"Rainbow Dash, you should've seen it. Soarin and Spitfire said I was so AWESOME on my scooter, and look, they even signed it!" she showed Rainbow Dash the two Wonderbolt's signatures scrawled onto each handlebar. It was then that Rainbow Dash noticed something hanging around Scootaloo's neck.

"Wha-where did you get those?" Rainbow Dash peered closely at the flight goggles the little filly wore. Scootaloo looked proudly down at them and recited how she got them.

"Soarin gave 'em to me. He said that if my wings become as good in the air as they are on my scooter, then I'll make a great Wonderbolt someday!" Scootaloo was practically oozing joy and Rainbow Dash couldn't help but feel pleased that Scoots shared the dame dream as her. Even though they were not blood related, they were so alike that anypony who didn't know them would probably suspect they were sisters anyway.

"So, Scoots, you shown Rainbow Dash your present, yet?" Soarin suddenly appeared beside Rainbow Dash, Spitfire on his other side. Scootaloo nodded before rushing up to the two Wonderbolt's and wrapping her hooves around their front legs in turn, since she wasn't tall enough to give them a proper hug.

"Thank you, thank you!" she said as she hugged Soarin's leg. After some enticing, Soarin finally got Scootaloo to release his leg and the Wonderbolt stallion gave her mane another ruffle, which Scootaloo seemed to enjoy, judging by her giggles and beaming face. Suddenly, a third Wonderbolt arrived, startling the four pegasi.

"Guys, you'll never believe how good the sarsaparilla here is," Surprise raised her bottle of the stuff into the air before chugging it down. She noticed the looks that the others were giving her. "What? It gives you extra sass," she spluttered with a mouthful of the drink. Spitfire groaned and gave Surprise a stern stare.

"Surprise, you'd better go easy on the snacks. We've still gotta perform and the last thing we need is you throwing up in the air. Remember that time you ate too much ice cream before our airshow in Baltimare?" the captain looked uneasy at the memory. Surprise chuckled sheepishly at the thought.

"First off, Spitfire, there is no such thing as too much ice cream, right kid?" Surprise looked over at Scootaloo, who responded with an enthusiastic 'right!' before looking back at Spitfire. "And second, how was I supposed to know where the splash zone was?" she folded her hooves and raised an eyebrow. Spitfire just rolled her eyes and didn't reply, obviously feeling that her conversation with Surprise was pretty pointless.

"Just stop snacking, please; I don't want a repeat of that incident," the fiery mare practically pleaded. "There will be plenty of time to eat after the performance."

Surprise looked a little disappointed that she couldn't gorge herself anymore, but shrugged it off.

"Can I at least show ya the cool cupcakes they've got here, Spitfire? I've really got to show the pony who made them some gratitude," the white Wonderbolt didn't give Spitfire a chance to reply and began dragging her to the table with the treats on, anyway. Spitfire looked over her shoulder with an apologetic look on her face.

"Sorry guys, I guess I'm going to the snack table…catch up with ya later," she pulled her hoof out of Surprise's and walked beside her, the poofy maned pegasus yakking away about the delicious goodies. Rainbow Dash chuckled at the two Wonderbolt mares and turned back to Soarin and Scootaloo.

"So, Scoots, how'd ya like to see me do some of the tricks Soarin taught me?" she asked her little sister. Scootaloo gasped and flapped into the air with excitement, her tiny wings making a buzzing sound as she hovered a few feet off the ground.

"That'd be great!" she replied, looking up at Rainbow Dash and Soarin with wide eyes. Rainbow looked over at Soarin and he shifted his eyes up as if to say 'What are you waiting for?' before the cyan pegasus took off, preparing to show Scootaloo all the tricks she had learnt. Hopefully the show she was about to put on was enough to make up for her absence.

* * *

"Applejack, we've gotta make more room fer the muffins," Braeburn told his cousin, who was busy arranging mugs of apple juice.

"And be quick about it!" a grey pegasus called from somewhere in the crowd. Applejack looked over at Braeburn and slitted her green eyes.

"Ah've got muh hooves full right now, cuz. Why can't ya do it yerself?" the orange mare asked, slamming a mug down on the table so hard that Braeburn was surprised that it didn't smash. He grumbled under his breath and tried to shift around some of the other stuff so they would have enough room for the muffins.

"Alright, Ah'm doin' it!" he told Applejack, pushing a plate of carrots off to the side. He loved his cousin and all, but sometimes she could be as stubborn as an ox. Finally, he'd moved the food enough that he could fit the tray of muffins in; it looked a little too crowded now, but he couldn't really care less. Maybe now he could finally relax and enjoy the Celebration without having to help out with the arrangements.

"SURPRISE~!"

Braeburn yelped and clutched his chest as Surprise popped up in front of him, almost scaring him out of his fur. He felt his heart pound with both shock and fear and he began hyperventilating, glaring at the white Wonderbolt with pure terror.

"What was that for? Ya almost gave me a heart attack!" he puffed, trying to get his pulse under 700 beats per minute. Surprise chuckled and smirked at him.

"Well, don't say I never gave ya anything," she teased. "Now, where did ya move those cupcakes?" she asked, licking her lips as frosting-filled thoughts bounced around in her mind. Braeburn looked over at the tray of cupcakes and reached over to grab one, looking back at Surprise as she rambled on and on about how fantastic the cupcakes were. Braeburn fumbled around for the cupcakes until his hoof finally made contact with something. But it didn't feel like a cupcake at all…it actually felt like another hoof. Braeburn looked to his side and, yep, sure enough his hoof was resting atop somepony else's. He looked up at its owner, whose look of shock and surprise mirrored his to a tee, and almost had _another _heart attack! He quickly retracted his hoof and looked away, flushing incredibly red. Why did it have to be her of all ponies? WHY!?

"Erm…sorry, ma'am," he apologized to Spitfire, making sure that she couldn't see his blush. The Wonderbolt captain cleared her throat.

"Um…i-it's okay," she stammered. Surprise stopped talking and looked past Braeburn at the golden mare.

"Heeeeey!" she sneered at her. "I thought you said no snacking before the air show," she folded her hooves. Braeburn looked over at Spitfire, still red, and saw that she was munching on a cupcake with chocolate frosting. She swallowed her mouthful and looked back at Surprise.

"It's just one cake…and it's chocolate, so how could I resist?" she said carelessly. Surprise chuckled and turned to Braeburn.

"She's a huge chocoholic!" she explained. "Seriously, she'll eat or drink anything chocolaty. Chocolate mousse, chocolate pudding, chocolate ice cream, hot chocolate, chocolate cookies, chocolate-"

"Surprise, you're making me sound like a sugar addict," Spitfire scolded her friend before taking another bite of her cupcake. Surprise rolled her eyes, giggling.

"That's 'cause you are!" she knew that she was treading on dangerous ground, but she didn't seem to care. Braeburn was still recovering from the previous incident; he looked calm on the outside but on the inside he was turning cartwheels and cheering. He decided to distract himself by talking to Surprise.

"So, Surprise, you enjoyin' the Celebration?" he asked her. Surprise nodded and grinned.

"Yeah, especially the snacks. Say, who made those cupcakes, by the way?" she asked. Braeburn knew the answer to that and pointed over to Sugarcube Corner.

"That'd be Pinkie Pie. She's in that candy store if ya wanna see 'er," he replied. Surprise saluted him before flapping her wings and flying in that direction.

"Braeburn?" the earth pony stallion heard Applejack call his name. He noticed Applejack approaching him with Rarity (who had taken off her blindingly bright dress) at her side. "Could ya show Rarity where the-" Applejack stopped mid-sentence and looked closely at Braeburn. "Are ya feelin' okay, cuz?" she asked. Braeburn tilted his head to the side.

"Yeah, o' course," he responded. Applejack didn't look convinced and squinted at him. He looked at Rarity, and sure enough, she was also peering at him. He started to feel a little uncomfortable. "What're ya doin'?" he asked. Applejack put a hoof to her chin.

"Yer just lookin' redder than the apples in muh orchard," she answered and Rarity nodded in agreement.

"You're certainly a delightful shade of crimson," the white unicorn agreed. Braeburn put a hoof to a cheek and sure enough it felt warm. Maybe he should leave before the mares put two and two together.

"What's going on?" Spitfire walked up to them and halted beside Braeburn. "Where did Surprise go?"

Braeburn looked off in the other direction, knowing that this wouldn't improve his state at all. "Um…she went over t' Sugarcube Corner," he replied. He heard the captain give out a little 'uh-huh' before she spoke to Rarity.

"Hey, aren't you the unicorn from the flyers competition?" she asked. Braeburn looked over at Rarity who shifted her hooves, obviously uncomfortable now.

"Oh, um…yes…sorry about that," she looked down at the ground. Braeburn had no idea what they were talking about, but figured that it was a part of one of Applejack and her friends' adventures.

"Meh, it's fine. Accidents happen...and concussions heal," Spitfire shrugged. Rarity looked surprised that she had forgiven her for whatever had happened, but smiled at the fiery mare anyway.

"Oh, thank heavens. I was afraid you'd hate me for it," the purple maned unicorn sighed with relief. Spitfire looked over at Applejack.

"And you're Applejack right? Cowboy's cousin," she asked. Applejack slowly nodded.

"Yup, Ah'm Applejack, but…" she got a confused look on her face. "…who's 'Cowboy'?"

"Um…that'd be me," Braeburn told his cousin, looking over at Spitfire and feeling his cheeks heat up even more. Deciding that if he blushed any brighter he'd explode, he turned back to Applejack.

"Oh…" Applejack looked from Braeburn to Spitfire and then back at her cousin before her eyes popped out of her head. "OH!" she smirked at Braeburn, who instantly felt nervous. What was Applejack thinking right now? The orange mare turned to the Wonderbolt and innocently began to talk.

"Yep, Ah'm his cousin and one o' his best friends, right, Brae?" she asked. Braeburn nodded, uncertain as to what was about to happen. "And that means Ah know _everythin_' there is t' know 'bout 'im."

Braeburn looked over at Rarity, who bore the same look as Applejack. She was wearing a grin that suggested that she knew exactly what Applejack was doing.

"Ya know Braeburn's been applebuckin' ever since he was a li'l colt. So he probably has really great abs," Applejack told Spitfire.

Braeburn heard alarm bells sound off in his head and he looked over at his cousin, his face practically screaming 'WHAT THE HECK ARE YA DOIN'!' Applejack just continued talking.

"…and in the right tuxedo wouldn't look like a mare dressed as a stallion," she added. Braeburn shook his head at his cousin, trying to get her to shut up. Of course, Applejack just carried on.

"Ah can also say-"

"OKAY! Applejack, can Ah talk t' ya over there!" he began pushing Applejack away from the food table, the awkwardness becoming too much for him to handle, Rarity following after them. Once he was sure they were far away enough that nopony could hear them talk he spoke to Applejack.

"What the hay were ya doin' back there? Are ya tryin' to humiliate me in front o' muh boss?" he hissed. Applejack and Rarity looked at eachother, Rarity beginning to giggle and Applejack snorting with laughter.

"Yer boss, eh?" she asked as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Braeburn nodded, finally catching on to what Applejack was talking about.

"Yes, muh boss," he confirmed, wanting his cousin to stay out of his business. Rarity grinned up at Braeburn.

"But, Braeburn, it's so obvious that you like her," she chuckled and Applejack nodded. Braeburn turned even redder.

"N-n-no, Ah don't!" he insisted. Unfortunately for him, Braeburn was the worst liar in Equestria and Rarity began squealing, hopping up and down.

"You _do_! Oh, this is fabulous, right Applejack?" she looked at her earth pony friend who shrugged.

"Sure is pretty dandy," she agreed. Braeburn just wanted to get the heck out of here, so he began to back away.

"Look, as much as Ah wanna stay and listen t' you gals talk 'bout things that ain't true, there's some stuff Ah've gotta do," he turned away and jumped as he saw that Rarity was already in front of him, preventing him from leaving. What the hay!?

"But we want to know everything!" she looked up at him with wide eyes, allowing her gaze to slip over to Applejack for a moment before looking back at the stallion. "_I _want to know everything!" she corrected herself. Braeburn groaned and pushed her to the side.

"There's nothin' t' know, 'kay," he snapped uncharacteristically. Braeburn certainly wasn't prepared for a third mare joining in.

"Ooh, my Princess Sense was tingling. What's going on over here?" Princess Cadence flapped over to them. Braeburn gasped and bowed, along with the two mares that were with him. Cadence chuckled and told them to stand again.

"So, what's this Princess Sense o' yours?" Applejack asked. Braeburn knew that Pinkie Pie had a Pinkie Sense, so maybe this was the same. Princess Cadence sat down beside Rarity.

"Oh, I just felt like there was some kind of argument going on over here and came to check. So, what's going on?" she asked. Rarity put a hoof around Braeburn's shoulders, once again stopping him from escaping.

"Oh, Braeburn here just has a thing for the gorgeous Wonderbolt captain," she cooed, nodding over to the food table, where Spitfire was talking to Surprise, who had just returned with Pinkie Pie. Braeburn was surprised at how similar Pinkie and Surprise looked, besides the colours. Cadence smirked down at the earth pony stallion and he emitted a sigh of surrender, feeling completely helpless now that there was a princess joining in with his torture.

"That's adorable!" the pink alicorn squealed and Braeburn pulled his hat over his eyes, wishing that he'd just disappear.

"What did Ah do t' deserve this?" he asked nopony in particular. He was startled as Cadence flicked his stetson off his head, leaving him with nothing to hide under. The princess folded a wing over his back in the same way a pegasus mother would drape a wing over her foal. He didn't know if this was a comforting gesture or another way of embarrassing him. Probably both.

"Absolutely nothing…but you're getting it anyway. And by 'it' I mean all the answers you need," the alicorn replied. Braeburn stared up at her blankly.

"_Please_ no," he begged her. Of course, since nopony seemed to listen to a word he said, she just went ahead anyway.

"So, what do you wanna know?" she asked, her eyes glimmering. Braeburn couldn't believe his ears. Why couldn't these mares just leave him be?

"Ah don't need t' know anythin', guys. So what if Ah like 'er? There's no way she'll like me, so it's best t' just let me deal with this muhself, 'kay?" he asked, trying to break free of Cadence's grip.

"Well, how do you know she won't like you?" Cadence asked. Braeburn was aware of Rarity and Applejack snickering as the princess interrogated him. He stared up at Cadence as if she had just asked the most pointless question ever…which she had!

"Well, it's obvious, right? She's…her and Ah'm just…me!" he explained poorly, trying his best to come up with a response that would get him out of here as soon as possible.

"So what you mean is…" Cadence prompted him, clearly not going to let him go any time soon. Was it wrong to want to strangle a princess? Braeburn groaned and explained again, in more detail.

"She's just too…good for me. She's the captain o' the Wonderbolt's for pony's sake; one o' the greatest flyers ever and Ah'm an apple farmin' earth pony! She's so far outta muh league…Ah can't even see whatever league she's in," he poured out his problem, actually feeling relieved to get it off his chest, even though he felt pathetic. He was getting fussed over by a princess of Equestria, which made him feel a little better, though.

"Classic," was all Cadence said. Rarity was listening with interest to their conversation and stretched over to Cadence.

"What do you mean, 'classic'?" she asked curiously. Cadence turned to the white unicorn.

"The classic 'out of my league' situation, Rarity, ya know when somepony thinks that they aren't good enough for somepony else," she looked back at Braeburn, who was staring down at the ground, wishing he could just vanish. "You know that when I first met Shining Armor he was a socially awkward nerd with no confidence at all. At first glance, you wouldn't think he'd have a shot with a princess; now look at him," she nodded over at her husband who was talking to Twilight Sparkle, just as he spilled punch down his fur. Cadence chuckled at his clumsiness and raised a hoof as if to say 'see what I mean?'

"Sure doesn't look like much o' a ladies stallion," Applejack stated, as Twilight mopped him down with a cloth, only to find out that it made the stain worse. Cadence giggled more at that.

"Anything else on your mind?" she asked Braeburn, still chuckling at her husband's attempts to banish the stain with magic. Braeburn blurted something out.

"Ah was just wonderin' why you mares don't come with a darn instruction manual," he joked, trying to lighten the mood, the conversation becoming way too much for him, now. Cadence smirked at him and Rarity giggled. Applejack just shook her head at him, and with that he knew that she would never let him forget this. Oh, boy. Cadence hugged him to her chest and Braeburn blushed again, with embarrassment this time, since he was practically being babied by a princess. Why did these things always happen to him?

"Ya know, if it makes you feel any better, us mares tend to be just as mystified by stallions as you are by us," Cadence told him. Braeburn thought it over, realising that it did make him feel a little better. He pulled away from Cadence's hug and put his hat back on.

"Yeah, thanks," was all he said. Suddenly he got an idea of how to get these mares off his tail. "Ya know, if ya wanna deal with some more o' this stuff, Soarin has a thing for Rainbow Dash," he smirked, feeling pleased that Soarin would get tortured instead. Cadence and Rarity gasped and Applejack looked bewildered.

"REALLY!?" Rarity squeed, clapping her hooves. Braeburn nodded and with that the three mares galloped off. He decided to go and find Big Mac or Apple Bloom, knowing that those two wouldn't give him any grief.

* * *

"I can't believe I have a doppelganger!" Pinkie Pie squealed as she and Surprise bounced round and round in circles. Rainbow Dash and the others were pretty bewildered by how similar Pinkie and Surprise were when they saw the two of them together for the first time.

"Me neither! This is the bestest day ever!" Surprise squealed, flapping in the air and doing a loop the loop. "You're just so cute!" she complimented Pinkie Pie, who beamed back up at her.

"And you're so pretty!" the pink earth pony returned the compliment. Surprise fluttered down to the ground and hugged Pinkie tightly.

"Twinzies!" they giggled.

Rainbow Dash was amazed that two ponies could be so similar. Maybe Pinkie Pie had a long lost cousin or something. She'd have to check Twilight's genealogy books some time.

"Sure is…strange," Fluttershy commented from her spot beside the purple alicorn. Spitfire, who was standing next to Rainbow Dash, just sighed.

"Just what we need…another Surprise," she grumbled bitterly. Rainbow Dash knew how fond the captain was of the poofy maned Wonderbolt though. Surprise and Pinkie Pie stopped hugging and looked eachother over.

"Nice mane, by the way," Surprise said to Pinkie, who grinned proudly.

"Back at ya," she replied. The pink party pony put a hoof to her chin. "So, you look like me and act like me…but can you sing and dance like me?" she asked. Surprise smirked at her newfound friend.

"You bet I can," she answered determinedly. Pinkie Pie cricked her neck from side to side.

"Do ya know the pony pokey?" she asked, hopping from hoof to hoof in her excitement. Surprise nodded enthusiastically, standing up on her two hind legs and stretching out her hooves. Pinkie Pie assumed the same pose and they both started to sing.

"_You reach your right hoof in_

_You reach your right hoof out_

_You reach your right hoof in_

_And you shake it all abou-"_

"No! No! There is no way you're singing a song! This is a fanfiction, not a musical," Spitfire interrupted the two mares. Pinkie Pie folded her hooves and glared at the Wonderbolt mare.

"Hey! Breaking the fourth wall is my thing!" she pouted, sticking her bottom lip out. Surprise gasped and began bouncing up and down.

"Pinkie, we're about to perform, so you can see your doppelganger's awesome tricks!" she told the party planner. Pinkie squealed and hopped up and down, too.

"This is so incrediciting!" Pinkie Pie fangirled, pulling Surprise into another hug. Twilight raised a hoof.

"Um, Pinkie, what's incrediciting?" the princess asked. Pinkie Pie and Surprise rolled their eyes.

"A combination of incredible and exciting," Pinkie Pie replied.

"Duh!" Surprise finished. Rainbow Dash looked over at Spitfire who shared the same look of awe. Two totally random mares together…yikes! The fiery Wonderbolt shrugged.

"We _do_ have to perform, so, come on Surprise, let's go get the others," she trotted away, Surprise following with Pinkie Pie in tow, the two of them talking about Pinkie Pie's many parties and how they should throw a 'Congratulations We're Doppelgangers' party. Rainbow personally thought that it was the most ridiculous idea ever…but then again it would make more sense than National Random Holiday Party Day.

"I can't believe I'm gonna see the Wonderbolt's perform," Scootaloo appeared beside Rainbow Dash, still wearing Soarin's goggles around her neck. Rainbow Dash scooped the little filly up onto her head again so she could see better and waited for the show to begin.

"So, have you enjoyed the Celebration, Scoots?" Rainbow Dash asked. Scootaloo nodded and hugged Rainbow Dash's head.

"This is the best Spring Celebration yet. Your Wonderbolt friends are so cool," she replied. "But, not as cool as you, of course," she added. Rainbow reached up and ruffled Scootaloo's mane only for the orange filly to slap her hoof away. "What is it with you doing that? It's starting to get annoying," she scolded Dash with mock anger. Rainbow noticed the twelve Wonderbolt's gathering in the square and figured that the show was about to begin. She saw Rarity bugging Soarin (who was wearing a new set of goggles) about something until the Wonderbolt stallion shooed her away. Rainbow tapped Scootaloo's shoulder and pointed towards the 'Bolts.

"Watch, Scoots. It's starting!" she told her little sister and the filly gasped with excitement before shifting on top of Rainbow's head. Twilight and Fluttershy sat on either side of Rainbow Dash as the Wonderbolt's took off.

* * *

"That was so great!" Scootaloo bounded around Soarin as he made his way over to Rainbow Dash. "Do ya think I'll be as good as you some day?" she asked, hopping on Soarin's back. Rainbow chuckled as her little sister pestered the Wonderbolt, who flinched as the filly weighed down his back. Luckily, she didn't weigh much at all.

"Of course you will; you've got the greatest flyer ever as your sister. If you don't get into the Wonderbolts then I'll…eat my tie," he decided. Rainbow blushed as he said the 'greatest flyer ever' part, but shook it off, wanting to look cool in front of her sister. Twilight suddenly hurried past, looking flustered once again.

"Outta the way, everypony, the princesses are here!" she exclaimed. Rainbow Dash looked over at Soarin and Scootaloo and the pegasus stallion flapped into the air, Scootaloo still on her back.

"Wanna race there?" he asked Rainbow Dash, who spread her wings as if to say 'Hell, yeah!' Soarin looked at Scootaloo, who was making herself comfortable on his back.

"Ready, kid?" he asked. Scootaloo hugged his head tightly, darn near cutting off his circulation.

"Yes, yes, YES!" she squeaked. "Ready…set…" Rainbow Dash, flapped into the air to hover beside her mentor and sister. "GO!" Scootaloo gave the order and the three pegasi went whooshing through the air. "Mush, Soarin, mush!" Scootaloo cheered as they rocketed over Twilight's head and approached the two royal chariots. They landed and immediately began arguing over who got there first, not even noticing the princesses giggling at their behaviour. Twilight caught up to them a minute later, pausing to catch her breath before addressing the princesses.

"Princess…Celestia…Princess…Luna…" she puffed, taking a breath with every passing word. "So good…to have you…here…I've gotta…sit down," the purple alicorn sat on her haunches, wheezing.

"Sounds to me like you've gotta hit the gym," Rainbow joked, earning a hoof bump from Soarin and a scowl from Twilight. "What? If ya keep pigging out at the Hayburger, this is what happens," the rainbow maned pegasus shrugged.

"Heh…"Princess Celestia seemed mildly amused at Twilight's embarrassment. "It's good to be here to, Twilight. Sorry we can't stay long, but how could I pass up an opportunity to see my most faithful student?" the white alicorn dipped her head and tapped Twilight on each of her shoulders with her horn.

"I'm honoured to be here, too," Luna stepped forward and bowed to Twilight before rising again. "It certainly makes a delightful change to be able to come to this village and not be feared."

Rainbow Dash remembered when she had come to Ponyville for Nightmare Night. She had been too busy scaring ponies with her lightning cloud to take much notice of her, though (not that she'd do that again due to her recent experiences with thunder clouds). She had got a taste of her own medicine when Princess Luna pulled the same joke on her. Embarrassing, much?

"Nice work with the decorations," Celestia smiled, gazing around at the flowers that adorned…everything. Twilight grinned proudly.

"Thank you, Princess. I thought that the colours clashed with the buildings a little, but they were just so pretty and I couldn't resist getting them and do you have any idea how hard it is to find Firebird Dahlia's at this time of year? So I had to-"

"Twilight, it's perfect," Celestia shut the younger princess up by putting a hoof on her shoulder. Rainbow Dash knew how nervous Twilight got when it came to impressing the princess. Rainbow Dash bowed down for the second time that day. Scootaloo copied her and she expected Soarin to do the same. Of course he didn't-

"'Sup, Princess C," he smiled and Rainbow Dash's eyes bulged. Rainbow got up and pushed Soarin off to the side.

"Are you nuts? This is the ruler of all Equestria, Soarin. You need to show her more respect than that. You need to act sophisticated in front of her," she explained to the Wonderbolt, who looked a little insulted.

"Are you saying I'm unsophisticated?"

"Bottom."

"Pfft," Soarin snorted with laughter. Rainbow Dash admitted that it was pretty funny, but knew better than to laugh at it in front of a princess.

"Princess, would you like some food. We've got plenty in the square," Twilight invited, motioning with a hoof down the street, where ponies were gaping at the arrival of the princesses. Rainbow Dash knew that Princess Celestia loved cake, so there was only one possible answer.

"I'd love to," Princess Celestia replied cheerily, beginning to make her way down the street. Rainbow Dash looked over at Luna who was…talking to her chariot?

"Care to join us for some cake?" the princess of the night asked the chariot. Rainbow Dash, Soarin, Twilight and Scootaloo all exchanged confused looks and stared at the princess as if she was growing an extra tail. Surprisingly the pegasus guards pulling the chariot didn't seem to think this was weird at all. What was going on?

"Of course," a voice came from inside the chariot and out jumped a light grey, almost white earth pony stallion who had a mane and tail that was half black and half white and bright blue eyes. Rainbow Dash noticed that his cutie mark was a black and white checkered flag and she gasped. She knew who this pony was!

"Oh, who's this?" Twilight asked. Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight like she was insane. How could anypony not know who this was? She looked at Soarin who shared the same expression as her. The Wonderbolt trotted towards Luna and the stallion and stretched out his hoof.

"Checkered Flag, it's an honour. I'm a massive fan!"

Twilight looked over at Rainbow Dash and mouthed '_who?_' Rainbow Dash made her way over to her friend and explained. "Checkered Flag is the greatest earth pony racer of all time. He's super-fast, does a whole bunch of charity work and is an all-around nice guy. I've been a big fan ever since he started racing," the pegasus explained. Twilight nodded along as she spoke. "But I don't know what he's doing here."

"Yeah, what _are _you doing here?" Soarin asked. Checkered Flag looked up at Luna.

"Just accompanying my marefriend on a trip to Ponyville of course," he revealed. Twilight gasped, Rainbow Dash exclaimed 'WHAT!?', Soarin's jaw dropped and Scootaloo fell onto her haunches with surprise.

"You're dating Princess Luna!?" Twilight gasped. Rainbow Dash had seen a lot of things in her life but never once had she even heard of an earth pony and an alicorn in a relationship.

"B-b-b-b-but, b-b-b-b-but," Soarin stuttered, looking from the princess to the racer, not being able to function properly at the revelation. "Hoooooooow?" he finally asked, barely being able to get the word out. Luna bent down and nuzzled the stallion's cheek.

"We first met when he invited me to one of his night-time races and I found him to be incredibly charming," Luna explained, folding a wing over his back.

"And we ate together at the charity dinner that was held after the race," Checkered Flag finished, leaning against the princess. "Ever since then we've been going out. Simple."

"Whoa…I did _not _see that coming," Rainbow Dash's mouth formed an O shape. Twilight seemed to be shocked the most.

"I don't think that this has ever happened before," the purple alicorn began hopping from hoof to hoof. "This is the most amazing thing I've heard in ages! How many dates have you been on? Are you getting married? Are you gonna have foals!?" she asked, almost sounding like an excited filly. Rainbow Dash put a hoof on her back to get her to stop.

"Whoa, Twilight, do ya think you can cut down on the crazy just a little bit?" she asked. Twilight nervously chuckled.

"Heh…sorry," she tipped back and forth on her hooves. Luna and Checkered Flag looked amused at the princess of friendship's dorkiness.

"It's fine, Twilight Sparkle," Luna smiled down at her fellow princess. "Now come along before my sister eats all the cake," she began trotting down the street with Checkered Flag by her side. Rainbow Dash laughed at the idea of Princess Celestia scoffing all the cake for herself. Twilight turned to the other assembled ponies.

"Yeah, we should head back. I've got to provide everypony with solar eclipse glasses before Rarity brings out the-"

"GYAH!" Rainbow Dash, Soarin, Scootaloo and Twilight were suddenly blinded by something incredibly bright and Scootaloo hid behind Rainbow to shield her eyes. Rarity could be heard presenting her dresses to the ponies, almost drowned out by the sound of pained cries.

"MY EYES!" Soarin yelled, slapping his hooves over his eyes. Twilight grimaced and began working her way forward through the light, squinting and waving her hooves around so she could feel where she was going.

"I'm gonna try and get Rarity to put the dresses away…you guys save yourselves!" Twilight ordered the pegasi before being engulfed by the light. Rainbow began pushing Scootaloo away.

"Yeah, let's go hide someplace dark until the light show's over," she told the others, her eyes still stinging. Soarin groaned and began walking away.

"You don't have to tell me tw-"

*SLAM!*

Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo cringed as Soarin walked face-first into a lamp post. He teetered around, seeing stars.

"That's gonna hurt in the morning," he slurred. Rainbow Dash made her way over to him and folded a wing over his back.

"Just stick beside me, I'll lead us somewhere…safe, I suppose," she became aware of other ponies running for cover around her. "…if there's any space left by the time we get there."

* * *

"Okay, I suppose the new line's debut didn't exactly go according to plan, but on the bright side-"

Rainbow Dash and the others gave Rarity an irritated glare.

"…sorry, bad choice of words. But, looking at it optimistically, I got a lot of publicity," the white unicorn shrugged. Spike passed Rarity several letters.

"And hate mail," he told her as she picked up the letters in her blue magic aura. Rarity just bit her lip and tossed the letters over her shoulder.

"Oh, never mind that, at least nopony got hurt," she told her friends. Applejack rolled her eyes.

"Ah think the stallion with the sensitive cornea's can object t' that," she said blankly. Rarity did look a little guilty at that.

"Well, it's a good thing the princesses evacuated before that happened. I don't think they would ever be able to see me in the same way again," Rarity's shoulders sagged.

"I'd be surprised if they could _see _at all," Rainbow Dash joked, earning laughs from the ponies around her.

"Somepony say my name?" Surprise popped up beside Pinkie Pie. How did she do that?

"Hi, Surprise," Pinkie hugged the white Wonderbolt. "Wanna have another round of swing-muffin?" she asked. Fluttershy tapped Pinkie on the shoulder.

"Um…what's swing-muffin?" the butter yellow pegasus asked. Pinkie Pie licked her lips at the thought.

"Swing muffin is where you tie a muffin to a pole by a string and then you swing it round and round whilst trying to catch it in your mouth. It's funny and yummy!" the pink earth pony drooled.

"I can't," Surprise's head drooped. "We've gotta head back to Cloudsdale," she sighed forlornly. Pinkie Pie's mane deflated and Rainbow Dash suddenly felt a chill go down her spine.

"Aww, can't you stay a little longer?" she pleaded, making puppy dog eyes. Surprise wrapped a wing around Pinkie and nuzzled her cheek.

"I wanna stay, too, but I've gotta practise for airshow's and train the cadets. I wish you could come with me," the poofy maned Wonderbolt said softly before straightening up. "But I'll fly down and visit. And I'll write, too! What do ya think?" she asked. Rainbow Dash was instantly reminded of her departure talk with Scootaloo. Pinkie Pie's mane puffed up again.

"Yeah! We'll be pen-pal-ponies!" the party planner agreed, squeezing her doppelganger tightly. Soarin and Spitfire flew over and touched down on the ground beside Rainbow Dash.

"C'mon, Surprise, the others have already left," Spitfire said impatiently. Rainbow Dash hadn't realised that they'd have to go so soon. Surprise gave Pinkie Pie one final hug before flapping into the air.

"Bye, Pinkie," she waved down at her new friend before flying away, Spitfire following. Rainbow Dash looked around at her friends, Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy and Scootaloo, feeling her heart ache at the thought of leaving them again.

"Guys, I really wish I could stay a little longer, but-"

"Can ya just skip the pity party, Rainbow, we get it," Applejack stopped her rainbow maned friend. "Ah think it'll make things less sentimental if ya just say goodbye."

Applejack certainly had a point there. If she skipped her speech about not wanting to leave them, she could leave on a more cheerful note. "Yeah, good idea, AJ, I'll just settle for a hug instead," Rainbow agreed. She hugged each of her friends in turn, giving Scootaloo an extra-long one.

"I'll see ya later, Squirt," she nuzzled the top of her little sister's head. Scootaloo wrapped her tiny legs around Rainbow's waist.

"I'll miss you, Rainbow Dash," she buried her face in the blue mare's chest fur. Once the little orange filly had finished saying goodbye to her sister she rushed over to Soarin, who bent down to ruffle her mane again only to have Scootaloo throw her arms around his neck instead. Soarin flushed red with embarrassment and hugged the filly back.

"See ya 'round, Scootaloo," he chuckled as she released him from the hug. After saying one final goodbye to her friends, again, she and Soarin flew off back towards Cloudsdale, listening to the chorus of the ponies below wishing her luck. It was like a repeat of the day she had left for the boot camp.

"You're feeling okay, right Dashie?" Soarin asked her, flying close to her side. Rainbow Dash nodded, even though she did feel a little upset to be leaving her friends behind again.

"Yeah, of course I'm fine, I'll see them again soon, anyway," she looked on the bright side of things, just like Rarity had said. "Let's just get back because, in truth, I can't wait for drills," she added. Soarin looked pretty shocked at that.

"Seriously, you are?" he raised a brow. "When I was in the Academy I dreaded drills. Captain Concorde wasn't as strict as Spitfire, but he still pushed us to the limit."

Captain Concorde had been the Wonderbolt captain before Spitfire. Rainbow Dash had been devastated the day he had been killed in action.

"Yeah, it means I've got another day to show off my stuff! That's the thought that gets me out of bed every morning at ridiculous O'clock," she told Soarin. The pale blue Wonderbolt tapped a hoof to his chin.

"Nice tactic. The thing that got me out of bed was the thought that I'd get a pie for lunch afterwards. Mmmm, piiiiie," he drooled. Suddenly, he got a confused expression on his face.

"Why do I feel like we've forgotten something?"

* * *

Braeburn wandered into the square, finally done with cleaning up the leftovers.

"Thank Celestia that's over. Now we can get back and rest up. Ah'm so tired Ah could-" he noticed that nopony was there, and aside from a few ponies making their way back home, the pegasi he was looking for were nowhere to be seen. He glanced around just to check before coming to the conclusion that they must have left without him.

"SOARIN!"

* * *

**Endnote: Man, it feels good to get that off my chest. I know it's a little late, but I have a good excuse for it to be. This Friday I turned a year older (WOOHOO!) and I took a day off writing, hence the reason this is a day late.**

**Anyway, tune in next time where Surprise plans a party and Braeburn has a fight with an answering machine. **

**The randomness continues in chapter 19!**


	19. Bad Dreams

**Authors Note: Whoa! Two chapters in three days? That's an Academy Record! **

**Yeah, since I had nothing better to do, I wrote this uber-fast!**

**Sparkling-nexis137- Sour Song! Brilliant! I will find a way to use that *hugs*.**

**DragonZeus1- I'll get the first aid kit.**

* * *

"Well, Ah suppose Ah should thank ya fer comin' t' get me…three hours after ya got back t' Cloudsdale!" Braeburn scolded his friend from his spot behind the serving counter. Soarin was at the table behind him.

"Don't be such a grumpy-pants," he told his friend. "I could've left you there all night long. Besides, you can consider that payback for making Applejack, Rarity and the princess ask me those questions. You have no idea what it's like to be completely irritated by three mares giving you awkward advice in front of your peers!" he folded his hooves and sneered at his earth pony friend.

"Don't be so certain," Braeburn could only imagine the things Applejack was going to tease him about the next time he saw her.

"Hey, what's this?" Soarin asked him. Braeburn turned around and saw Soarin holding up the thing he had found on the doorstep that morning.

"That's a depot card. The new food supply fer the kitchen was due yesterday but since we were all at the Celebration we missed it. So, now Ah hafta call the delivery company t' get 'em t' bring the stuff round tomorrow," Braeburn explained. "Might as well do it now," He walked over to the other side of the room where the landline was and Soarin followed. Braeburn took the card from Soarin and dialled the number that was on it. After a few seconds of bleeping, a chipper mare's voice spoke from the answering machine.

"_Welcome to Cloudsdale Delivery. If you would like to arrange re-delivery, press 1_," the machine said. Braeburn pressed the button.

"_Please state clearly when you would like your package re-delivered_."

Braeburn leaned down and replied into the speaker. "Tuesday."

"_Did you say…_**Monday**?" the mare's voice was replaced by a cockney stallion's and Braeburn jumped with surprise at the sudden tone change.

"No, who're you?" he asked, even though the machine couldn't reply. Soarin shared the same look of bewilderment as him. The mare's voice then returned to the machine.

"_I'm sorry. We couldn't identify_."

Braeburn leaned down to talk into the machine again. "Tuesday," he repeated, trying to sound as clear as possible.

"_Did you say_...**Thursday**?" the cockney accented voice returned. Braeburn threw his hooves into the air in disbelief, darn near cursing out loud. Stupid machine! He decided that he'd just have to pronounce it extra carefully.

"Tuuuesday," he drew out the 'u' longer. "Tuuuuesday," he made it even longer before looking up at Soarin. "Ah can't make it any clearer."

Soarin looked like he was enjoying watching his friend suffer with the machine. Braeburn turned back to the phone. "Tuesday," he said in a Canterlot accent.

"You sound too posh, now," Soarin snickered.

"_When would you like your package re-delivered_?" the mare's voice returned. Finally, Braeburn came up with a legitimate idea.

"Toosday, innit?" he said to the phone in a cockney accent.

"_Did you say…_**Tuesday**?"

Victory!

"Yes," Braeburn spoke happily into the machine.

"_Please confirm_..." Braeburn's face fell and he rolled his eyes as the machine threw another confirmation thingy his way. "_Did you say…_**Tuesday**?"

Braeburn grimaced and hissed into the machine. "Yesss!" he practically growled before turning to Soarin with a menacing look on his face. "Ah mean, if it can't understand that WHAT IS THE POINT!?"

"_Putting you through to an operator_," the voice barked. Braeburn face-hoofed and this time really did curse out loud. Soarin snorted with laughter and Braeburn got one of his (surprisingly frequent) urges to strangle him. A different voice came from the other end of the line, this one overly high and cheery.

"Hello, Cloudsdale Delivery, can I help you?" the new mare asked. Braeburn tried his best to sound polite.

"Yeah, hello, Ah don't know why Ah've been put through 'cause Ah was usin' voice recognition," he replied. The mare's voice returned a second later, still aggravatingly high and happy.

"Yes, that's all fine. Your order will be delivered tomorrow between 8am and 7pm," she informed them. Braeburn let out an annoyed sigh.

"And ya can't specify a time?" he asked, finding it hard not to yell by now. As the too-cheerful-to-be-real mare spoke again, Braeburn began mimicking everything she said.

"I'm afraid we can only provide a time period of 8am to 7pm,"

"Okay, THANK YOU!" Braeburn finally yelled pushing one of the buttons on the phone and exhaling with relief. He sat on one of the chairs beside Soarin. "Do ya think they get trained t' speak like that?" he asked his friend. "Seriously, ya never meet anypony in real life that talks like that."

"Except in spas," Soarin pointed out beginning to mimic the voice. "So, you're here for a day package?"

"Would you like any treatment?" Braeburn joined in before bursting into laughter. "How can ya live with a voice like that?" he wondered out loud. Neither of them were prepared for what happened next.

"Well, my husband doesn't seem to mind," the mare's voice came from the phone. Braeburn and Soarin gasped and quickly turned the phone off. After that fiasco was over, the two stallions leaned against the table, still getting over the shock. Finally after what seemed like hours, Soarin broke the silence.

"Well…I think that went very well."

* * *

"Surprise, can I talk to ya for a second?" Spitfire asked, sitting down beside Surprise in the mess hall. It wasn't often that she came in here, and whenever she did it was usually a business related reason. The white Wonderbolt was writing stuff down in a notebook and Spitfire suddenly became curious.

"What're you doing?" she asked. Surprise looked up at the captain for a second.

"Just some work," she replied. Spitfire was (ironically) surprised to hear that. Surprise doing work? Had she flown into a parallel universe on her way to work this morning?

"Work, really?" she asked, trying to make sense out of this. Surprise showed Spitfire the paper, which had…a list of decorations? "Okay, this suddenly makes more sense. What's all this stuff for?" Spitfire asked. "And for your sake I'm hoping you're not gonna somehow cram all this in the staffroom."

"Oh, this is for my birthday party," she replied, before scribbling 'mechanical bull' onto the list. Spitfire tapped her on the shoulder.

"But, I thought it was supposed to be a surprise party. Isn't somepony planning it for you?" she asked. Spitfire wasn't much of a party pony, but she did know that another pony was supposed to plan everything for you without you knowing.

"_I'm _planning it all," Surprise said as if this wasn't weird at all. Maybe Surprise was just getting the wrong idea and needed a brain booster.

"So, you're planning your own '_surprise'_ party?" the fiery Wonderbolt asked. Surprise nodded and smiled.

"Yep-a-rooni. But I do have a job for _you_," Surprise gave Spitfire her best puppy dog eyes, trying to persuade her to do whatever she said. Spitfire, unfortunately, was _not _going to fall for the puppy dog eyes, especially since they freaked her out rather than cuted her out.

"Stop with the eyes, Surprise," she snapped at the poofy maned pegasus. "What's the job? I'm not promising that I'll do it, though," she folded her hooves and raised a brow. Surprise put on her most serious face, which wasn't very serious at all.

"Your job is to surprise me so I have a good reaction for the photo on the night," she told Spitfire her plan. Great. Spitfire wasn't exactly good at the whole 'cheering ponies up' thing, so that could be a problem…a big one.

"I can't do that," the golden mare told Surprise, who made a pouty face.

"Aw, Pweeeeease?" she begged. Spitfire stayed stone-faced and shook her head.

"No way, no how, nu-huh!" she insisted. Surprise clearly wasn't gonna give up that easily.

"Can you at least give it a try"? She asked, making a praying sign with her hooves. Spitfire sighed and rolled her eyes, trying to think of a way to surprise Surprise, which shouldn't even be possible. Aha! She got an idea.

"All your family have been pressed to death by a steamroller and bricked up in a schoolhouse, SURPRISE!" she threw her hooves into the air and gave Surprise her best (fake) smile. Surprise looked completely baffled and gave Spitfire a look that practically yelled 'seriously'.

"That's not a surprise, that's _ridiculous_!" she told the captain just as Blaze walked past.

"Holy Celestia, Surprise and Spitfire have switched bodies," she teased them, still giggling as she walked off. And even though Spitfire wanted to throw something at the yellow Wonderbolt for saying something that stupid she had to admit that Blaze had a good point.

"Surprise, have you met me? I'm probably not even gonna come to the party," Spitfire told her colleague. Surprise looked aghast and he jaw practically hit the table.

"Wha-really!?" she asked, dumbfounded. "B-b-but I need you there!" Surprise made a face that actually made Spitfire feel guilty for a split second. "You've gotta surprise me," she got a hopeful look on her face. "I got _chocolate_ cake!"

"There's no way you're gonna win me over with sugar, Surprise. Why can't you just ask somepony else to surprise you. I'm sure Blaze or High Winds would do a _way_ better job than me," she insisted. Surprise sighed and got up from her chair, beginning to head to the door.

"Fine, I'll go ask High Winds…and if you don't change your mind about not coming to the party, I'll save you a slice of cake," she called as she left the mess hall.

Spitfire grumbled and rested her head on her forehooves, feeling pretty useless that she couldn't even bring herself to go to Surprise's party because of her stupid antisocial trait. Spitfire and parties just did _not _get along…at all! Though, she should have been grateful that Surprise's party would mainly be just for the 'Bolts and a few of Surprise's relatives; when she went to the Grand Galloping Gala she would feel much more exposed and, dare she even think it, timid. Usually, Soarin or Surprise would stay by her side at some time or another, though. On any normal day she would full out yell at them for being so protective of her, but at the Gala she would allow them to, purely because the Gala reminded her of certain things.

She especially felt bad for letting Surprise down. There were few ponies in the world that Spitfire would classify as 'friends', but Surprise had somehow hopped, skipped and jumped onto her short list and climbed all the way to the top. Now, Spitfire wouldn't exactly trust Surprise with her _life_, no, not at all, but she was the pony who had been there for her during several of her life crisis'. Surprise had been her wingpony back at the Academy and ever since then she had made it her goal to cheer Spitfire up whenever she felt down. Unfortunately, no matter how many times Spitfire tried to explain to Surprise that throwing confetti over her would do no good for her mood or her sanity, things just went in one of her ears and out the other.

Suddenly she remembered the whole reason she had been in the mess hall to begin with.

"UGH! Surprise, wait up, I've got thirty seven letters from Pinkie Pie addressed to you!"

* * *

"Okay, I know I said that after we were done with the playing chicken lesson we could do something fun, but how is pushing a bunch of clouds into a big cluster fun?" Soarin asked Rainbow Dash as she added another small cloud to their now humongous heap.

"It'll be fun once we're done stacking 'em together. I've jumped in leaf piles down in Ponyville and, believe me, that's fun. I thought it'd be even better with clouds," Rainbow Dash explained.

"Oh, well, you could've told me what we were doing before I got bored," Soarin chuckled, deciding that it really _did _sound like a blast. "But don't you think that this is enough clouds?"

"Soarin, enough is _never _enough!" Rainbow Dash pushed another cloud into the middle of the huge ball of white fluffiness. "I want this to be the biggest cloud pile known to pony!" she whooshed around the sky collecting every single cloud she saw, even going as far as kicking clumps of cloud off the side of Cloudsdale until Soarin told her to stop. "Just a little more," Rainbow told Soarin as the pile finally grew to half the size of the Dizzitron.

Soarin couldn't help but grin as she kept piling on those clouds. Rainbow Dash was one of those ponies whose mood was contagious. If she was happy, you were too. If she was sad, like she had been that one time she couldn't perform a Blustery Blast, then you would be sad, too.

"Aaaaaaand…done!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, standing on top of the ginormous ball of clouds. Soarin had to admit that he was impressed. Rainbow Dash may have set a new record for largest lump of clouds…oh wait, they were _living_ on a giant lump of clouds…never mind.

"Holy mother of Celestia!" Soarin gazed up at Rainbow Dash's hoof work and whistled. "I didn't even know that there were that many clouds out today."

Rainbow Dash looked pretty proud of herself. "I'm just so awesome I can find 'em no matter where they are," she bragged. "Now, come on Soarin I need your help blasting this thing to smithereens!"

Soarin and Rainbow Dash flew high above the cloud pile, Rainbow Dash trying her best to come up with a dive that would result in the best 'cloudsplosion' as she had called it. For many minutes Soarin hovered in the air and waited for Rainbow Dash to finish planning her dive until finally he couldn't take it anymore.

"Hurry up, Dashie! Are you gonna dive or am I gonna have to drag you down there?" he asked her playfully. Rainbow Dash seemed to plan her dive pretty quickly after that.

"Okay, I've got it!" she declared, rubbing her hooves together. "DIVE!" she didn't even give Soarin a warning before dipping down and thrusting forward at full speed. The blue stallion quickly caught up to her and turned to face her as they plummeted down. Instantly, the two of them burst out laughing and free fell the rest of the way down. When they finally tumbled through the clouds, the world seemed to explode with white and softness. Clouds whirled around them before bursting into nothingness. Once every scrap of cloud had been busted from existence, Soarin and Rainbow Dash flew back down to the ground and collapsed against the Dizzitron, still laughing from the excitement of it all.

"That was so AWESOME!" Rainbow Dash threw her hooves into the air before letting them drop to her sides. She was obviously still high on the adrenaline of the moment and needed a second to cool down. She had certainly been right about how fun it would be.

"Yeah, wasn't that the most EPIC dive ever?" Soarin asked, the thrill of the cloud-jump still pumping through his veins. Rainbow Dash just gave him a smirk and a shrug.

"Meh, I think mine was pretty cool. Yours was at best mediocre," she teased.

"Heeeeey," Soarin wrapped a wing around Rainbow Dash and ruffled her mane. "You can be a real jerk sometimes," he chuckled. Rainbow Dash stood up and took a bow.

"Thank you, that's what I was going for," she joked before sitting back down beside Soarin, still laughing. For a long time after, the two just sat there and talked about anything, really, ranging from Rainbow Dash's adventures to Soarin's days at the Academy. Soarin had been a wingpony in the Academy and was overjoyed by the look on his lead pony's face when he was made a Wonderbolt without him. According to Soarin, that guy had been a huge jerk. Sounds familiar.

"Soarin?" Rainbow Dash asked him after a while.

"Yes?" Soarin turned to face her. Rainbow had nodded up at the pink evening sky.

"Shouldn't you be heading home by now?" she asked him. Soarin suddenly realised that it must be almost seven O'clock, which was when he usually went home. Not to mention he had to fly Braeburn home, too. Oh yeah, Braeburn was temporarily living in the house next to Soarin's. Soarin had paid for it and everything, though he had no idea what he was going to do with an extra house once Braeburn went back to Appaloosa.

"Oh! Yeah, you're right," Soarin stood up and adjusted the tie of his officer's uniform. Rainbow Dash peered closely at his uniform.

"Soarin, have I ever mentioned how cool those uniforms are?" she asked. Soarin thought back to their many conversations.

"Uh…no, I don't think you have," he replied, looking himself over. He remembered that back when he was at the Academy he had loved the look of the officers' uniform, too and now he felt honoured to be wearing one himself.

"Well, I'm saying it now. Those things are one of the coolest uniforms I've ever seen," she told him. Soarin felt himself turn red at her compliment and tugged at his collar.

"Whew, I'm thirsty," he said out of the blue, hoping it would direct Rainbow Dash away from the subject of his pink face, if she was even going to mention it anyway. "Maybe we could grab some colta-cola?" he suggested. Rainbow Dash jumped to her hooves.

"Race ya for it!" she blurted out before zooming away, Soarin's mane being swept to the side as she rocketed past. He quickly stood and spread his own wings.

"Hey!" he called after her. "No fair!"

* * *

_Hi, guys!_

_First off, I've got a bone to pick with Pinkie Pie. How come you send Surprise a bazillion letters and don't send me a single one? I didn't realise that the two of you hit it off _that_ well? Anyway, Surprise appreciated all your letters, especially the very detailed one about how you first found Gummy. _

_It feels strange to be back in Cloudsdale, kinda like the first day all over again, only without the unpacking. I miss you guys so much already and I wish you could have come with me (speaking of which, it's a good thing I didn't bring my saddlebags with me 'cause Scootaloo might have jumped in them when I wasn't looking)._

_Things are back to normal here…well, normal-ish. I've taken to ignoring everything Spring Song says, and boy does she HATE it. I love it when she gets mad. Her face scrunches up like she's been sucking on a lemon and this vein pops out of her forehead. It's hilarious!_

_Anyway, I'm gonna get some shut-eye. I was out late practising with Soarin and I'm beat._

_Write to you tomorrow, and see you soon_

_Yours outstandingly,_

_Rainbow Dash_

_P.S: Pinkie Pie, how much is your postage bill?_

"There we go, all done," Rainbow Dash put the letter in her saddlebags, ready to mail in the morning. Lullaby had recently finished telling Rainbow Dash about the Cloudsdale Celebration and how her little brother had tried to fly up into the sky to join the Wonderbolts but his wings had been too tiny.

"I forgot how tiresome babysitting could be," Lullaby flopped down on her bed and let out an exhausted breath. Rainbow Dash recalled having to babysit the Cutie Mark Crusaders once and they had all tried to get their cutie marks by making feather boas. It doesn't take a genius to figure out how that one worked out.

"Well, look on the bright side, we're back now and on the path to becoming Wonderbolt's again," Rainbow sighed, folding her hooves behind her head. Lullaby got up and turned the light out before getting back into bed and turning to face the wall.

"Night, Rainbow," she yawned.

"Night, Lullaby," Rainbow replied before getting under her own covers.

Three hours later, however, the two of them were awoken by frantic knocking on the door. Rainbow Dash leapt out of bed, still half asleep and thrust her hooves around just in case there was a burglar, and Lullaby tumbled out the bed, landing with an 'oof!' on the floor. The purple cadet finally woke up enough to open the door and was met by Paradise, who hurriedly began yapping about something.

"Whoa, whoa, Paradise, slow down, you're not making any sense," Lullaby calmed her down. Paradise took a breath before speaking to Lullaby.

"Spring Song woke up crying again," she hissed to Lullaby, so quiet that Rainbow Dash barely heard her. Lullaby bit her lip and left the room, concern splattered across her face. She turned back to Rainbow Dash.

"I'll be back in a minute, okay?" she said, not even giving Rainbow Dash a chance to reply before she disappeared down the hall with Paradise at her side. That left Rainbow Dash alone in the room with her confusion. She sat up in her bed and read Daring Do and The Griffin's Goblet to pass the time.

Lullaby didn't return for a really long time and Rainbow Dash was considering going to find her when she_ did_ come back at last.

"Well, what was that about?" Rainbow Dash asked, snapping her book shut and putting it on the table beside her desk. Lullaby mumbled something inaudible before turning the light out again and clambering back into bed. Rainbow Dash groaned and switched on the lamp on her table. "Hello? I wanna know what's going on!" she snapped. Lullaby babbled some random words before sitting up straight.

"Spring Song just had a nightmare and she needed my special talent to help her out, okay?" Lullaby replied, surprisingly sharply. Rainbow Dash felt suddenly concerned.

"Oh, Spring Song needs a babysitter now, huh? What a big baby," she scoffed. Lullaby folded her hooves and glared angrily at Rainbow Dash. The rainbow maned pegasus had never seen Lullaby mad before, so she was a little shocked. "Oh, I wasn't insulting your talent," Rainbow assured her, holding her hooves up. Lullaby shook her head.

"I know, Rainbow Dash. Just don't make fun of Spring Song for her nightmares, okay?" she turned over to face the wall again, leaving Rainbow Dash stunned. What in the wide wide world of Equestria was going on? Maybe Lullaby was just cranky from being woken up at…two thirty in the morning. Rainbow definitely was.

"Lullaby, what gives, I wanna know what's happening!" she insisted, considering throwing a pillow at her friend to get her to focus. "Is Spring Song sick or something or do bad dreams really freak her out? I'm not making fun of her or anything, it's just that I wanna know really badly!" she practically begged.

"Ugh! Rainbow, have you ever heard the phrase 'curiosity killed the cat'?" Lullaby asked, not moving to face her.

"Yes, of course I have, but I'm not a cat, so just tell me, PLEASE!" Rainbow pleaded. It was then that Lullaby whipped round to face her and yelled!

"IT DOESN'T CONCERN YOU!"

Rainbow Dash jumped at her uncharacteristic outburst and shut up. She obviously wasn't going to get Lullaby to tell her anything, so she switched off the light. Whatever it was, it sure sounded serious. Whenever Rainbow Dash had nightmares she would just suck it up and deal with it, she couldn't ever remember crying about them, except maybe when she was a really small filly. Spring Song was an adult, so this was clearly a more severe matter. Maybe she could find out more in the morning. She turned her lamp off and faced the other wall, hoping that Lullaby wasn't angry with her.

"Night, Lullaby," Rainbow Dash whispered.

The only reply was a curt grunt, and then silence.


	20. Para-Promise

Luna'snight625- Thanks! Have some leftover *cyber birthday cake* :D

Litestardt- *Bows* Glad you like the story so much!

**Authors Note: CHAPTER 20! Everybody do the happy dance! *puts on 'Celebration' by Kool and the Gang***

* * *

"GAH!" Rainbow Dash and Lullaby exclaimed as they left the Mess Hall, darn near running straight into Paradise. The green mare had been following them all day long and it was starting to get a little creepy.

"Paradise would you give it a rest already?" Rainbow Dash snapped at her. Ever since she and Lullaby had got up that morning she hadn't left them alone. She had been eavesdropping outside their door for who knows how much of the night, she'd insisted on being partners with Rainbow Dash during drills; she had eaten with them during breakfast, lunch and dinner, and had even waited for Rainbow Dash outside the bathroom. It had gone too far!

"Yeah, you've been so clingy today!" Lullaby agreed. Paradise shuffled her hooves awkwardly. "What's gotten into you? Did Spring Song put you up to this?"

"I refuse to say," Paradise stuck her nose in the air, determined not to spill the beans.

"I'll give you a candy bar if you tell us," Lullaby sighed. Instantly, Paradise spewed out answers like a furry, winged volcano.

"Okay! Yeah, Spring Song told me to do this so that you don't give away the you-know-what," Paradise said to Lullaby. Rainbow Dash groaned and rolled her eyes. Lullaby had insisted that she couldn't tell Rainbow Dash what Spring Song had dreamt about last night…and had apologized for yelling at her…nine times that day. Rainbow had completely lost interest in Spring Song's dream by now anyway. She couldn't care less about what went on in the devil-mare's head…and didn't really want to find out.

"UGH! Paradise, you can just stop! I Para-Promised that I wouldn't tell anypony and I meant it!" Lullaby stamped a hoof on the ground. Rainbow Dash raised a hoof and cleared her throat, catching her two fellow cadets' attention.

"What's a Para-Promise?" she asked. Lullaby gave Paradise a cautious glance before explaining.

"It's Paradise's special oath…um…how does it go?" the purple pegasus asked Paradise. The green cadet stood up straight and cleared her throat, reciting the Para-Promise.

"_I solemnly swear_

_That I wouldn't dare_

_To betray another mare_

_Or I'd better beware."_

"Well…it makes the Pinkie Promise sound normal for a change," Rainbow Dash said to nopony in particular. Paradise looked confused at the mention of a Pinkie Promise (well, more confused than usual, anyway), but didn't say anything about it.

"Paradise, just trust me on this, okay? I'm not going to say a word on the subject," Lullaby insisted in the most serious voice that she could manage.

"And frankly my dear Paradise, I don't give a damn," Rainbow Dash added. She'd heard that line in a movie once. Paradise didn't look convinced, but slowly backed away.

"Okay, but you have been warned," Paradise backed all the way down the hallway and rounded the corner extra slowly, to show the two mares that she meant what she was saying. About four seconds later Paradise sauntered back round the corner again and walked briskly down the hall in the other direction. "…the dorms are the other way," she grumbled as she passed Rainbow Dash and Lullaby. "You have been warned!" she repeated less seriously as she vanished round the other corner. For a moment there was silence until Rainbow Dash muttered something to herself as well as Lullaby.

"When did it get to the stage of my life where that isn't a strange thing to be seeing?" she shrugged. Lullaby shrugged before heading down towards the dorms, too. She looked over her shoulder at Rainbow Dash when she reached the end of the hallway.

"Are you coming?" she asked. Rainbow Dash shook her head.

"Nah, I'm gonna head to the kitchen. Soarin was gonna teach me how to pull up at the last second," the rainbow maned cadet replied.

"Oh, sounds like fun," Lullaby commented. "But it sounds a little dangerous."

"It is," Rainbow affirmed. "If you misjudge it by even a millisecond you'll crush every bone in your body," she added as if it were absolutely nothing to worry about. Lullaby looked completely baffled.

"…okay…" was all she said before trotting round the corner. Rainbow Dash turned and headed to the kitchen, ready to show off her stuff once again.

* * *

"Well, that's the last o' the food," Braeburn sighed with relief as he came out of the storage closet and locked the door behind him. The kitchen's delivery had finally arrived that afternoon and Braeburn had been sorting it into the right spaces with Soarin's 'help'.

"Thank Celestia for that," the pegasus stallion commented, sipping some apple juice. "That was _exhausting_," he added, throwing his hooves up into the air to add extra emphasis. Braeburn slitted his eyes at his friend.

"What d'ya mean 'exhausting'? You've been sittin' there the whole time while _Ah_ did all the work!" he scolded the Wonderbolt, who looked pretty insulted.

"Of course I helped. Which one of us carried in the carrots, huh?" Soarin asked, folding his hooves. Braeburn rubbed his forehead with a hoof.

"You _ate _most o' them!" he almost yelled. Soarin was one of his best friends in the whole world, but he could certainly be the most annoying pony in Equestria when he put his mind to it. Though, Braeburn knew that he should be used to it by now. Soarin had acted like that since the day he had first met him, and most definitely before that, too. Sometimes Braeburn wondered what Soarin was better at: flying or slacking off.

"Well, look on the bright side, Brae, that's one less type of vegetable for the cadets to eat!" Soarin tried to look at things optimistically. "You should be thanking me."

"Ah'm not gonna thank ya, Soar. Ya get 'thank you's' when you do somethin' helpful. Sittin' on yer rump snackin' while Ah haul in all the stuff is _not_ helpful…at all!" Braeburn sat down beside an oven and fanned himself with his hat.

"Fine then, Mr Grumpy Pants, suit yourself. But next time I won't be so eager to help out," Soarin blew a raspberry at the earth pony and Braeburn started wringing his hat in his hooves, knowing that if he didn't he'd twist Soarin's throat instead.

"Getting a little angry, are we?" Soarin snickered. Braeburn hoped that this wasn't one of Soarin's attempts to cheer him up, because if it was it was going to do no good here.

"Lost yer tie…have we?" Braeburn asked, messing the 'are-we's' up. Soarin pointed a hoof at Braeburn and let out a teasing 'HA!'

"Getting the 'are-we' wrong and saying 'have we?' instead of 'are we?' are we?" he asked before looking down at his uniform. "…oh, I really _have _lost my tie," he chuckled nervously. That made Braeburn laugh too. That was one good thing about Soarin; he always knew how to lighten the tension between them.

"Soarin, you in there?" Rainbow Dash flapped over the serving counter and landed on the floor in front of the Wonderbolt co-captain. Braeburn quickly checked to make sure that none of her feathers fell out when she flew over the counter, which he had grown a habit of doing over time.

"Hey, Dashie, how was drills?" Soarin asked, sipping some more of his apple juice. Rainbow Dash leaned against the counter beside him and recalled the morning's events.

"Yeah, it was okay. We all had to measure our wing power with one of those fancy anemometers," Rainbow reported. Soarin nodded with interest.

"So, what's your wing power?" he asked her. Rainbow beamed with pride.

"17.3 wing power. The best out of everypony. Spring Song got second best with 17.1 and you should've seen the look on her face when she heard my score. That vein popped out of her head again!" Rainbow ranted. Soarin gave her his congratulations and ruffled her mane, which was another of his habits.

"So, you ready to head out?" Soarin asked, downing the last of his apple juice. Rainbow Dash nodded enthusiastically and began to follow Soarin outside. Just as they were about to head through the door, another pony came through. Soarin was so surprised that he screamed.

"GAH!" he shrieked!

"WHAT!?" Braeburn yelled.

"WHA!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"GAAAH!" Soarin screamed again. "STOP!" he raised a hoof. "We're in a scream loop. Stop!"

"Would you keep it down," Spitfire slugged Soarin on the shoulder, making him yelp. Braeburn got down from his chair, but couldn't manage to move any more. Well, on the bright side he was freezing less when he was around Spitfire…wait…never mind. Braeburn seized up at the captain's appearance in his kitchen and looked over at Soarin, his eyes screaming 'help me out!'

Soarin raised a brow at the golden mare. "What are you doin' here, Spit?" he asked her. Spitfire walked over to one of the drawers and took out a cleaver. "And why do you have a massive knife?" he added, beginning to look a little worried. Braeburn made a mental note to give Soarin a lesson on kitchen equipment after he had finished hanging out with Rainbow Dash…he would have unfroze by then.

"First off, the only ponies allowed to call me Spit are the ones with a death wish," she started, giving him a threatening glare. "And second, I'm trying to prove to Surprise that I can surprise her. She's on her way here now," Spitfire looked through the kitchen door, awaiting the arrival of the poofy maned Wonderbolt.

"So, why do you need a cleaver for that?" Rainbow Dash asked. Braeburn was relieved to see that somepony knew what a cleaver looked like. Spitfire shushed them all when somepony came through the Mess Hall doors.

"Will you just be quiet?" she hissed. "This will surprise her," she added to herself. Braeburn wondered what she was planning.

"Hey, is anypony-" Surprise began to say.

Spitfire suddenly launched herself over the serving counter with the cleaver in her mouth and Braeburn could see that Surprise looked absolutely terrified. The white Wonderbolt screamed and fell backwards onto her haunches. When she saw that it was just Spitfire she stopped screeching and began hyperventilating, trying to calm herself down. Spitfire put the cleaver on a table.

"Surprise~!" she exclaimed. Surprise pointed at her face.

"How…is _this…_a surprise face!?" she asked between puffs, her eyes still wide with fear. "This is a face of terror from a sudden attack!" she slowly got back to her hooves, still a little shaken up. Spitfire rolled her eyes and walked back into the kitchen with Surprise following. The fiery captain sat at one of the counters, mumbling to herself, propping her head up with an elbow. Braeburn was considering whether or not he should say something to her when Surprise spoke up.

"Anyway, I was just coming down to ask Braeburn if he wouldn't mind making some food for my party tomorrow," she looked over at the earth pony with pleading eyes. Braeburn nodded his head.

"Sure, Ah'll bake some stuff, no charge," he agreed.

"Great! This is gonna be the bestest party ever!" Surprise gave him a 'thank you' before springing out of the room, seeming to have gotten over nearly having a heart attack. Rainbow Dash prodded Soarin in the ribs.

"Soarin, what are we still doing here? I thought you were gonna teach me how to pull up at the last moment?" Rainbow reminded him. Soarin jolted up as if he were being electrocuted with the reminder and headed out the door.

"Oh yeah, of course. Last one to the training grounds is a rotten apple!" Soarin zoomed off with Rainbow Dash following, yelling after him that he had an unfair head start.

That's when Braeburn noticed that he was alone…with Spitfire…in the kitchen.

"_What should Ah do? What should Ah do_?" he thought frantically to himself, his heart pounding in his head. Well, first he needed to _move_! Braeburn finally got a grip and began walking. He was too shy to walk over to her, so he made his way over to the sink instead. He knew that there was a dishwasher right next to the sink, but his mind wasn't exactly working correctly at that moment, so he began wiping a mug with a damp cloth.

"So…" he tried to think of something to say. "Are you gonna go to Surprise's party?" he asked. Yeah, that was a good conversation starter, he was sure of it. Spitfire didn't even look up as she replied.

"No."

That was it.

"Oh…" he felt pretty disappointed. "How come?" he asked. The captain finally looked up from staring at the counter.

"Because I'm just not a party pony," she told him before looking away again. Braeburn really wanted her to be there.

"Well, um…ya never know. Ya could enjoy yerself if ya gave it a chance," he tried to sway her decision. Braeburn wasn't exactly known for changing ponies' minds, though.

"Sorry, Cowboy, I just…can't," Spitfire sounded like she was trying to come up with a good enough excuse. Braeburn knew that she and Surprise were pretty close, so he couldn't understand why she wouldn't want to go to her party, but nevertheless, he told himself that he shouldn't be forceful with her, even though he wanted her to go really badly.

"Okay then…" he knew that his disappointment was evident in his voice. "Ah was really hopin' you'd go…but Ah won't push ya t' do anythin' ya don't want to," he turned back to the sink, putting the mug he had been cleaning to the side of it, feeling pretty disheartened. His head drooped so much that his hat fell over his eyes. He pushed it back up and tried to think of something else that he could say.

"Will you be there?"

Braeburn's ears pricked straight up and his eyes darn near bulged. Did he just imagine that?

"W-what?" he asked in disbelief, looking over his shoulder at Spitfire and smiling hopefully at her. She finally turned to face him and looked him right in the eye.

"You heard me, Cowboy," she used her nickname for him, which of course made Braeburn flush a little…okay, a lot. Spitfire was clearly trying to be serious about this, but he could see that her cheeks were turning red, too. "Are you gonna be there or not?"

"Um…" Braeburn's mind was currently doing a series of flips and somersaults. She…she actually wanted him there. HIM! "Yes, ma'am, Ah'm gonna be there," he managed to reply. She was quiet for a few seconds, looking down at the floor. Finally she spoke up.

"Fine, I'll go," she sighed. Braeburn smiled one of the biggest smiles ever and even gave a little jump of glee.

"Ah promise you'll have a great time, ma'am," he told her, feeling the happiest he had been all day.

"Just don't tell Surprise I'm going," she told him in a serious tone as if she were giving a cadet an order. Braeburn gave her a confused look.

"Huh? Why?" he asked her. She then got a cunning look on her face.

"I've just got an idea. That's all."

* * *

"Whoa, what the-!" Soarin exclaimed as he opened the double doors to the Mess Hall and Paradise fell through them. She had obviously been leaning against them. The green cadet landed face first on the cloudy ground and let out a yelp of pain.

"Are you okay, Paradise!?" Rainbow exclaimed, helping her to her hooves.

"Yeah, it's just pain," she replied, rubbing the side of her head. Soarin was completely bewildered. Who was this mare anyway? Hmm… oh yeah, she was one of those cadets who'd spilt the paint on Prank Day.

"What're you doing, anyway?" he asked her, gesturing to the doors. Paradise let out a nervous giggle and faced Rainbow Dash.

"Well, Spring Song kinda yelled at me when I told her that I'd leave you and Lullaby alone, so…she threatened to make me sleep in the janitor's closet if I didn't start following you again," she explained. Soarin was instantly suspicious.

"Wait a second, why are you spying on Dashie?" he asked Paradise. Paradise 'zipped' her mouth shut and shook her head, clearly telling Soarin that she wasn't going to tell him anything.

"Ugh!" Rainbow Dash groaned. "Spring Song, Lullaby and Paradise know something that I don't and they don't want me finding out what it is," she explained. Paradise shrugged and nodded before making weird mumbling noises.

"What?" Soarin asked, once her inaudible sounds got on his nerves. Paradise 'unzipped' her mouth, making Rainbow Dash face hoof, and said something that Soarin could actually understand.

"That's right. It's my duty to Spring Song to make sure that this secret stays a secret," she put her hoof to her heart as if she was reciting a speech (which, knowing Paradise, she probably was).

"First off I'm gonna ignore the fact that you just said 'duty'," Soarin snickered, finding the whole duty/doody thing absolutely hilarious, per the norm. "And I'm gonna go straight ahead with your punishment," Soarin used his best take-charge voice. He didn't use it very often because he was a pretty laid-back guy, but as far as he knew spying on ponies was again Academy regulations.

"Punishment!?" Paradise exclaimed, her jaw dropping open. "B-b-but I need to get back to Spring Song and-"

"That can wait," Soarin insisted, putting on his most stern face. "Give me 50 laps, now!" he didn't yell, but he still sounded pretty harsh. Paradise looked like she was about to say something to defend herself, but she just groaned instead and slunk away. Soarin glanced at Rainbow Dash and saw that she looked pretty impressed.

"Whoa, Soarin, I've never seen you order somepony around like that before," the cyan cadet stated, giving him an approving nod. Soarin just shrugged casually and acted like it was nothing.

"What's the point of being co-captain if you can't act like the cadets' superior every once in a while?" he asked rhetorically. He headed through the doors with Rainbow Dash beside him and sat at the table closest to the huge window, which stretched all the way from the floor to the ceiling, giving everypony the perfect view of the training grounds no matter where in the room they sat.

From here the two of them could see Paradise as she zoomed around the track. Paradise wasn't the fastest of ponies, but Soarin had seen some of her tricks when he watched the cadets training through this window during drills and figured that they were her biggest strength.

"So, Dashie, I'm guessing the whole Stink Song think isn't improving," he said. Rainbow Dash burst out laughing at the mention of 'Stink Song' and shook her head through her giggles.

"Nah, she's still the biggest moron in Cloudsdale, but I'm just ignoring her," Rainbow replied, folding her arms behind her head and leaning back just as Paradise reached her fifteenth lap. Soarin decided to lighten the mood by saying something completely random.

"If you want my personal opinion, I think that Spring Song looks a little like a sea monkey," Rainbow Dash's cheeks puffed up before she erupted into a fit of cackling laughter, most likely imagining Spring Song swimming around in a tank with fins and a three second attention span. It actually wasn't that hard to picture. Rainbow Dash wiped her eyes and exhaled the last of her giggles out.

"Nice one, Soarin. I'm gonna have to tell Lullaby that later. She'll love it!" Rainbow was wearing a huge smile now, and Soarin felt pleased that he had been the one to make her grin. Everypony looked much better with a smile to him.

"Does Paradise usually struggle like this?" Soarin nodded out the window at the green cadet, who had reached her fortieth lap by then and was so exhausted that her hooves were dragging on the ground as she fluttered along the track. Rainbow Dash nodded.

"Yeah, Paradise is one of those ponies who's really fast at the start of her flight and then gets worn out really easily. Her wing power's 12.5 according to that anemometer," Rainbow Dash explained. Paradise only had six more laps left and she was practically hovering along with sweat dripping down her face, leaving a trail of the stinky stuff on the track.

"Should I feel sorry for her?" Soarin asked Rainbow Dash, unsure of her view on Paradise. Rainbow Dash nodded.

"Yeah, it's kinda hard not to feel sorry for Paradise," Rainbow replied. Soarin was suddenly a little curious.

"What do ya mean?" he asked. Rainbow Dash stared out the window as Paradise made it to her second to last lap.

"Paradise is actually a pretty nice pony, but Spring Song's kind of her…overlord," she explained. "Paradise will literally do anything for her. She'll blow dry her wings, let her use her as a hoofstool, carry her…well, actually I haven't seen Paradise carry Spring Song, but I'm sure that if somepony gave her the idea she'd make her do it. Spring Song's basically a poisonous reptile trapped in the body of a mare trapped in the body of a demon, trapped in the body of a slimmer mare trapped in the body of a jerk-," Rainbow Dash began ranting.

Soarin was about to get her to stop talking when the doors to the training grounds opened. Paradise literally dragged herself through, soaked with sweat and red faced. Her tongue lolled out her mouth and her mane was ruffled. She was an absolute mess.

"I'm…done!" she announced before letting her head drop down. The double doors then closed, shutting her tail in the door. Soarin thought it looked both hilarious and pitiful at the same time.

"What the- Paradise!"

Soarin and Rainbow Dash looked over to the door, where a familiar pink pegasus was poking her head through. Paradise slowly lifted her head and smiled weakly when she saw Spring Song.

"Hello!" she greeted in a half-hearted sing-song voice. Spring Song made her way over to Paradise and helped her to her hooves again, tugging her tail out of the door and letting her lean on her shoulder. Of course, that only lasted a second before Spring Song caught a whiff of Paradise's sweaty…everything and pulled away, letting Paradise stumble a little before managing to stand straight.

"What in Equestria happened to you?" Spring Song asked, wiping her shoulder with a hoof as if trying to slap the sweat away. Paradise sat down on one of the chairs at the end of a table and explained.

"I just had to fly 50 laps," she replied honestly. Spring Song, instead of asking her whether Paradise needed some water…or immediate treatment, just rolled her eyes and tutted.

"50 laps, Paradise, you look like you've just flown around the whole of Equestria in ten minutes," she commented.

"Seriously, Spring Song, I did 50 laps, honest," Paradise was so naïve that she didn't notice that she was making herself sound pretty pathetic. Spring Song still didn't seem convinced. Soarin could definitely see that Spring Song liked to set her friends' standards pretty high; it was like she could only be friends with the serious athlete.

"Did you fly the laps in a lake?" she looked Paradise up and down. She certainly looked like it. Paradise stood up and wiped her brow with a forehoof.

"Nah, I just sweat when I'm tired…we all do," she shrugged before shaking her fur out like a dog. Spring Song shrieked and leapt back in alarm as if the droplets of sweat were toxic. Soarin and Rainbow Dash did, however, get a little grossed out when they were splattered with some of the stuff.

"Eww, Paradise, that's disgusting," Spring Song gagged, her face scrunched up with disgust. Paradise dipped her head so that sweat trickled down her nosed and dripped onto the floor.

"Sorry, Spring Song," she muttered. "I'm so exhausted. I think I'm gonna go take a nap," the green mare decided, wringing some of her drenched blue mane so that what seemed like a galleon of sweat pooled on the ground. Spring Song let out another series of gags before hurriedly heading out the door.

"Maybe you could take a nap _in the shower_!" she cringed before turning the corner and vanishing. Soarin began to feel a little guilty.

"Heh…sorry, Paradise," he rubbed the back of his head. Paradise peered up at him and shrugged.

"It's okay. I shouldn't have been spying on Rainbow Dash. Believe me, I'll never do that again. Para-Promise!" she gave him a salute and crossed her heart before following after Spring Song. Rainbow Dash shook her head as Paradise left (though the smell didn't).

"You're right. I feel reeeeeaaally sorry for Paradise," she agreed with Soarin's earlier statement once again. Soarin snorted with laughter.

"I feel sorrier for Feather Duster," he chuckled, looking down at the sweat littered floor. "She's the one who has to mop up all this sweat!


	21. What A Surprise

RosaSilvermist- And I really wanna tell you all what their secret is! It's so hard! But their secret will be revealed eventually, it just might not be for a long while.

Sparkling-nexis137- I give you permission to hug Paradise. I can't blame ya; she's adorable!

Luna'snight625- I'm glad I made your day. You made mine by saying that. :D

**Authors Note: Wait! What's that on the chapter-selection-thingamabob? A SCROLLER! Never had one of those before! Yes, I realise that I'm getting hyped about a little sliding chapter finder, but I DON'T THINK I'M WEIRD! :D**

* * *

"This is so epic!" Rainbow Dash grinned like a maniac, hopping up and down as if she was on a sugar buzz. "I can't believe I'm at a real Wonderbolt's birthday party!" she looked around the room at the gathered ponies. All the Wonderbolts were there, of course, and a few other ponies that Rainbow Dash was guessing were relatives of Surprise. Either that or they were all just coincidentally as cheerful as her.

Rainbow Dash felt especially proud that she was the only cadet there. When Surprise had asked her if she'd like to go she had said: 'Come on, what's a party without the bestest cadet there?' Rainbow Dash had almost squealed at the Wonderbolt mare as she said that. Then again, it wasn't much of a shocker that Surprise liked her best, everypony liked Rainbow Dash…except a certain somepony who shall remain nameless.

Rainbow's mouth watered as she glanced over at the snack table. She couldn't remember ever seeing so much sugary stuff in one place; not even at Sugarcube Corner! There were candies galore, more cake that you could shake a cake at, and enough ice cream to feed a small herd of buffalo for days! Fire Streak and Lightning Streak were having a contest to see who could eat the most ice cream without getting a brain freeze…it didn't look like it was working out all that well.

The entire house had been decorated with banners and balloons of every colour. There was a small table stacked with gifts all the way at the back and the floor was littered with streamers and confetti, courtesy of Surprise. There was also a group of pegasi playing pin the tail on the pony in one corner of the living room. Rainbow had never thought that Surprise would be the kind of pony to have a house full of expensive stuff, but she had been proven wrong the moment she had stepped through the door. Surprise's house was pretty big compared to the other houses in Cloudsdale, well she was a Wonderbolt, so it shouldn't have come as a surprise (ironic). Every room was decorated with furniture that looked like it belonged to a much more upper-class pony and Rainbow Dash couldn't help but feel a little bit envious that three of Surprise's relatives were already occupying the huge water-filled couch.

"Hey, Dashie, check me out!" Soarin called Rainbow Dash from his spot at the snack table. Rainbow looked over to him and burst out laughing when she saw that he had two breadsticks in his mouth and was pretending to be a walrus. Suddenly, Surprise made her way through the front door, pulling a wagon with what had to be the one of the most delicious looking cakes Rainbow Dash had ever seen!

"Whoa, Surprise, what is that, a cake or a building?" Soarin asked, craning his neck to look up at it since it was almost twice his size. Surprise dropped the wagon's handle to speak.

"That friend of yours, Rainbow, um…Derpy, that's her name I think, just delivered this all the way from Sugarcube Corner. When we were at the Celebration I asked Pinkie Pie if she wouldn't mind baking something for my birthday, so she created this: The Yumiliciously Edible Super Scrumptious Strawberry Surprise Spectacular! Or the YESSSSS for short!"

"It's definitely very…big," Rainbow Dash drooled, eying the entire cake from top to bottom. It had ten layers, each coated entirely with pink icing and rainbow sprinkles scattered all over it. Each of the layers was decorated with a ring of strawberries around it, and if Rainbow Dash flew higher she could see that Pinkie Pie had placed a figurine of Surprise holding a bunch of balloons on top. She wanted to dive in and eat it right now!

"Don't even think about it, Rainbow Dash!" Surprise called up to Rainbow as she hovered above the cake. Had her urges to devour the entire dessert been that obvious? Darn it. "Could you two help me get this on the table?" the white pegasus asked Dash and Soarin. The three of them (with some difficulty) lifted up the huge cake on their back and managed to get it on the table and onto the huge platter in the centre. Soarin wiped some sweat from his brow and exhaled.

"I hope this thing's as delicious as it is heavy," he gave a half-hearted snigger. Rainbow Dash nodded, still staring at the cake with wide eyes.

"I bet it is, if it's anything like the MMMM," she told Soarin, who raised an eyebrow at her.

"Hmm?" he made a humming noise as if to say 'what?'

"The Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness," Rainbow explained. "There was an incident where we had to deliver that cake to Canterlot for a baking contest, and…well, it might have got partially eaten by…someponies who will remain anonymous…" she trailed off, putting on her most innocent face. "…and it turned into this cool mystery! Twilight said it'd make a good novel, but it'd still be nothing compared to Daring Do…and I don't wanna be the villain- wait, no I mean…an extra! I don't wanna be one of those minor characters," she tried to steer her way around the conversation about her eating the cake. She was still pretty embarrassed about that.

"MMMM, YESSSSS?" Soarin asked, sceptical. Rainbow nodded her head.

"Mm, yes," she replied, grateful that Soarin hadn't asked her anymore about the train debacle. Soarin looked back at the cake.

"Why does Pinkie give these cakes such strange names?" he asked, reaching a hoof out to scrape some frosting off only to have it slapped away by Surprise, who gave him an 'I'm watching you' look.

"Because their full names don't fit on the tags," Rainbow Dash explained. Surprise nodded with agreement.

"Yeah, if she tried to fit this cake's entire name onto the tag it'd be this long!" the Wonderbolt mare stretched her arms out to the side to demonstrate. Soarin shrugged and nodded as if to say that she had a fair point.

"Whoa, Nelly, Surprise! Yer gonna have a lot o' leftovers, even with all these ponies here," Braeburn commented, walking over to stand beside the white pegasus. He wasn't wearing his stetson today; he'd told them it was because this party was an important occasion, so he wanted to look presentable.

"Meh, nothing I can't snack on later," Surprise shrugged with a flick of her hoof. Rainbow Dash didn't think that Surprise's stomach would be able to handle all that cake, but then again she had seen Pinkie Pie consume almost the entire dessert after the train fiasco. Maybe they had similar randomness when it came to eating, too.

"So, when can we eat this thing?" Soarin asked, licking his lips and rubbing his forehooves together, while staring at the cake as if he was the hunter and it was his prey.

"Once everypony gets here, of course," Surprise rolled her eyes. She turned to Rainbow Dash and pointed at Soarin as if to say 'idiot'. Rainbow Dash stifled a giggle by covering her mouth with a hoof. She didn't think Soarin was an idiot; a goofball, maybe, but certainly not an idiot.

"Well, how many more ponies have to turn up?" Soarin asked, beginning to look impatient. Surprise looked off into the distance as if trying to remember.

"Can't remember…I'll go check everypony off the list," she replied after a few seconds of silence (which wasn't exactly silent since there was music blasting from the speakers that Surprise had put on either side of the room). Rainbow titled her head.

"What list?" she asked. Surprise reached into her curly mane and pulled out some rolled up paper, shaking it to straighten it out before waving it in Rainbow Dash's face. Trust Surprise to keep her things in such weird places. Though Rainbow supposed that should be used to ponies putting their belongings in crazy places, since she had lost count of how many times Pinkie Pie had put an eye patch in her chimney.

With that, Surprise hopped away to count all her guests and tick them off her list. Rainbow was about to call her back so she could tick their names off the list, but decided against it since it would probably be quicker if Surprise was left to her own devices. The sooner she got this done the sooner they'd be able to eat the YESSSSS!

"Hey, Rainbow, hey Thoarin," Fleetfoot fluttered over to land between Soarin and Rainbow Dash.

"Fleet, whatever you do, don't look at the cake; I think it hypnotises you into wanting to eat it," Soarin told the light blue mare, staring cryptically at the cake. Fleetfoot looked at the table anyway.

"Looks pretty deliciouth," she lisped, slowly nodding her head. Surprise suddenly popped up beside her, making her yelp with (of course) surprise.

"It's got more strawberry stuff in it than dough!" she told Fleetfoot, before checking the senior Wonderbolt's name off her list and bouncing off again, making a springing noise every time her hooves left the ground. Fleetfoot gave Surprise an awkward look before turning back to the table.

"That'th nice and all, but I wathn't looking at the cake," she smirked. Rainbow Dash got an amused look on her face when she followed Fleetfoot's line of vision to Braeburn, who was talking to Rapidfire and Silver Lining at the table. She looked over at Soarin, expecting him to have the same look on his face, though she only saw concern on his. Odd.

"Hi, Brae," Fleetfoot literally pulled Braeburn out of his conversation with the two stallions. The earth pony looked a little bit baffled about Fleetfoot's actions, but didn't say anything about it.

"Hi, Fleetfoot. You look nice today," he said politely. Fleetfoot giggled proudly.

"Thank you. I hoped you'd notice," she half-bragged before trotting off with him at her side. Rainbow Dash noticed something going on near the other end of the table.

"GAAAAAH! IT HURTS! IT HURTS!" Fire Streak yelled in agony, clutching his head and collapsing to the floor, still screaming. Looks like eating all that ice cream had finally taken its toll on the off-white stallion. Lightning Streak looked pretty pleased that he'd beaten his twin brother in their little contest, and just exploded into laughter instead of trying to help.

"Pfft, those two," Soarin shook his head at the two brothers before turning to face Rainbow Dash. "Oh, yeah, I got you some punch. It's pineapple," Soarin passed her a cup of the stuff. Rainbow gratefully grabbed it and thanked him before taking a huge sip. Pineapple was her favourite flavour.

"To Surprise!" Soarin clinked his cup against Rainbow's. Rainbow nodded and took another swig.

"Yep. To Surprise!"

* * *

"Oh, I forgot to return the compliment," Fleetfoot said to Braeburn as she sat down beside him on one of Surprise's oddly expensive looking sofa's and folded one of her hind legs over the other. "You look really good, too," she smirked at him.

"Aw, shucks. Thanks, Fleetfoot," Braeburn chuckled. The Wonderbolt mare scooted a little closer to him.

"No, theriously, you could pass for a prince," she gushed. Braeburn turned red with embarrassment, almost the same embarrassment as he had felt when Cadence had talked to him at the Celebration. He was _not _looking forward to what Applejack was going to say to him at the next Apple Family Reunion, that's for sure.

"Ya think?" he joked around, knowing he could never look like one of those snobbish princes. He recalled Applejack telling him one time about a prince that Rarity used to have a crush on and he'd turned out to be a huge jerk. He certainly wouldn't want to be anything like that. Being a humble earth pony was good enough for him.

"I _know_!" Fleetfoot replied, nudging his shoulder affectionately. "You're kind and caring and thuper handsome…" she was leaning against him now. "Any mare would be lucky to have you," she added. Braeburn's mind instantly drifted to Spitfire…if anything, _he'd _be the lucky one.

"Well, Ah wouldn't go that far," he insisted, shifting a little in his seat and looking down at the carpeted floor, turning even redder. Fleetfoot seemed to be sticking to her own opinion, though.

"Oh, _I_ would, Braeburn," she leaned closer and whispered into his ear in the most seductive voice she could muster. "I would."

But Braeburn wasn't paying attention to her anymore because his mind was someplace else right now. He had looked up to see _her_ coming through the door, looking a little out of place. Rainbow and Soarin, who were drinking punch by the door when she came in seemed pretty shocked to see her there, Soarin in particular. Braeburn had never seen her out of uniform before, and now that she wasn't clad with her usual dark blue captain's attire, he could see just how bright her fur was. She had nothing to hide her eyes behind now and even though he knew that he should be used to them by now they still mesmerized him.

She looked beautiful.

"Wow…" Braeburn breathed, hearts practically forming in his eyes.

"Braeburn?"

The earth pony was snapped from his daze by Fleetfoot poking him in the ribs.

"You okay, there? You theemed miles away," she asked him, looking concerned. Braeburn shook the last of the stars from his head and got up from the sofa.

"Yeah, Ah'm fine. Could ya excuse me fer a moment; Ah've gotta talk t' somepony," she told her. Fleetfoot slowly nodded her head, looking vaguely disappointed.

"Thure, go ahead. I'll jutht be waiting here," she dismissed him. Braeburn took a moment to relax before heading over to the door where Spitfire was speaking to Rainbow Dash and Soarin.

"Hey, guys," he said to the three of them, aware that he was sounding a little dopey at the moment. "Ah'm glad ya made it, ma'am," he smiled over at Spitfire, who gave him a friendly look, which was an unusual but pleasant change.

"Thanks," she muttered before talking to Rainbow Dash again. Soarin raised a brow at Braeburn and ushered him a couple of feet away.

"Surprise told me she wasn't coming…" the pegasus stallion suddenly noticed the proud gleam in Braeburn's green eyes. "Did…did _you_ persuade her to come?" he asked, disbelievingly.

"Maybe…" he replied, though his face was saying 'guilty as charged'. Soarin's jaw almost hit the ground.

"Brae, I wouldn't go as far as proud, but I'm definitely impressed," Soarin told him before puffing out his chest. "I guess my advice to you is working," he bragged. Braeburn sighed and rolled his eyes. It was just like Soarin to take this opportunity to be a big show-off.

"Yeah, thanks Soar," Braeburn mumbled, realising that Soarin's advice actually had helped him a little. Soarin gave him a playful (rough) shove.

"You're welcome," he got a look on his face that suggested he had an idea. Oh no. "Ya know, maybe I should get a job as an advice guru!" he said.

"No," Braeburn replied flatly, his expression blank.

"Seriously. Everypony would call me…" he started whispering. "_The Love Whisperer_."

"_Nopony would call ya that_!" Braeburn whispered back. Soarin looked a little offended.

"_Yes they would, you just wouldn't be able to hear them because they'll be whispering it_!" he kept on whispering.

"_Let's stop whisperin'_!" Braeburn ended the conversation.

"WHOOOOOOOOAAAA!"

Rainbow Dash, Soarin, Braeburn and Spitfire looked towards the pony cheering. Surprise was bouncing up and down at a bazillion miles an hour, as if she was in the middle of a massive sugar rush. She rocketed over to them and skidded to a halt in front of Spitfire so they were almost nose to nose.

"You came! YOU ACTUALLY CAME!" she squealed looking like she was going to burst with joy. She motioned for High Winds to come over. "Quick, I've got my surprise face! Take the picture!" Surprise ordered her friend, who grabbed the camera that was hanging around her neck and snapped a photo of the white Wonderbolt. Surprise jumped round and round in circles before leaping at Spitfire and wrapping her hooves around her neck, giving her a rather ironic surprise.

"This is the bestest surprise ever!" Surprise squeezed her tightly. Spitfire hesitated before hugging her, too.

"Heh…no problem," she replied. Surprise was equally as shocked by the gesture. She pulled back for a moment.

"Hey, you hugged me back!" she smiled even wider before giving the fiery Wonderbolt and even stronger squeeze. "I knew you had a heart somewhere in there."

"I'm flattered…" Spitfire patted the poofy maned mare's back. "...but at the same time, offended, so thank you and _get off_!" she pushed her friend away, though she was wearing a tiny smirk. Braeburn realised then that that must have been what Spitfire's idea was yesterday. She had planned to surprise Surprise, simply by showing up. Clever.

Surprise giggled and bounced off towards her kitchen. "Enjoy the party! I'm gonna go get out that chocolate cake I told you about. Oh, and don't touch the YESSSSS!" she called as she vanished through the door. Spitfire looked at each of the three ponies with her in turn.

"YESSSSS?" she asked them. Soarin nodded over at the table.

"The cake over there that's big enough for somepony to live in," he explained. Even Spitfire looked a little impressed at the height of the cake. Soarin began to leave, heading over to grab some nachos, no doubt. "Dash and I are gonna get some snacks. You two carry on!" he said, Rainbow Dash following suit. Braeburn reached up to grab his hat to fan himself when he realised that he wasn't wearing it. Darn it. He grabbed whatever confidence he could and clustered it all together before clearing his throat.

"Wanna sit down?" he asked the Wonderbolt captain, remembering that Fleetfoot was still waiting for him to come back. Spitfire nodded and allowed Braeburn to lead her over to the sofa. He noticed that her ears were flat to her head, which was a common thing for ponies to do if they were anxious or scared. Maybe she was a little agoraphobic?

He sat down beside Fleetfoot once again, Spitfire settling herself on his other side, shifting around as if she had forgotten how to sit. Party anxiety, probably.

"Hi, Fleetfoot," Spitfire greeted the light blue mare. Fleetfoot didn't look all that pleased to see her there.

"Hi," she said back to the captain. It sounded like she forced herself to say it. Braeburn was about to ask her if something was wrong when she stood up and trotted away, shooting Spitfire a final glare of annoyance and dislike, though Braeburn couldn't think of a reason why. Spitfire's ears practically snapped to her skull again and her head sunk into her shoulders.

"I don't think I can do this," Braeburn heard her mutter and he could see just how uneasy she was about all this.

"Don't worry," he reassured her. He was about to put a hoof on her shoulder to comfort her but thought against it. "You'll be fine, Ah promise. And Ah don't break muh promises," he added. At that moment Surprise bounced over.

"Come on you two, I'm just about to share out the YESSSSS!" she informed them. "You want some, right?"

"Mmmm, yes," Braeburn nodded. Surprise rolled her eyes.

"Yes, the YESSSSS!" she hopped off again. Braeburn and Spitfire joined Rainbow Dash and Soarin at one end of Surprise's huge table.

"It's about time we got to eat this," Soarin commented as he took a large bite of his slice of the YESSSSS. "YUM! This is like eating joy!" he dove in again. Rainbow snorted at his behaviour

"Soarin, I thought you already learnt your lesson about eating too much too fast," Rainbow reminded him of an event that had taken place right near the beginning of the boot camp. Soarin looked a little embarrassed at the memory, and pretended not to hear her.

"Whoa, Surprise, have you eaten your slice already?" Spitfire asked the white Wonderbolt sitting beside her as she swallowed her slice of cake. Surprise's plate was covered in crumbs from the slice of the YESSSSS that had been there about seven seconds ago.

"Yep-a-rooni! I was gonna savour it, but it tasted so good, and…I must have eaten faster than I thought," she chuckled. She reached up into her mane and pulled out a blueberry muffin. "So I'm just gonna eat these muffins Braeburn brought instead. I'd hate to eat the whole cake straight away," she explained, munching on the treat. "I think I've eaten fifteen of these things!" she added and Spitfire suddenly got a look of worry on her face.

"Um…Surprise, I'm not sure that's safe," she told the white Wonderbolt. Surprise finished off her muffin and shrugged.

"Meh, I'll risk a sugar induced coma if it means I can have some more," she said as if it was nothing to worry about. "Oh, and Braeburn, I hope you don't mind but I used one of the muffins to tip the delivery mare," she added before bounding away to get some more muffins, most likely. Braeburn went back to eating his cake, realising that Soarin was almost finished with his. He was right; it _did _feel like he was eating joy.

"So, what else did you bake?" Spitfire asked him, nearly making him choke on his cake. She was taking an interest in his work. He had to say _something_. He looked around the table for stuff he'd brought to the party.

"Um…Ah made those fritters…the cherry pie over there and…oh, yeah, and Ah got syphilis," he listed.

Spitfire looked a little horrified at what he'd said.

**(Authors Note: Yes, this is an author's note within the chapter. I'll make it quick, don't worry. Do NOT look up what syphilis is, especially if you're the squeamish type. I know where you live! Just a warning. I'll just say that it's a disease. That's all! We now return to our regularly scheduled programme.)**

Braeburn couldn't put his hoof on what he'd said to make her react like that. What could he possibly have-GAH!

Braeburn gasped and reached forward, grabbing a bowl of fruit and showing it to her.

"PHYSALIS! PHYSALIS! Exotic fruit!" he shook the contents of the bowl to get his point across. "Ah have NOT got syphilis!" he felt utterly humiliated. Suddenly-

"Pfffft…" Spitfire let out a chuckle before bursting into a massive fit of laughter. She hid her face in her hooves so ponies could hear her but not see her and carried on helplessly laughing.

And for a minute, Braeburn forgot all about his previous embarrassment. He had never heard her laugh before…it was the most incredible sound he'd ever heard.

"That…was…funny!" Spitfire told him between chortles that she just couldn't hold in. Braeburn flushed brightly before thinking about what had happened. It _was_ actually pretty amusing. He found himself laughing with her and soon the two of them were cackling so much their ribs hurt. Finally they pulled themselves together and resumed eating. Braeburn saw that Spitfire was still smiling as she ate and he could feel his heart grow warmer in his chest. She looked different with a smile. The incredibly good kind of different.

He looked to his side and saw Soarin give him an approving nod. The pale blue Wonderbolt gave a quick side glance at Rainbow Dash before stretching his arms high in the air. He slowly lowered them, folding his right one around Rainbow's shoulder. The cyan mare looked up at him, clearly confused.

"Soarin, what're ya doing?" she asked him. Soarin babbled incoherently before coming up with an excuse.

"Reaching for another fork," he lied, faking trying to grope for a fork. Rainbow Dash picked up the fork and passed it to him.

"Next time, just ask," she told him before she continued chowing down on her cake.

"Heh…okay," he plastered a smile onto his face, though he was clearly suppressing a cringe. Braeburn chuckled once again as Soarin ate another bite of cake, cheering up as soon as he'd swallowed.

"So, Cowboy, are ya still enjoying Cloudsdale?" Spitfire suddenly asked him. Braeburn flashed her a grin before beginning a rant about how awesome Cloudsdale was.

Braeburn had no idea how long they talked for, but time seemed to fly by. This was the first time she had actually opened up to him, unlike the one-sided conversation they'd had in her office once, and he discovered that once he started talking to her it became so easy! He asked her about airshow's, if she'd seen any good movies as of late and even what her favourite food was. Of course, she'd answered chocolate.

"So, do you have a favourite colour?" Braeburn asked her after what felt like an eternity of talking. He didn't think he'd ever enjoyed speaking to somepony this much. Spitfire gave him a mock eye roll as if it was a stupid question. Braeburn thought it was, too, but he just wanted to keep this conversation flowing.

"Green," she answered. "What's yours?" she returned the question, which Braeburn thought was fair.

"Orange," he replied, looking into her eyes, which were that exact colour. Only anywhere else, the colour orange wouldn't make butterflies flutter in his stomach. Spitfire returned his gaze for a few seconds before something popped up between the two of them, darn near frightening the fur off of them.

"Hey, guys!" Surprise greeted them. "You okay?" she asked them. Braeburn nodded.

"Eeyup. We're doin' fine, Surprise. This is a great party," he complimented her. Surprise gave the two of them baffled stares.

"Guys, you do know the party's over, right?" she asked them. "Everypony left half an hour ago."

Braeburn looked around the room and was startled to see that Surprise was right. The three of them were the only ponies left in the building.

"Wh-where did the time go?" Braeburn asked, astonished, noticing that Surprise's balloon shaped clock read six-thirty. Whoa!

"I don't know where time goes," Surprise put a hoof to her chin. "I hope it goes someplace nice; I've heard that Baltimare is pretty warm this time of year."

Braeburn chuckled at Surprise and hugged her, wishing her a happy birthday before heading towards the door. He looked over his shoulder to see Spitfire about to give Surprise a hoof bump, only for the yellow maned pegasus to give her another hug. Spitfire eventually managed to escape Surprise's iron grip and then she and Braeburn left. Spitfire said goodbye to him before taking off into the sky and heading home. Braeburn decided he should find Soarin so he could- wait.

Soarin had left without him _again_!

Ugh! Great, Soarin usually flew him back to his house, now he had to walk. Well, it was a good thing he didn't mind a hike every now and then, even if he did feel a little out of place amongst all the pegasi. Besides, nothing could really put a damper on his day now. Spitfire was beginning to trust him, she'd come to the party because he'd requested it, she'd stuck by him the whole time, and they'd talked for _hours_!

And best of all, he'd made her laugh.


	22. Dangerous Thinking

**Tycser- I totally agree with you! You can't get any better than Dashie and Soarin. I don't think I've ever heard of an MLP couple that matches as well as they do.**

**RosaSilvermist- Well, we all know how much of a ladies stallion Soarin is…**

**Litestardt- Soarin forgot the same pony twice…that's an Academy Record. And I'm sure Surprise wouldn't mind giving you some leftover cake. ^^**

**YoungBlood23- A fan for life? I've always wanted one of those! *hugs***

* * *

Soarin pushed the door to the kitchen open. He always liked to see his high school buddy immediately after changing into his officer's uniform, mostly to see if he'd baked any pie.

"What's up, Brae?" he asked the earth pony, who was pulling a tray of apple brown betty's out of the oven.

"Doof," was all he said after he'd put the tray down beside the oven and spat the towel he had used to retrieve it out of his mouth. Soarin blinked a couple of times, putting a blank look on his face and folding his hooves.

"Well, hello to you, too," he said sarcastically. "What did I do to deserve that, pray tell?" he asked. Braeburn closed the door to the open before replying.

"Yesterday, that move ya made on Rainbow Dash. How should I put this without soundin' rude?" he paused for a second to think. "Ya know what, Ah'm just gonna say it. It was stupid!"

Soarin felt pretty appalled that somepony was telling him his advances on Rainbow Dash were lame. And that somepony was _Braeburn_! This guy new next to nothing about this topic…well, neither did Soarin.

"The classic arm-around-shoulder move. It was a good plan!" Soarin insisted. Braeburn threw a hoof into the air.

"It's the oldest trick in the book!" he argued. "And it never, ever, EVER works!"

Soarin once again felt offended. He thought it had been a good idea, and he'd just made a mistake at some point. He scoffed at Braeburn and gave him a smug stare. "Well, I've seen it in the movies a bunch of times. Are ya telling me that it doesn't work on TV?"

Braeburn was silent for a moment. "YES! That's _exactly_ what Ah'm tellin' ya! It's a sure-fire way of beginnin' yer route down the bumpy road to a broken heart," the earth pony explained. Soarin was left speechless. Who was this guy and what did he do with Braeburn, the stallion who knew more about the sewage system than relationships?

"How in Equestria do you know all this stuff?" Soarin asked him. Braeburn reached under his hat and threw that massive book of his (_100 things to know about crushes that you were afraid to ask_) in Soarin's direction, hitting him in the gut. He let out a wheeze of pain before glowering down at the book.

"Will you just get rid of this thing!? It's done nothing good so far. All it's done is tell you that you shouldn't give a mare a boat _or _a goat! And it's given me a huge bruise on my tummy!" Soarin almost yelled.

"Well, it's done _some_ good then," Braeburn had the nerve to laugh at Soarin's pain. The Wonderbolt stallion turned tail on him and stormed out of the room.

"I'm not talking to you for the rest of the day!" he whined like a foal. He slammed the door. Everything was silent for a minute before Soarin popped up on the other side of the serving counter.

"Except to say two things: What kind of pie did you make and did you pick up my dry cleaning?"

Braeburn rolled his eyes. "Blueberry…" he vanished into the closet and came back out with Soarin's Wonderbolt uniform, freshly cleaned. "And here!" he roughly passed it to Soarin.

"Thank you!" Soarin snapped before leaving.

* * *

"One minute left!" Fast Clip yelled up at the cadets as they soared overhead through the almost cloudless sky in groups of three, in the middle of formation drills. At the moment they were practicing a simple triangle formation, Rainbow Dash's group made up of her, Lullaby and Sugar Swoop putting on a pretty cool performance. Spring Song, Paradise and Ray were flying not too far off, the pink mare at the head of the group shooting Rainbow Dash's team irritated glares (which Paradise instinctively copied) as if she was saying 'can't you be a little less good at this?'

Not likely, sister!

"Watch out!" somepony alerted them.

Rainbow's team quickly flapped their wings harder so they could glide over another group made up of Cinder, Stargazer and Smart Set. The three of them were flying in a rather ungraceful style, since Cinder had been elected to lead their formation. The little blue mare teetered through the air, trying to figure out which of her wings to flap harder. Rainbow felt a stab of pity for the cadet since she knew how timid she got when she was under a lot of pressure.

"OH NO!" Cinder yelled as she completely tumbled off course with a clumsy cartwheel and rocketed down through the air…

…right into Whiplash.

All fourteen of the other cadets cringed as the two collided and crumpled with a loud thudding noise to the ground. Needless to say, the drill was called to a close after that and all the pegasi gathered down along the side of the landing strip whilst Fast Clip helped Whiplash deal with his concussion. Spitfire paced down the line of cadets.

"Okay, some of you should feel pretty proud of yourselves…" she looked at Rainbow Dash and Spring Song's teams in particular. "…others of you…" she paused in front of a certain shaking blue mare. "…owe a member of staff a letter of apology," she gave Cinder a glare, making the already petrified pegasus give out a small squeak of fear. Thankfully Spitfire didn't scold her any more.

"Cinder looks terrified," Lullaby whispered to Rainbow Dash. "If we weren't meant to be standing straight and rigid like this, I'd go over there and give her a hug. Poor thing," she added, frowning. Just like Lullaby to put the comfort of other ponies before anything else.

"Alright, ladies, nice work out there…*cough cough* mostly *cough*," Spitfire fake coughed.

'_Way to be subtle, ma'am,'_ Rainbow Dash thought, suppressing a chuckle at the captains actions.

"So, you just go inside, frolic to your heart's content and all that. As long as you don't burn the Academy down I couldn't give a flying feather what you do," she dismissed them. The fifteen cadets headed to the Mess Hall and started enthusiastically talking about the drills. Cinder, looking a little dejected, headed into the kitchen, making Rainbow Dash a little suspicious. The cyan pegasus was about to follow Cinder when somepony stood on one of the tables and cleared their throat.

"Oh, this is _not_ gonna be good," Rainbow muttered to herself, rubbing her forehead with a hoof as her old friend 'Ping Pong' fluffed her mane before addressing the cadets.

"Guys, this Saturday night the Wonderbolt's are gonna be at an airshow. So I got to thinking…" Spring Song told them all. Rainbow Dash nudged Lullaby, who was standing next to her.

"That's dangerous," she whispered, earning a giggle from her purple friend. Although, almost every single pony became excited as Spring Song told them all what she was planning.

"…and I got a pretty good idea. So, that's why there's gonna be a party in the Main Hall this Saturday night courtesy of yours truly," she examined a forehoof as if it were nothing at all. Instantly, the Mess Hall was engulfed with cheers and ponies chattering wildly to eachother. Rainbow's jaw dropped and he mind whirred round and round like a Ferris wheel in fast forward. A party? Here? Saturday?

Was Spring Song completely insane!?

…Yes, yes she was.

Rainbow Dash eavesdropped on Stargazer and Smart Set talking to Free Fall. "Spring Song throws the _coolest_ parties, man," Stargazer said to the cream coated stallion.

"I went to one of her parties about a month before the boot camp. Her house is HUGE! Not quite as large as mine, but _still_!" Smart Set added. Rainbow Dash's eyes flicked to the stallion's cutie mark: a pile of bits. Clearly, he was a pretty upper class pony.

"You're gonna come right?"

Rainbow Dash looked over her shoulder to see Paradise and Lullaby staring at her as if waiting for a reply. Rainbow thought it over in her head, remembering the rules that were set out on their first day of training: '_No staying in bed till noon, no goofing around, no huge parties_'. This was against the rules and everypony obviously knew it, so why were they all so hyped up about this?

"Paradise, don't you think that the Wonderbolt's would be mad if we threw a freakin' party while they were out? Besides, there are always security ponies wandering around after dark, so we'd be caught anyway. This is a stupid idea!" Rainbow could see so many things wrong with all of this. Paradise twiddled her hooves.

"Well, I did say to Spring Song that this was a bad idea, but she just told me that If my head wasn't so empty I'd agree with her…so, I went along because Spring Song's always right," the green mare replied. Rainbow found herself baffled at Paradise for what felt like the millionth time since she'd met her. What was she; a robot? Was she simply programmed to do everything Spring Song said no matter how unbelievably dumb it was? It just didn't make sense!

"Lullaby, you agree with me, right?" Rainbow Dash knew that if anypony would see sense around here it was Lullaby, since she was probably the most level-headed cadet in the Academy. The purple pegasus nodded and sidestepped so she could stand next to her friend.

"She's right, Paradise. There are so many ways that this party could cause trouble that I don't even know where to start. The chances of you getting caught and punished are really high, I mean, what if this got you kicked out of the Academy?" Lullaby practically called Paradise's bluff. The green mare stroked the back of her blue mane and stuttered a little before raising her head up to glare into Lullaby's dark blue eyes with her brown ones.

"B-b-but Spring Song said-"

"Spring Song said this, Spring Song said that," Rainbow Dash mimicked. "What's the big deal Paradise, do you have to go along with everything Spring Song does? I don't get why you'd even want to be friends with her."

Paradise looked a little hurt but tried her best to keep a straight face. "Well, I can explain how we became friends, I guess, but it's a pretty long story," she said. Rainbow looked over at Lullaby who simply shrugged before facing Paradise again.

"We've got time," she shrugged. Paradise looked a little surprised that the two mares would want to listen to her, probably because Spring Song hardly paid her any attention, but began her story anyway.

"I met Spring Song about two months before the boot camp began. She'd just moved to Cloudsdale from Las Pegasus because of some…personal stuff and I thought she was pretty cool," she started. Rainbow Dash took a moment to ponder what things about Spring Song were cool…maybe…no…meh, she couldn't think of anything.

"Spring Song seemed a little out of place in Cloudsdale, not that I blame her. If I'd spent my whole life in one place and then had to suddenly move someplace else, I'd be pretty freaked out, too," Paradise continued. "She wouldn't talk to anypony and whenever somepony so much as said hi, she'd just walk away…"

"Hold up, how do you know all this is she wouldn't talk to anypony?" Lullaby butted in. Paradise looked down at the floor innocently.

"…I certainly didn't stalk her or anything…no, not at all," she said unconvincingly. For somepony trying to tell a lie, she certainly wasn't doing a good job at all.

"So, what next?" Rainbow prompted Paradise to keep talking, ignoring her sudden wariness towards her. The green mare jolted as if she had forgotten all about it and carried on.

"Anyway, she didn't do much during her first week or two in Cloudsdale. She'd just wander around town, not stopping to look in the stores or talk, she'd just keep walking all day and then she'd go home. It just went on a continuous loop like that. Then finally, I went up to her one day when she was sitting by the edge of Cloudsdale, just looking down over it…probably thinking of Las Pegasus. I told her my name and asked for hers, but she wouldn't tell me. She just told me that she wanted to be on her own so I left," Paradise told her tale.

"Interesting…" Rainbow Dash murmured. This certainly wasn't like the Spring Song that everypony was currently praising in the middle of the Mess Hall. Spring Song was pretty lucky that there were no Wonderbolts around to hear her talking about the party.

"I talked to her again the next day at her spot by the edge of the clouds and all she said was that her name was Spring Song. Took me six tries (I did count) to get her to answer me. After that she just left. It went on like that for a bit, I'd find her, talk to her; she'd say a little more every time and then she'd just get outta there. I knew just by looking at her that she wasn't shy; she just didn't want to talk. Ya know what I mean?" Paradise asked the two listening mares.

Lullaby shrugged and nodded, but Rainbow Dash shook her head. She couldn't recall meeting anypony like that before. She wondered if Paradise was even talking about the same pony. The Spring Song she knew couldn't shut her trap to save her life and the Spring Song Paradise was telling them about seemed the exact opposite. This was really messed up.

"So how did you become friends?" Lullaby asked the question that was scrambling around in Rainbow Dash's brain. Paradise resumed telling her tale.

"Well, I found her at her spot, looking more sullen that usual, so I went over to her; She was just standing there, staring over the clouds at the ground below. She looked pretty… contemplative. I managed to go all the way up to her without her noticing me, and I asked her how high up she thought we were exactly. I guess I sorta surprised her, 'cause she looked pretty shocked to see me standing there all of a sudden.

"So she just… answered my question. I told her that she was a pretty smart pony, and then she smiled for the first time since I'd met her. That's when she told me about Las Pegasus and how much she missed it. After that she said that she'd hang out with me and she started talking a little more. Time passed, she became pretty confident, got enthusiastic about the Wonderbolts and we became best friends. Then we became friends with Ray, found out about the boot camp, and…here we are now," Paradise finished.

"…odd..." was all Rainbow Dash said after that. Was Spring Song just a bitch because she was mad about leaving Las Pegasus? Nah, there had to be more to it than that. "Well, Spring Song's crazy backstory aside, why would she even want me at her party? Last time I checked, she hated my guts," Rainbow Dash tried to jolt Paradise's memory.

"Oh Rainbow Dash…" a sweet voice came from her other side, scaring the feathers off of Dash. Spring Song stood there, smiling up at her. Holy Celestia, she needed to get a bell and hang it around Spring Song's neck to keep track of where she was. "You know I was just kidding about all that, right?"

Paradise, of course, stood by her friend's words. "Yeah, it was only a joke," she agreed. They both gave her slightly creepy grins…this was getting a little uncomfortable now.

"Well, I think I need to explain the concept of a joke to you guys," Rainbow told them sourly, knowing that they meant the exact opposite of what they were saying. Spring Song was like some kind of crazy puzzle that Rainbow Dash just couldn't figure out. One second she was acting like Rainbow was a pile of dirt and the next she was inviting her to a party. It was like Spring Song's mind flipped from being sickeningly sweet to a total moron.

"Thanks, but no thanks, Spring Song. I'm not gonna come to your party. Why? Because it's a stupid plan! I'd bet any amount of bits that you'd get busted before you have time to open the buffet," Rainbow told the pink devil-mare.

"Ooh, a buffet sounds good. Paradise, write that down," Spring Song told her green companion, who pulled a notebook from who-knows-where and jotted it down, mouthing the word 'buffet' as she did so.

"So, somehow you're going to smuggle in a bunch of food, play loud music, get everypony into the Main Hall and party all night whilst not getting caught, huh? You're never gonna be able to pull it off," Lullaby folded her hooves, being the voice of reason as usual. Spring Song smirked and let out a lightly evil chuckle.

"I never said that I didn't have a plan," Spring Song cleared her throat and told them all her idea.

"Once everypony has made their way to the Main Hall by going through the hallways (if they get caught it's not my fault), I'll make sure that nopony outside can hear the music by covering up the bottom of the doors and shoving putty in the key holes. No one will be able to hear the music unless they're really close to the doors. Still, in case of an emergency, Paradise will be posted outside the Hall disguised as a potted plant-"

"A plant?" Lullaby asked, skeptical. Suddenly somepony tapped her on the shoulder, causing her to jump with surprise and form a karate pose, making Rainbow Dash and Spring Song chortle a little. "Who did that?" the purple mare looked around, seeing nopony there except a cactus plant. Wait a second…that definitely hadn't been there before.

"_I_ did!" the plant chirped and Lullaby stepped back with caution, not that Rainbow Dash blamed her; if a plant talked to her she'd be pretty freaked out, too. Lullaby's eyes darn near popped out of her skull when Paradise suddenly lifted up the cactus revealing that she had somehow squished herself into the vase

"B-b-but, how d-did you get in there?" Lullaby stuttered. Paradise just shrugged.

"I'm just really flexible," she replied. "Wanna see me tie myself into a pretzel?" she asked enthusiastically. The reply from Lullaby was a resounding 'no!'

"Anyhoo," Spring Song carried on. "Tomorrow we'll get all the food and sneak it inside the Hall, so we don't have to worry about it on the night; we'll just pull it all out of that closet where the Wonderbolt's keep those sparkly party lights…ooh, we'll use those too. Paradise?"

"Way ahead of ya!" the green cadet held up her notepad after pulling her last leg out of the cactus (**there's a sentence**) to show Spring Song that she was writing down their latest idea for the party. "Oh, Spring Song, is there gonna be cake?" she asked, licking her lips. Spring Song rolled her eyes.

"Of course there's gonna be a cake; my aunt Sunny Money-"

"Pfft! Sunny Money?" Rainbow Dash snorted with laughter at the name.

"What's the big deal, Rainbow Trash?" Spring Song asked, looking a little offended. Rainbow knew that it was rude, but she couldn't help herself.

"Sunny Money. It sounds really funny," Rainbow snickered. "Hey, that rhymed!" Rainbow laughed even more, having to sit down on one of the chairs to keep herself from falling to the floor. Spring Song harrumphed and ignored her.

"Anyway, my aunt knows one of our neighbours, who knows a mare that works at the salon that knows an accountant who knows a chef that works at the bakery, so we can get a cake dirt cheap," Spring Song listed. Rainbow Dash looked over at Lullaby, who wore the same perplexed expression as her. What the hay did Spring Song just say? (**Rhymed again!**)

"Say what?" Rainbow Dash asked blankly. Spring Song looked at Rainbow Dash like she was the biggest numbskull in Equestria and tutted.

"All I'm saying is that you don't have to worry your little head about a thing, Dash. Just show up to the party and let the professionals handle the organisation part," the blonde mare cut it all short.

"Professionals?" Lullaby smirked. "I didn't know that you knew any professionals," she teased her. Spring Song sneered at Lullaby.

"Of course I know professionals. Those professionals are me and Paradise, and we, as a matter of fact, are the best when it comes to party planning. So there will be no problems whatsoever," she insisted.

"Hey, Spring Song!" Paradise called her friends attention. The green cadet was stretching her tongue up towards her muzzle. "I can't see! Is my tongue touching my nose yet?" she asked before losing her balance and toppling over. Spring Song turned red with embarrassment and looked like she wanted to dig a hole in the floor, crawl into it and die.

"Yeah…no problems at all," Lullaby said sarcastically, with an over-the-top eye roll to finish it off. Spring Song looked like she was trying not to shove her hoof down Lullaby's throat to shut her up, but kept her cool and took a deep breath.

"So, now that you know the plan, are you gonna come to the party or not?" Spring Song asked Rainbow and Lullaby, looking impatient. Lullaby shook her head and held up a hoof as if to say 'I'm not changing my mind'.

"No, Spring Song. I don't care how cool your party is; I'm not gonna risk getting kicked out of the Academy, so just leave me out of it," she looked over at Rainbow Dash.

"I'm with Lullaby, you guys are taking a huge risk by throwing this party, and…no offense, Spring Song, but I don't think any of your plans have a faint chance of working out," the rainbow maned pegasus agreed. Spring Song suddenly shoved her face in Rainbow Dash's so that they were practically nose to nose.

"What's wrong Rainbow Trash? Are you afraid of getting caught? You afraid of a little party? Are you…" she leaned in a little more so that her nose was pressing against Rainbow's. "…chicken?"

Rainbow Dash hated Spring Song so much then. She was _not_ a chicken, no way, no how, nu-huh! She was Rainbow Danger Dash, and she laughed in the face of evil. She had fought changelings and all powerful Masters of Chaos; a little party was nothing.

So why was she so freaked out about all this? She could handle battling evil villains any time, so getting in and out of a party unnoticed was nothing compared to that. Rainbow stretched up a little so she could stare Spring Song down.

"Fine! I _will_ go to the party!" she declared, earning a gasp from Lullaby behind her. "I'll show you chicken, _Stink_ Song!" she hissed at the pink mare, who just looked pleased that she was coming…not the happy and smiley kind of pleased, more like the, '_so you really aren't a wuss'_ kind of pleased.

"See you there, then," Spring Song gave her a final ever-so-slightly evil smirk before trotting out of the Mess Hall door with Paradise following close behind, her tongue hanging out of her mouth because she had strained it too much whilst trying to touch her nose with it. Rainbow turned around and was met with the irritated face of Lullaby.

"Rainbow, have you completely lost it?" she asked, giving Rainbow a gentle slap round the face that the cyan cadet barely felt. "You said that you'd go to the party just because she called you a chicken? That's kinda pathetic," Lullaby looked genuinely worried for Rainbow.

"What's the big deal, Lullaby? Spring Song's plan does sound pretty…okay," Rainbow Dash wasn't all that good with words, so she just used the first one that popped into her head. "Besides, what's a little party gonna do to us? It's not like we'd be kicked out of the Academy for something like that? It's nothing compared to the lightning bolt thing," Rainbow shuddered at the memory. Lullaby sighed and tried to reason with her friend.

"But, it's still against the rules. Don't you think that this could damage your reputation with the Wonderbolts?" Lullaby asked her. Rainbow thought it through. No matter what happened, Soarin would back her up. She knew him enough to know that he would stay loyal to her till the very end.

"Lullaby, I don't wanna talk about this anymore, 'kay? Let's just go back to our room so I can write my letter," Rainbow Dash ended the conversation. Lullaby let out a groan of defeat; knowing fully well that once Rainbow Dash's mind was made up there was no changing it. Who knows, maybe Spring Song would leave her alone if she just went to the party?

"I wish Spring Song got struck instead of you…" Rainbow heard Lullaby mutter as they walked through the door.

* * *

**Endnote: I do apologize if that chapter was a little boring. I promise the next one will be a little livelier. Now if you'll excuse me; I'm gonna go and play Fallout 3. ;)**


	23. Twinzies

Authors Note: So, I'm gonna try something out with this chapter. First off a trivia for you: In TV shows, episodes that take place in one room throughout the entire length of it is called a 'bottle episode', so I wondered what it would be like to write a 'bottle chapter'. So, apart from the beginning of the chapter, the rest takes place in the kitchen. I doubt that I'll do this again, but once I got the idea in my head I couldn't get rid of it, kinda like how you get a song stuck in your head and no matter what you listen to, be it Def Leppard or Rihanna, you just can't get rid of it. Also, this is one of those pesky extended chapters, but hopefully that won't bother anyone, plus it explains why this took so long to upload. So, with that out of the way I move on to the replies-

**Wolfg4ng- Aw, thanks buddy! *cyber hug***

**Tycser- Guess what? Now you've been in two Author's Notes! *cyber hug* for you, too!**

**Sparkling-nexis137- Brain Buddies! I really like the sound of that.**

**Litestardt- I agree with you entirely. New Vegas is my favourite, but I just got Fallout 3 for my birthday and I'm hooked! I have three words for you: Stupid. Fire. Ants! **

**RosaSilvermist- Well, Rainbow Dash does have a knack for getting herself into these kinds of messes…getting out of them…not so much.**

**YoungBlood23- Fallout is my favourite game series EVER! And this chapter will definitely be livelier. Know why?**

**Surprise and Pinkie are together again!**

**BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES! ABANDON SHIP! GET TO DA CHOPPA! **

**And all that! ;)**

* * *

"Yep…still empty," Spitfire grumbled, checking the anonymous tip box again. Ever since that time she'd found a tip reading '_I put the horseshoe in the storm cloud_' there had been no progress with the case. It was getting kind of irritating now since the boot camp was almost halfway through and they were getting no closer to figuring out who did it.

Maybe she should start interrogating ponies. Whoever wrote that note obviously wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, so she would have to see if Rainbow Dash knew anypony who had all the brains of a rock.

"We'll find out who did it eventually, Spitz. Then we'll throw a party to celebrate and eat ice cream till we barf!" another pony, who was standing next to the Wonderbolt captain chirped optimistically. Speaking of rock-brains.

"I sure hope so, Surprise. Whoever did this is in big trouble, and I swear to Celestia that when I get hold of 'em, I'll…" she stopped, realising that her threats might get a little extreme if she didn't stop herself now. One of the joys of having anger problems.

"Well, make sure your investigation doesn't get in the way of my visitor, okay? I want to give her a tour of the whole Academy, and the last thing I want is her thinking this is a crime scene," Surprise informed Spitfire, who gave her a baffled look. She had no idea that anypony was going to visit, which was pretty unusual since Spitfire knew practically everything that went on in the Academy, morning, noon and night.

"Visitor? Surprise, don't you think you should have let me know first?" the golden mare asked her friend. For all she knew, this pony could be some kind of thief or bounty hunter…okay, so that was highly unlikely, but it's always good to be alert, right?

"Sorry, I was so excited I guess I forgot. I wanted somepony to check out that new candy store with me, so I picked the obvious pony," Surprise explained. Spitfire couldn't understand why Surprise couldn't just take one of the friends she had here to the candy store.

"Why can't High Winds or Blaze go with you?" she asked the white Wonderbolt, who let out a small sigh.

"Um…they're busy doing other stuff, that's all. Ever since they started dating, I've been feeling like a third wheel," she admitted. Spitfire was surprised by this (which shouldn't come as a surprise by now…ooh, a double!).

"I didn't know High Winds and Blaze were dating," she put a hoof to her chin.

"Well, maybe if you actually hung out with us once in a while you _would_ know," Surprise folded her hooves. "Anyway, my guest is gonna be here soon, so do ya think you can smoothen out your tie, fix your collar and comb your tail?" she asked. Spitfire examined her tail for a second, not thinking that it needed a brush.

"Aren't you at least gonna tell me who this guest is? Do I know her?" she asked, absentmindedly fiddling with her collar. Surprise opened her mouth to reply but was suddenly tackled to the ground.

"SURPRISE!" the pony squeezed the poofy maned Wonderbolt, who returned the hug with just as much vigour. Welp, Spitfire definitely knew this pony.

"Pinkie Pie…why didn't I see this coming?" she asked nopony in particular, most likely herself. Pinkie jumped up and started shaking Spitfire's hoof so fast that it had to be moving several dozen miles an hour.

"GreattoseeyaCaptainit'ssogreattobehereSurprisetoldmeallaboutthisplacebutitlookssosoSOmuchbetterontheinside!" she babbled. Spitfire shook Pinkie's hoof off hers, wincing as she felt her hoof cramp up.

"Whoa, slow it down won't ya?" she tried to shake the feeling back into her forehoof. Pinkie shut up and bounced over to Surprise, giving her another hug.

"It's been so long since I've seen you," Pinkie nuzzled Surprise's cheek. "I was worried that you wouldn't even remember who I was," she put on a pouty face.

"It's been four days since the Celebration," Spitfire deadpanned, though the two perky mares just ignored her.

"So, you ready to check out that candy store yet?" Surprise released Pinkie from the hug and the pink livewire of a pony nodded her head up and down so fast that Spitfire didn't know how she avoided a head rush.

"Yeah! I just hope none of the candies are rainbow flavoured…_way_ too spicy!" she answered before the two of them skipped down the hallway and round the bend to the main door, leaving Spitfire alone outside her office. She let out a stressed sigh and tipped her head back so she was looking at the ceiling.

"Great. One insane mare in the Academy was bad enough and whoop-de-doo, now I've got two!" she just shook everything off and went into her office. "I guess I'd better get all that stupid paperwork done…and I really need to stop talking to myself, this is just getting weird."

* * *

"Surprise, are you in there?" Spitfire looked over the kitchen counter. Yep, sure enough, Surprise was in there with Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Soarin, Braeburn and that little blue cadet…what was her name? Starts with a C, starts with a C…meh, she couldn't remember.

"Hey, Captain!" Surprise waved. "Check out all the stuff we got from the candy store. We got _chocolate_!" Surprise waved a pouch of candy in the air. Oh, Celestia, Surprise had brought Spitfire's kryptonite. Casually, not wanting to seem like she desperately wanted that candy (she missed lunch, okay!), she flapped over the counter and landed beside the table that Surprise and Pinkie Pie were sitting at. Rainbow Dash was talking to Soarin not that far away, giving Pinkie an evil stare.

"I can't believe you told Surprise you were coming and didn't tell me!" she huffed. "_And _forgot to pay the hot air balloon mare!" she added. Pinkie Pie just shrugged and tossed something to Rainbow.

"Here ya go! Peppermints can cheer anypony up!" Pinkie gave Dash a huge smile that was both adorable and annoying at the same time before turning around and munching on some gummy worms. Spitfire was a little concerned about the price of all this candy, mostly because she could barely see the table under the mass of sugary treats.

"What did you do? Buy everything in the store?" the golden pegasus asked Surprise, who chuckled through a mouthful of cookies.

"Of course not; we only cleared out the entire jelly bean aisle and most of the 'classics' section. And we got personalized chocolate plaques," she listed the things they had brought, spraying some cookie crumbs across the table as she talked. Spitfire was about to ask her what the hay the cost of all that stuff was when another thought entered her mind.

"What's a personalized chocolate plaque?" she sat down beside Surprise at the table. Surprise dug into the pile of candy and pulled out a large slab of chocolate, with three balloons drawn onto it with vanilla icing.

"I got one, too!" Pinkie exclaimed, pulling out her own one, which also had three balloons on it. When Surprise saw that they had the same plaque her jaw dropped.

"Oh my gosh!" she squealed.

"TWINZIES!" they chorused before giggling and resuming their candy scoffing. Spitfire rolled her eyes at the two of them and walked away.

"Barfzies," she muttered under her breath, heading over to that blue cadet, who was pulling a tray of muffins out the oven with a towel. She had to stand on her hind hooves to put them on the counter, she was so small.

"Hey, cadet, what's your name again?" she asked her. The blue mare jolted with shock at the captain and gulped, mumbling something. "Speak up a little," she ordered the tiny mare.

"Cinder," she finally replied, wringing her front hooves, obviously feeling a little intimidated by her presence. Oh yeah, she was the one that Spitfire had chewed out yesterday for crashing into Whiplash. Okay, maybe she had been a little harsh, but somepony could have got hurt, so she was allowed to be a tad strict at times like that.

"Okay then, Cinder. What're you doing in here, never took you for the baking type?" she nodded at the tray of muffins, which actually smelt pretty delicious.

"Well…I just felt like helping Braeburn out. He's the best cook ever!" Cinder praised the earth pony. Spitfire looked across at the stallion, who was peeling apples. She had to admit that he was very good at what he did, and she was glad that Soarin had suggested he take the temporary spot as caterer after the old one, Marey Berry, quit. That reminded Spitfire of yet another thing that they were making no progress with; finding somepony who would take the job permanently. Holy Celestia, there was way too much on her plate right now. Between hiring ponies and catching the horseshoe pony, there was a lot to do. She couldn't catch a _break_, let alone a culprit.

"So you come in here often?" she asked the little blue mare. She nodded in reply and rested her head atop the counter, waiting for her muffins to cool.

"Yeah, Braeburn's fine with me helping out; he looks like he could use a hoof, feeding everypony in the Academy," she explained. This cadet certainly did seem pretty enthusiastic about baking; if only she could put this much dedication into her flying. Spitfire knew that some pegasi just weren't destined to become Wonderbolts, so she was pleased to see that this slightly clutzy mare had something to fall back on if she didn't make the cut.

Spitfire was about to speak again when Surprise cut her off.

"Hey, Spit, come over here. You have _got_ to check this out!" the white mare called to the captain. Spitfire made her way over to the table

"Don't call me Spit!" she groaned as she sat in the chair next to Surprise. For as long as she could remember, ponies had called her 'Spit' and she _hated_ it. Wait, no, hated isn't a strong enough word. She despised it, loathed it, execrated it! In short, every time she heard somepony call her it, she wanted to hit something. Unfortunately that was against Academy regulations, so she just had to grin and bear it. "So what's up?" Spitfire asked Surprise in a bored tone. Surprise held up an issue of Pick Your Pegasus.

"We got these at the market and-"

"Wait, you went around the entire market?" Spitfire asked her and Surprise nodded.

"Yeah, I didn't have time to take Pinkie Pie everywhere in Cloudsdale, so I just showed her all my favourite places: the market, the arcade, the theme park-"

"-and the theatre!" Pinkie finished with a huge smile that was so similar to Surprise's that it was disturbing. Spitfire hated all those places, so she decided that she didn't care.

"Can you just show me that thing you were talking about? I haven't got all day," she prompted the two hyper ponies. Pinkie Pie pulled out her own issue of the magazine and opened it to a specific page.

"We're taking a friendship quiz and we're getting the same answers every time!" Pinkie explained. "Watch- _Which of these places would you rather go to for a vacation? A) Horseshoe Bay or B) Neighagra Falls?_"

"Hmm…A," Surprise decided and Pinkie gasped.

"Me too!"

"TWINZIES!"

Spitfire grunted as her gaze danced between the two ecstatic mares. This was completely pointless, and she felt compelled to prove to the pair that these quizzes were a bunch of bogus baloney.

"Pfft, I bet everypony's compatible on those things," she said. Surprise put the magazine flat down on the table.

"Then you try, Spitfire," she said. The Wonderbolt captain was about to protest before realising that she had basically brought this on herself.

'_Way to go you idiot, now you have to partake in one of Surprise's stupid games,' _the little pony in Spitfire's head scolded her. Spitfire banished that voice and focused all her attention on Surprise.

"Okay then, go ahead," she flicked a forehoof signalling for Surprise to read out the question. The yellow maned mare scanned the question and read it aloud.

"_You're going on a date with your crush. Do you A) See a movie or B) Get milkshakes?"_ she asked. Spitfire got a blank look on her face.

"Is there an option C that says _I'd rather stick pins in my eyes than answer your question_?" she used a blunt tone. Surprise shook her head.

"Nope, just pick one of those," she replied. Spitfire grunted and put her head atop her folded hooves.

'_Well you kinda deserve this for getting yourself into this mess,' _the voice in Spitfire's head scoffed. Spitfire finally settled on an answer.

"A," she replied. "So I wouldn't have to listen to him talk," she added bitterly at the end. Surprise shook her head.

"Nah, I choose B. Talking is great on a date, and everypony loves milkshakes," she disagreed. Pinkie Pie clapped her hooves excitedly.

"I pick B too!" she exclaimed. Spitfire sighed with irritation.

"Don't say it."

"TWINZIES!"

"Aaaand you said it," Spitfire rubbed her forehead as if she had a headache, which she would have if Pinkie Pie and Surprise didn't shut their chew-holes. Pinkie bounced clear over the table to give Surprise a tight hug, which she returned without hesitation. Spitfire grimaced at the two of them, feeling suddenly possessive. Once Pinkie had let go of her teammate, the golden pegasus put a hoof on Surprise's shoulder.

"Well, Surprise and I are alike too," she told the pink earth pony, knowing that she could say nothing further from the truth if she tried. "We're always finishing each other's…" she stopped talking, waiting for Surprise to speak. After a few seconds of absolute silence along with Pinkie and Surprise staring at Spitfire, waiting for her to say something, the captain sighed and gave in. "…sentences," she finished, feeling humiliated…again. Surprise started talking to Pinkie Pie.

"Hey Pinkie, have I told you about the time Spitfire and I went to the-"

"Museum," Spitfire tried to finish Surprise's sentence to make up for her slip-up. Surprise shook her head. "Park?" another head shake. "Manehattan arena?"

"The balloon animal exhibition," Surprise finished it by herself. "And Spitfire fell asleep during a lecture on how to tie a balloon-"

"Dog!" Spitfire tried to finish the sentence again but was only replied with another shake of Surprise's head. "House?" she guessed again. "Pony?"

"Elephant?" Pinkie guessed and Surprise's jaw dropped.

"Yes!" she gasped. "It's like you can read my thoughts!" she squealed.

"Glad you can't read mine," Spitfire muttered, so quiet she could barely hear herself. She then remembered why she was here in the first place. "Surprise, I need your help sorting out the fireworks for the airshow tomorrow," she told the white pegasus, who looked at her with a hint of guilt.

"Oh, sorry Spitfire, I can't. I promised Pinkie that I'd take her to the pizza place. She's been dying to see if the cheese here in Cloudsdale is better than the cheese in Ponyville," she explained. Spitfire's eye twitched with annoyance. She'd come all the way down here, got involved in a quiz and made a complete fool of herself just to get that answer.

"Fine, I'll just do it myself," she almost growled. She walked over to Soarin and Rainbow Dash, interrupting their conversation. "Guys promise me that if we ever find a third pony that acts like those two you'll put me out of my misery," she said to the pair, on the verge of a migraine.

"You okay there, ma'am?" Rainbow Dash asked her, and for the first time Spitfire realised that her irritation much be practically splattered across her face.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Those two are just so agitatingly clingy towards eachother. Some might say _unbearably obnoxious_!" she hissed that last part out as she saw Surprise hug Pinkie for the zillionth time that day. Soarin looked over at the two embracing mares and chuckled.

"I think it's pretty sweet," he admitted, shrugging his shoulders and Rainbow Dash nodded to show she agreed.

"Yeah, they're like 'Twinzies'," she added and Spitfire straightened herself up to look a little more threatening.

"Okay, the next pony who says 'twinzies' is gonna get hurtzies!" she warned the two of them, whose eyes became the size of plates. They gave her a salute to show that they understood before Soarin smirked down at her.

"Oh, I see what's going on here," he raised a hoof before booping Spitfire on the nose, causing her to slap his hoof away. However, he didn't seem to care since he skipped right to the accusation. "_Somepony's_ jealous," he flicked his line of vision from the captain to the two perky ponies at the table. It took Spitfire a few moments to realize that Soarin was referring to _her_.

"What!? Me? Jealous!? Have you completely lost your marbles, Soarin?" she glared up at him with the ferocity of an entire army of changelings. Spitfire couldn't remember the last time anypony had said something that had shot her right to the head. Out of every emotion there is, jealously was certainly near the top of the list of ones that never bothered her. She couldn't remember ever being jealous of anypony in her life and she certainly wasn't going to start now.

"Nope, I can tell you're jealous. You look really annoyed, you keep looking at the two of them and your eye's twitching. That only happens when you're _really_ mad," Soarin listed the tells that Spitfire was showing. The fiery Wonderbolt blinked a few times to get her eye to stop twitching like that. "So, do you have that meany greeny feeling that ponies get in their stomachs when they see someone they care about hanging around with somepony else?" the pale blue stallion asked the captain. Spitfire shook her head and put on her most stern face. That was _not_ jealously she was feeling in her stomach…right? RIGHT!

"Soarin, with all due respect, SHUT UP!" Spitfire snapped. "I am _not_ jealous of Pinkie Pie; I'm sure Rainbow Dash is a little annoyed that Pinkie's hanging with Surprise, too, right?" the yellow furred mare eyed Rainbow, who shuffled her hooves.

"Well, a little bit, but I know that I'm still Pinkie Pie's _best_ friend, and I can't be replaced," she replied, smiling over at Pinkie, who gasped at that exact moment, holding up a sack of candy.

"Surprise, how did you get candy corn? It's not even in season!" she squealed before squeezing the white Wonderbolt in what had to be the tightest hug ever, though Surprise didn't seem to care that her circulation was being cut off. "Surprise, you are the bestest best friend a pony could ever have!" she cooed, nuzzling her cheek. Surprise giggled and rubbed her cheek against Pinkie Pie's.

"Right back at ya, Pinkie," she agreed. Rainbow Dash and Spitfire gave eachother the same pained look, whilst Soarin stood between them, watching the two hugging ponies and their jealous friends that stood on either side of him. He uncomfortably shifted his eyes from side to side before breaking the stiff silence.

"Oh, well this isn't awkward," he chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head with a forehoof. He put a hoof on Spitfire's shoulder and gave her a small shake. "Don't sweat it, Spitfire, Surprise is still faithful to you above anypony else because you're her captain. All Wonderbolt's are loyal to the one that wears the tie," the co-captain pointed out and Spitfire gave a small shrug. Suddenly, a pink hoof shot towards her and pulled her tie off.

"Can I borrow this? Yeah? Thanks!" Pinkie Pie said without pausing to let Spitfire answer.

"What the what!?" Spitfire watched as Pinkie Pie looped the tie around her neck and put on a strict face.

"Surprise, drop and give me twenty! On the floor, NOW!" she ordered in a raspy voice that Spitfire supposed was meant to sound like her and Surprise dropped to the ground, beginning to press herself towards the floor and then back up again, giving a salute after her second push up.

"Yes, Captain! And that's a pretty good impression by the way," Surprise responded, grinning like a fool. Spitfire threw a hoof into the air.

"That doesn't sound anything like me!" she paused and face hoofed.

'_Yes, that's exactly what to focus on, you numbskull!' _the pony in Spitfire's head said to her; the captain could practically see her conscience roll its eyes. She stormed over and roughly unravelled her tie from around Pinkie's neck to show that she was really ticked. Surprise finished up her push ups, which happened to be one of the exercises she was best at, and wiped some sweat from her forehead.

"What was my time, Captain?" she asked.

"Don't know, don't care," Spitfire said at the same time Pinkie Pie said 'fifty three seconds'. Surprise jumped in the air and fluttered her wings to show that she was pleased.

"Yay, my muscles ache like crazy, but still YAY!" she cheered. Pinkie put her 'captain face' back on.

"Fifty three seconds…" she trailed off and looked off into the distance for extra effect before flicking her gaze back to surprise. "That's an Academy Record!"

"HEY! That's _my_ catchphrase!" Spitfire snapped, her blood beginning to boil. Who did this mare think she was? She had no right to just stroll into the Academy, act like her and steal _her _friend!

…What?

'_Ahem, hello, Captain Cruddy! What happened to '_I don't have time for friends_', eh?'_ her conscience asked her. Spitfire's conscience was what kept her in line most of the time; in fact that little voice was probably the only thing keeping her sane. Anyway, Spitfire did consider Surprise her closest companion, closely followed by Soarin, and then Silver Lining. She had known those three the longest, so they were the most important to her. Pinkie led Spitfire off to the side.

"Heh…sorry 'bout that. I know that you really wanted Surprise's help, so I can understand if you want me to let her work," Pinkie said what was possibly the first normal sentence Spitfire had heard her say. Spitfire looked over at the white Wonderbolt, who was happily licking a lollipop. She was the captain and Surprise would do anything she told her to do. But…she looked _very_ happy here. She couldn't drag her away from her earth pony friend, even though it kinda…hurt to see Surprise having so much fun with somepony else. Spitfire and 'fun' did not get along, but Surprise still liked to hang around with her. She had never understood why, and had never bothered to ask.

'_Don't let yourself care!'_ Spitfire mentally yelled at herself, but she shoved that thought to the back of her mind.

"No, it's fine," Spitfire flicked a hoof to show that she didn't care. Pinkie tilted her head to the side.

"You sure? I know that you're her boss and the last thing I want to do is step on your hooves," the pink mare continued. Spitfire nodded at her.

"Yeah, I'll just do it myself. I don't need help," she insisted. Pinkie Pie jumped for joy.

"Great!" she yelled as she fell back down to the floor.

"YOW!" Spitfire yelped as Pinkie landed on one of her front hooves. Pinkie awkwardly chuckled before bouncing away. With that, Spitfire gave her hoof a shake to get it to stop hurting (it didn't work) and briskly headed out of the kitchen.

* * *

Rainbow Dash watched Spitfire leave, feeling a little sorry for her. Well, she understood how she felt; she had been a little jealous the minute she had heard that Pinkie had come to Cloudsdale, not to see her but to see Surprise. She and Pinkie Pie had been friends for years now, and seeing her so happy with someone else felt like a stab to the brain.

"You okay, Dashie? Soarin waved a hoof in front of her face, pulling her out of her thoughts. Rainbow had him a small nod and looked petulantly back at Surprise and Pinkie Pie, the two of them now trading candy bracelets. Soarin prodded her on the shoulder and the cyan pegasus glared up at him angrily. Didn't he know never to interrupt somepony when they were annoyed?

"Rainbow Dash, I know that you're a little jealous, too, but I just want to explain to you that Pinkie Pie favours you over Surprise by a long shot. You've been through too much together for her to not see you as her best friend forever," the co-captain explained. Rainbow still didn't buy it.

"I know that, but just look at 'em, Soarin. They have so much in common that they're practically twins! If somepony didn't know the two of us they would never even consider that we would be friends!" she argued. "Sure, we both love to have fun and we're the best pair of prankers in Equestria, but apart from that, we're nothing alike. Surprise and Pinkie share all the same interests, so they'll always have something to talk about. Surprise is just…better," she lamented, hanging her head, feeling even more upset as she finished her rant.

Soarin put a hoof around her shoulder and nuzzled her cheek, which did comfort her a little bit. She even leaned a little closer into him, finding that she didn't mind a hug every now and then. It felt even better since she wasn't in the best of moods at the moment.

"Okay, so maybe that's true…well, except for the part about Surprise being better, of course," Soarin started his pep talk, giving the blue mare a little squeeze. "But the truth of the matter is that friends come in all shapes and forms, and have you ever heard the phrase 'opposites attract', so maybe it's not all that strange that you and Pinkie are besties. Dashie, you and Pinkie are not alike, not even a little bit, but I don't remember the last time I saw a pair of friends that worked so well together."

Rainbow should have said that she appreciated his encouragement, but she didn't roll like that, so she just decided to tease him instead.

"For the biggest doofus in Cloudsdale, you sure have a way with words," she gave him a shove and he rolled his eyes at her.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call myself a doofus," he defended himself. Rainbow gave him a blank stare, though she was still smirking at him.

"Well, I would, so deal with it," she chuckled. Rainbow's mind instantly thought back to the party that Spring Song was planning…would Soarin still be this friendly to her if she was caught there? She couldn't ask him about it because she'd give away the whole party thing, so how could she find out if her friendship with him was in jeopardy?

"Um…Soarin, can I ask you something?" she twiddled her hooves nervously. Soarin gave her a nod and she hesitated, trying to think of a way to word this without giving anything about the party away. "Well…if I did something bad…ya know, if I set the Academy on fire or…broke a rule…you'd still be my friend, right?" she questioned him. Yeah, that wouldn't give anything away; nicely phrased, Dash.

Soarin squeezed her a little harder, so that she was pressed against his side. "Dashie, you know that I'd forgive you for anything, right? You could make the whole of Cloudsdale fall out of the sky and I'd still be your friend. I promise that nothing you could ever do could make me dislike you even in the slightest," he replied and Rainbow Dash felt happiness rise in her chest. She was so, so SO relieved! For some reason, the idea of Soarin not wanting to hang out with her anymore was devastating, and it stung to think about it.

"Thanks, Soarin, that means a lot," she smiled up at him. Soarin smiled back and ruffled her mane.

"No sweat, Dash…but, why would you even think I wouldn't be your friend? Is there something on your mind?" he looked at her all concerned-like.

Dang it.

Rainbow Dash tried to think up an excuse, deciding to go ahead with the simple 'friendship test' thing.

"Oh, I just wanted to find out just how good a friend you were," she lied. Luckily for her, she was a very convincing liar, so she had no trouble getting past Soarin's lie-detector. "And, on a scale of one to ten on the friendship chart, you're a…14," she decided. Soarin looked pretty proud of himself and leaned back against the wall.

"Well, being a good friend is what I do best," he bragged. "Besides, ya know, flying, eating pie, and of course being incredibly awesome," he crossed one hind hoof over the over, only to fall to the side, crashing to the floor before quickly jumping up and steadying himself again by resting his side against the wall, clearing his throat and looking coolly off to the side. "It's all about the recovery," he said as he flicked some dust off his shoulder.

"Like I said: doofus," Rainbow repeated her phrase from earlier. Soarin trotted over to her and flicked her nose.

"There, now we're even," he said. She'd insulted him and he'd made her nose sore, so they were cool. "So, how's about I teach ya how to fly through those hoops backwards? That way you can really show off to your friends," he asked. Rainbow Dash didn't miss a beat as she replied with a cheerful 'YES!'

"And, Rainbow Dash, you are okay right?" he asked her, putting a hoof on her shoulder and giving her a serious look.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Rainbow shrugged.

"Well, it's not like you to ask things like that. Is there something going on that I should know about?"

Yes.

"No way. Everything's A-OK," she insisted, putting on the most convincing face she could. Soarin raised a brow as if to say 'are you sure?' and Rainbow nodded. "Seriously, if something was wrong you'd be the first to know."

Soarin took a few seconds to scan her features, most likely looking for any way to tell that she was lying. Eventually he just smiled softly.

"Okay, as long as you're fine, then that's all that matters," he replied. Rainbow was taken by surprise as Soarin reached down and gave her a soft kiss on the forehead. It only lasted a moment, but it was enough to make Rainbow's cheeks heat up like crazy.

'_Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!'_ she repeated in her head, her brain doing somersaults. After that was over, Soarin headed to the door.

"Last pony to the hoops has to call the other one 'sir' or 'ma'am' for the rest of the day," he challenged her, his face rosy, too. The redness still displayed on her cheeks, Rainbow Dash spread her wings and whizzed out the door.

"It's so on!"

* * *

"Thank Celestia that's over," Spitfire grouched, coming back through the kitchen door, to find everything the way it had been before she had left the first time, only Soarin and Rainbow Dash had left, most likely to train. She was grateful that Soarin had offered to be Rainbow's mentor, even if she had been against it at first. She had originally thought that it wouldn't be fair to the other cadets, but eventually agreed with him on account of she believed that Rainbow Dash had the most potential and being trained by a professional flyer would be great experience for her.

She made her way over to the table, where Pinkie and Surprise were laughing over one of Surprise's tall tales; the one about how she, High Winds and Blaze had tried to save Ponyville from a dragon. She was still pretty mad at the three of them for pulling that little stunt.

"That was _you_!" Pinkie exclaimed. "With your mane like that I couldn't recognise you. It's so clear, now!"

"Yeah, I prefer my mane like this anyway," Surprise bobbed her head up and down to make her curly mane wobble around to match her movement. "And I guess the uniform makes a difference, too," she tugged at the tie of her officer's uniform. Pinkie Pie looked her uniform up and down.

"It suits you," she commented. "But, I really don't get why mares have to wear ties. I mean, if mares were meant to wear ties, you would see it in business places, right?" the pink earth pony put a hoof to her chin.

"Yeah…you're right," Surprise agreed. "It's like I'm wearing something made for a stallion."

"_Ouch,"_ Spitfire thought, looking down at her own uniform. Sure, it wasn't exactly something a typical mare would wear, but she never chose what the 'Bolts were supposed to wear. Captains, mare and stallion, had been wearing this kind of uniform all the way back to the time of General Firefly. Every morning when she got changed into her uniform, she got to see herself in the mirror and in her personal opinion she thought she looked pretty good in it. As Misty Fly had said once, it looked very 'Spitfire-ish.'

"Don't question the uniform, Surprise, or I might strip it off you!" the fiery mare snapped. Surprise's eyes bulged out of her head and she turned bright red. Spitfire thought about what she had said and almost had a panic attack. "NO! No, no, no, you idiot! It means I'll demote you!" she thumped a hoof on the table. Thankfully, before things could get any more awkward, Cinder trotted up to them and put her forehooves on the table so she could address the three mares.

"Do any of you want apple juice?" she asked timidly, looking down at the table's wooden surface.

"Yeah, we'd love some!" Pinkie Pie replied in her usual chipper voice, bouncing over to the little blue cadet. "Aaaw, you're so adorable!" she squeed, messing up Cinder's mane. The cadet turned red and shuffled her hooves before heading over to the other side of the room with Pinkie.

"So, Spitfire, how should I wear my mane for the air show tomorrow?" Surprise asked the captain, who just let out a small sigh.

"How about you just wear it however Pinkie Pie's wearing it? You seem to have everything else in common," she replied harshly, folding her hooves on the table and staring straight down with slitted eyes. Surprise knocked a hoof on the table to get the golden mare's attention.

"Okay, I didn't want to say anything to you, but you've been acting a little jealous lately," the white Wonderbolt told her friend, who groaned with agitation. Again with the jealousy thing? Really!?

"Well…maybe I am a little jealous, but do you blame me? You've been hanging out with Pinkie Pie for…" she looked up at the clock. "Almost five hours now, and you've been ignoring me!"

'_Pfft, do you sound pathetic right now or what? Quit whining like a baby already and get back to work!'_ her conscience teased her.

'_Oh, will you shut up?!' _Spitfire thought back.

"Well, that's just because you're working so hard," Surprise insisted, springing over the table to stand next to her captain. "You're my best friend, Spitz, and Pinkie will never be able to take your place. You can both be my BFF's, but only one of you can be my BFFWIAMC!"

"Your what?" Spitfire was flattered, but she found herself once again puzzled at Surprise's crazy language.

"Duh, my Best Friend Forever Who Is Also My Captain," the poofy maned pegasus explained, giving Spitfire a look that suggested that she thought it was obvious.

"Hey, Surprise!" Pinkie popped up between the two friends, placing two glasses of apple juice on the table. Spitfire was about to ask why she didn't have one but Pinkie Pie spoke first. "Wanna see who can eat the most jelly beans in a minute?"

"Hey, yeah! You come up with the best ideas Pinkie!" Surprise agreed. Spitfire felt that twisting feeling in her gut again and tried her best to banish it. She eventually allowed her head to sink to the table and her ears drooped.

'_Would you stop moping?! You're meant to be tough, so go do something… tough!'_

'_Like what?'_

'_I dunno… stamp things really hard?'_

'_Sounds good enough for me!'_

'_You're having a conversation with yourself in your head again aren't you?'_

'_Yes, yes I am!'_

* * *

Braeburn watched the three mares at the table, observing how Pinkie Pie and Surprise were leaving Spitfire out of all the fun. Sure, he didn't exactly see Spitfire as a pony who found fun…fun, but he could tell that she looked pretty hurt.

"What's up?"

"Huh?" Braeburn, as well as being pleased to have finally said something in this chapter, felt pretty embarrassed that Cinder had seen him so deep in thought. "Oh, nothin', Cindy."

"Are you sure? You just looked a little…confused there," Cinder sat on a chair so she was at eye level with the earth pony, who was struggling to get a blueberry stain off the counter.

"Yeah, really, everythin' is perfectly fine," he lied. Of course there was something wrong. He had been eavesdropping on the conversations of the other ponies and was very much aware of the jealousy Rainbow Dash and Spitfire were feeling because of their friends. He hated to see the two of them unhappy, even though one of the mares seemed easier to cheer up than the other.

"You're certain?" Cinder checked again. "Is there anything I can help you with?" she sounded pretty concerned for him. That was one of Braeburn's flaws; he was terrible at concealing emotions, worry and lies being a couple of the ones he was worst at hiding.

"Seriously, it was nothin', Cindy. And Ah've got this stain completely under control," he scrubbed the counter harder. Why. Wouldn't. This. Stupid. Stain. Come. OFF?! "But, if ya want, there are some dishes t' wash."

"Okay then," Cinder hopped down from the chair in that cute little spring of hers and headed over to the sink. That was a strange thing about this little mare, she didn't mind doing chores. Ever since she had started helping him out, she had been doing anything and everything he had asked her to do without one single protest. She actually seemed to enjoy baking and cleaning.

"Having some trouble there, Cowboy?"

Oh, holy mother of Celestia!

Braeburn's ears pricked up at the familiar voice of the mare behind him. He whipped round to face her, forgetting that he was still wiping the counter. "Captain-" he slipped and fell forward onto the floor. As fast as he could, he leapt to all fours and leaned against the counter trying to look cool, even though his stetson was wonky on his head and hung loosely off one ear. "Um…can Ah help ya?" he asked, pushing his hat onto his head. Spitfire shook her head at him.

"I suppose you're catching Soarin's clumsiness," she commented and Braeburn looked down at the floor, embarrassed. "And, I'm fine, okay…" she looked back over at the two mares. "They are annoying right, it's not just me," she looked expectantly at him. Well, Pinkie and Surprise hadn't irritated him in any way, but even he had to admit that their over-the-top perkiness was a little…frustrating. Wow, this must be how ponies felt when he greeted them at the Appaloosa station. Yikes.

"I guess?" he decided on saying.

"Look, I'm a little conflicted. I mean, I know that Surprise is allowed to have other friends, but for some reason seeing these two together makes me wanna kick something," to demonstrate she kicked out blindly with a hind hoof and managed to hit a chair, causing it to promptly topple over. She seemed to change her mind instantly…several times. "No, I have an obligation to my work so friends aren't even an option for me anyway. Ugh! But that doesn't make me hate those two and their stupid clingy friendship any less. NO! I respect all ponies and their dumb little decisions, so if Surprise wants to hang around with Pinkie Pie then that's fine by me. So, I'm gonna shut up about the subject and get back to work!" she settled, stamping a hoof on the ground to show that this decision was final. She gave Braeburn a small grin. "Thanks, Cowboy. You always know what to say," she nodded at him and then left.

"Um…yer welcome?" Braeburn called after her, aware that he had barely said a word. Usually it was the other way round for the two of them. Still, her last sentence had improved his mood greatly and he felt that familiar warmth in his face.

"Hey…Braeburn?"

The earth pony looked down to see Cinder tugging at his shirt.

"Yeah?" he asked her, dropping to all fours so she wouldn't have to sit on the chair to talk to him. The small cadet played absentmindedly with one of her pigtails.

"Do you mind if I ask you something…it's…kinda personal, though," she looked up at him with wide eyes that could make a dragon go 'aaaaaaw!'

"Oh, o' course," the earth pony stallion replied, smiling down at her warmly. Cinder looked down at the floor, still a little uncertain.

"Really? You don't have to answer me if you don't want to," she mumbled. Braeburn stroked her mane, feeling really attached to this cadet. They didn't know each other all that well but Braeburn was already thinking of her as a little sister kind of figure.

"You can ask me anythin' ya want," he assured her. Cinder held her breath and puffed her cheeks out as if she were worried of freaking him out or anything (which she was). Finally she exhaled and blurted the question out.

"Is Captain Spitfire your marefriend?" she sat on her haunches and let out a 'phew', looking pleased that she had managed to ask. Braeburn immediately blushed a blood red colour that he was unable to hide. He tried to ignore the happy feeling that the word gave him, but he just couldn't help but smile like a complete fool. He looked over at the door that the captain had walked out of.

"Ah wish."

Cinder gave an excited gasp and clapped her hooves together with glee. Braeburn gave her the sternest look he could and 'shushed' her. In response, Cinder 'zipped' her lip and bounded away, still looking pretty thrilled at the revelation. Okay, so one more pony knew, but fortunately they were two ponies Braeburn could trust. Still feeling warm inside he glanced back at the door.

"Ah wish," he repeated.

* * *

"Soarin, can you believe those two are _still_ eating those sweets?" Rainbow asked the stallion, looking with a faint hint of dislike over at the candy loving mares, who looked like they were beginning to get full.

"I honestly can't," Soarin replied. Even _he_ couldn't handle that much candy. Rainbow shot him a sly smirk.

"Pardon?" she asked. Soarin groaned and dipped his head.

"Sorry, _ma'am_, he muttered, since he had lost the race to the hoops, he had to call her that until the day was over…woohoo. He flapped over to the table where the mares were chewing on some liquorice and sat down next to Surprise. "Do you guys need some help eating that?" he offered, eying the delicious looking snacks spread out on the table with his mouth watering. Surprise lifted her head from the table and nodded.

"Sure, take anything you want," she affirmed and Soarin instantly reached for some peanut butter cups. Suddenly, Surprise slapped his hoof away and he winced with pain. Surprise may not be all that good in a fight, but when it came to slaps, she was a boss!

"What was that for?" he asked, giving her an evil eye.

"Anything but those. Those are mine," she told him and Soarin shrugged. He'd just choose something else. He stretched across the table to grab a box of jawbreakers. This time it was Pinkie Pie that slapped him.

"Ow!" Soarin drew his hoof back sharply. "What was that one for?" he shook his hoof, which was beginning to turn red from being hit.

"Those are mine, bud. Hooves off," she ordered him. Soarin looked around for something he was sure they wouldn't mind him taking. He eventually decided on some mega-mints.

*SLAP*

"What the hay are you doing!?" Soarin yelled at Pinkie and Surprise."

"You can't have those either," Surprise replied. "We were gonna split those between us fifty-fifty, right Pinkie?"

"Right," Pinkie grinned. Soarin put his head in his hoof and grumbled.

"Well, what can I eat?" he asked them. Pinkie and Surprise rifled through their stash of sweet sugary stuff, chattering to one another as they decided what they wanted to keep for themselves. Soarin leaned back in his chair, whistling as the two ponies pushed the candy around the table, organizing them in different categories. Soarin didn't hear what all the categories were, but he did catch them saying: 'Nasty', 'Tangy' and 'Sweet'.

"Okay then, Soarin. We've arranged the candies into different groups so it'll be easy for us to decide which ones you can have," Surprise announced, standing straight as if she were in the middle of a drill. Soarin sat up and looked over the candies. The table definitely did look less messy than it had been with the treats scattered over it in one huge heap.

"Great!" Soarin's tongue lolled out at the thought of candy. "So which ones are mine?"

"Those," Pinkie Pie popped up behind a pile of chocolates. Soarin raised a brow since it was obvious that he had hardly any of the sweets.

"That's it?" he asked. He knew he sounded ungrateful, but the other two ponies had enough candy to feed a large family for a week and he had these. "Um…what kind of chocolates are they?" he asked cautiously.

"These ones are the Swirly Mint Surprises," Pinkie held up one of the chocolates.

"And these are the Cherry Delights," Surprise added, picking up a hoof full of the other kind of chocolate. Soarin's face scrunched up with disgust.

"You mean the ones that taste like they're filled with toothpaste and the ones that are just full of smushed cherries?" he asked them. Pinkie and Surprise shrugged and nodded.

"Pretty much," they chorused. Soarin grunted and pushed the candy away.

"You can have 'em. I've lost my appetite," he made up an excuse, sinking back into the chair and folding his hooves.

"That's a first," Braeburn called from the other side of the room, earning a scowl from Soarin and a giggle from Rainbow Dash and Cinder. Soarin had only this morning been acquainted with Braeburn's new 'kitchen sidekick' as he had called her. Cinder was a pretty sweet little pony and from what he had seen, she had more interest in cooking and helping Braeburn out than flying. He had watched her fall down from the sky in drills several times and was beginning to question how she even got accepted into the Academy in the first place. She had no special tricks, or at least none that he had seen thus far, and was afraid of her own shadow. Kinda like that friend of Rainbow Dash's, um…Fluttershy, that was it.

"Psst!"

What was that? Soarin's ears pricked up and he looked from side to side, almost certain that he had heard somepony whispering.

"Psst!"

There it was again. He got up and turned round and round in circles, trying to pinpoint where that voice was coming from.

"Rainbow Dash!"

"Who's there?" Rainbow Dash began looking around, too. Phew, so Soarin wasn't hearing voices that didn't exist after all.

"Over here!"

Rainbow Dash headed over to a rack of spices, pushing the cans on the top shelf to the side.

"I'm not that tall," the voice from behind the rack deadpanned. Rainbow bent down and pushed the spices on the bottom shelf aside, only to see some green furred legs.

"Really?" the voice asked with disbelief. Rainbow finally pushed the cans on the middle shelf away and found herself eye to eye with that green cadet…Parasol…no, Paradise, that was it.

"What do you want, Paradise?" Rainbow asked, looking a little irritated to see her there. "And how did you get in here without any of us noticing you?"

"Oh you must not have recognised me coming in because I'm covered in pieces of the fourth wall," she answered.

"The what?" Rainbow cocked her head to the side.

"Oh, I got some of the insulation from the fourth wall of the Main Hall stuck in my mane. It must've made it look like I was somepony else," Paradise shrugged. "That makes sense, right?"

Soarin smiled and shook his head. "Not at all," he told her, knowing that her theory was completely bonkers. For one thing they had not seen anypony enter the room…oh, never mind, she was just being Paradise. "So what brings you by?" the pale blue Wonderbolt asked the green mare.

"Oh, I was just coming to see if Rainbow Dash could help me with the _arty-pay ights-lay_!" she hissed that last part to Rainbow. Fortunately for Paradise, Soarin couldn't understand Pig Latin, so they once again managed to get away with the _arty-pay_ with no issues.

"Sure, I'll help," Rainbow Dash agreed, sounding a little hesitant. Paradise led her out of the kitchen, whistling the Parasprite March as the door swung shut.

* * *

Spitfire poked her head over the serving counter, and didn't even try to hold back her seething groan as she saw Pinkie and Surprise still at the table…actually, they were _on_ the table now, on their backs with their hooves resting atop their slightly swollen tummy's.

The Wonderbolt captain had tried to focus on her work, but with Surprise always springing around in her brain it was almost impossible to focus. It had gotten to the point that she had become so distracted that she'd stamped her hoof instead of the paper. Eventually, at about 6 O'clock, she'd got fed up and stormed down to the kitchen, purely to see whether the Troublesome Twosome were still stuffing their faces with candy. All that candy had gone and by the looks of it the excessive eating had taken its toll on the pair of mares.

"Ugh…I've gotta go use the little fillies room," Pinkie Pie excused herself, letting out a belch before rolling off the table and trotting towards the door, still smiling despite the tummy ache she had.

"Hey there, Spitzter!" she greeted Spitfire as she left the kitchen.

Spitzter?!

'_Let her have it!'_

Spitfire almost agreed with that little pony in her head before stopping herself. She really _hated_ it when ponies gave her nicknames. She didn't exactly know why; it just really put her off big time!

"Hey, Spitfire!" Surprise called her over. Spitfire slunk over to the table the white mare was flopped down on, aware of the stares she was getting from Soarin, Braeburn and Cinder, who were all eating leftover fritters on the other side of the room, which of course reminded her that she had forgotten to eat dinner…and didn't get any of that chocolate Surprise had bought.

"What?" was all Spitfire said as she sat down by her teammates head, so she could look down into her purple eyes. It was quite an amusing sight.

"Do you think that tomorrow you could let announcer know about those Fizzy Cracker Jacker fireworks I got. I don't want the audience to be too surprised at the air show. Surprises are nice and all, but sometimes if they're too sudden they can just startle you," she asked.

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather have your new best friend and captain and uniform critic do it instead?" she answered her question with another question, turning away so that her left side was to Surprise. The white pegasus heaved herself onto her haunches with a grunt and scooted across the table so that she was sitting on the edge.

"Oh, Spitfire, we've been over this. There's no reason for you to be jealous," Surprise assured her, putting a hoof on her shoulder. Spitfire pulled away and stood up, flaring out her wings and standing at her full height to make herself look a little more threatening.

"Well I _AM_!" she declared, her orange eyes practically ablaze now. "I am _sick_ of the Twinzie stuff and I'm tired of you two pea brains ignoring me! I have more dignity than that!"

Right now she didn't care that everypony was staring at her, she couldn't focus on anything except how mad she was at Surprise.

'_Congratulations, loser, you've embarrassed yourself in front of your peers. Hope you're proud of yourself 'cause I'm not!'_

"Well, the only reason I'm not including you in the stuff we do is because whenever I ask _you_ if you want to do it you say no!" Surprise argued back. "Pinkie says yes all the time. Pinkie says she loves my ideas. Pinkie says-"

"_Pinkie says, Pinkie says!_" Spitfire mimicked Surprise's high pitched voice. "Who cares about Pinkie!?" she snapped, forgetting trying to spare Surprise's feelings. "…I guess it takes an idiot to like one, eh, Surprise?" For an awkwardly long time the room was quiet after that, the two Wonderbolt mares staring eachother down whilst the other ponies watched in silence, all secretly wondering whether they should step in and help out. Soarin cleared his throat and ushered Braeburn and Cinder out of the room, the only sound being the click as the door closed.

"That's…" Surprise looked away, beginning to look pretty hurt. A tear rolled down the white mare's cheek and she sniffled, before looking at Spitfire with an emotion she had never shown towards her before: anger. "That's the meanest thing you've ever said to me!" she choked out, biting back more tears. Surprise decided to fight fire with fire, wanting to hurt the captain as much as she had hurt her. "And…you've said some pretty mean things over the years. I never wanted to say this to you but sometimes you can be the biggest jerk in Equestria!"

Spitfire felt her heart twist and she fought to keep her stern face on. She was Captain Spitfire and she did _not_ get upset.

"I've been friendly to you ever since our Academy years, Spitfire. Even after you became Captain I gave you my friendship. Why? Because I didn't want you to feel alone. I know that you were shattered after… after…" Surprise bit her lip and trailed off. "…so, I wanted you to always have somepony there for you. I thought I'd be good enough, but you just keep pushing me away! So why now, all of a sudden, do you want my attention? I find a new friend and you want me all to yourself? Why would you put me in such a horrible position? I thought we were friends!" she started yelling. Spitfire had never seen Surprise so furious before, not even when somepony stole all her cookies. She was struggling to remain calm, a fact made obvious by that eye twitch of hers.

"I _am_ your friend, Surprise," she said through clenched teeth. Surprise shook her head rapidly from side to side.

"No, Spitfire, I…lemme explain something to you. Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between two or more ponies. When you're someone's friend, you put all your trust in them, support them and sometimes even give up your own time for them. You're too busy hating the world to even try to be a friend to me, but I still hung out with you, because I care about you. And if you can't see just how much I care for you then…maybe we're not best friends," Surprise continued her rant, saying that last part with a hint of regret. The two mares were silent for a while, as if they were having an intense staring contest. Finally Spitfire broke the silence with three words that made her chest hurt, as if something had just been ripped out of it.

"…maybe we're not…"

And then she left without another word.

* * *

Soarin led Braeburn and Cinder back into the kitchen, casting one last glance over his shoulder at the Mess Hall door that Spitfire had stormed through just a few seconds ago. Surprise was sitting back at the table, her head resting in the crook of her elbow, staring straight ahead at the wall. What worried Soarin the most was that she wasn't smiling. Surprise smiled 24/7, so seeing her in this state was a rarity, and not a good rarity.

Braeburn and Cinder awkwardly walked away to find something to clean whilst Soarin headed over to the table to sit next to Surprise. He wasn't all that good with words so he decided to stay silent, gently stroking the white Wonderbolt's poofy mane. Suddenly, somepony popped up next to him, and he jolted with shock.

"I heard everything," Pinkie Pie confessed worriedly, sitting on the other side of Surprise. "And I'm really sorry, Surprise. I didn't mean to cause a rift between two best friends," she pulled Surprise into a hug and softly nuzzled her forehead.

"It wasn't your fault, Pinkie," Surprise sighed. "I'm the one who said things that I didn't really mean," she buried her face in her hooves. To Soarin it was like listening to a completely different pony. The Surprise he knew always spoke in a high, lively voice, but this Surprise spoke in a lower voice that almost seemed to suck the life out of the room.

"Guys, what's going on?" Rainbow Dash opened the door and strode in. "I just saw Spitfire and she looked mad…well, madder than usual anyway," she told them. She then noticed Surprise miserably slumped on the table and she looked around the room as if looking for something. "Surprise…you aren't happy. Did… did I just walk through the door to a parallel universe?"

Braeburn pulled Rainbow Dash over to the side, most likely to explain to her what was going on. Soarin couldn't hear them because they were whispering, but he did see Rainbow nod her head a few times and her mouth fell agape once the earth pony had finished explaining. Soarin couldn't blame her though, he never thought he'd see the day where Surprise would be sad and Spitfire would be jealous, much less on the same day!

"Well, what are you guys just sitting around for?" Rainbow addressed the five other ponies in the room. "This is an obvious friendship problem, and besides being undeniably, unquestionably, awesomazing, my best quality is fixing those problems. Pinkie Pie and I will get this thing sorted out in no time," she explained her plan. Soarin knew how good Rainbow Dash was when it came to these friendship challenges, so he could happily trust her with this.

"So, what's your plan?" Cinder looked up at Rainbow Dash with eyes wide with interest. Boy, this cadet looked adorable no matter what she did. Rainbow's face immediately fell and the look on her face suggested that her mind was completely blank.

"I'll tell you how; the idea's just forming in my head…" Rainbow awkwardly looked away. Soarin could tell at that moment that Rainbow wasn't the one who came up with the plans most of the time; judging by what he knew about her Ponyville friends, Twilight Sparkle was the brains of the outfit. "We will… set up a tripwire outside Spitfire's office…" she plotted.

"A tripwire?" Pinkie looked at Rainbow Dash like she a complete buffoon. Great, you knew when something was strange when even Pinkie Pie was acting negatively towards it. Rainbow nodded once, gritting her teeth.

"Yes, a tripwire," she confirmed. It couldn't be more obvious that the cyan mare had no idea where she was going with this. "And then we'll surround her when she trips and annoy her until she agrees to be friends with Surprise again," just when Soarin thought she was done, she continued, looking oddly enthusiastic. "Or, maybe we'll get another trap; we'll get a net! And then when she trips the net will land on her. OR, we could weigh down the net with anvils so she'd be stuck!" Rainbow got a desperate look on her face. "It's brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!" she threw her hooves into the air with triumph. However, when she looked around the room at the assembled ponies she found that they were all staring at her like she had lost her mind. The reaction to Rainbow Dash's plan got…not-so-good reactions from the others.

"Um…"

"That was…"

"…yeah…"

"Well…"

"That idea is simply the worst."

Everypony stared at Pinkie Pie as if they were saying 'way to be subtle'.

"Rainbow Dash, as smart as you are, we're not going to trap Spitfire in a net," Soarin tried to be gentle, even though he was sure that Rainbow Dash detested her plan as much as the rest of them did.

"This is ridiculous," Surprise declared, getting up from her chair. Soarin finally snapped there and then, his eyes darting to each of the ponies in the room in turn.

"This is ALL ridiculous," he yelled. "Surprise is a depressed wreck, Rainbow Dash is being a nitwit, Spitfire's jealous; HAS THE WHOLE OF EQUESTRIA GONE MAD?!"

It was then his turn to be stared at as he lost it in the middle of the kitchen. Giving a final look around, he cleared his throat and slouched down in the chair, wanting to turn invisible.

"Continue, Surprise," he told the Wonderbolt mare to carry on speaking, resisting his urges to add 'please' at the end of that sentence.

"I'm gonna fix it myself," Surprise tucked her chair under the table as if preparing to leave.

"Yay!" Pinkie praised her Twinzie.

"My way," Surprise continued.

"No…" Pinkie Pie frowned.

"So first-"

"Yes?" Pinkie leaned forward, wanting to hear what Surprise was going to say next.

"I'm gonna make a trip to the candy store."

"No…"

"And then-"

"Hmm?"

"I'm gonna fix things with my BFFWIAMC!"

"Your what?" Rainbow asked only to have Surprise raise a hoof to silence her.

"I refuse to explain it twice in one chapter," she stated firmly, stomping a hoof gently on the floor and pointing her nose up.

"Seriously. Can't we go ten minutes without breakin' the fourth wall?" Braeburn threw a hoof in the air. Surprise shrugged.

"Meh, we'll try not to in the next chapter. For now, I've got some candy to buy!" she started to strut confidently out of the room, only to trip and flounder around to regain her balance.

"Tripped!" Pinkie called out, chortling a little. Surprise sneered at her playfully.

"No, I didn't. I meant to go out the door like this-" she then continued to thrust her legs every which way as she made her way to the door, trying to cover up her mistake. Finally, when the door closed, Soarin began to wonder if all the craziness had finally disappeared. Just then, Surprise popped up on the other side of the serving counter

"Oh, one more thing. Can one of you lure Spitfire down here for…" Surprise sighed and came back through the door. She looked up at the clock on the wall and nodded, walking back through the door and resuming her position by the counter. "…Seven O'clock?" she finished her sentence.

"I could handle that," Rainbow Dash volunteered. "I could tell her that…Soarin and Braeburn are being held hostage in the kitchen. And maybe I could say that it's burning down, too?"

"Okay, you really need to stop coming up with plans," Cinder shook her head at Rainbow Dash, who looked pretty astounded to see the dark blue cadet disagree with something.

"Fine. I could just say that Surprise has stuck herself to the table with bubble-gum and I need help pulling her off with a crowbar," Rainbow came up with another plan.

"It's pretty crazy how something that sounds so ridiculous could actually really happen," Soarin commented. Braeburn rubbed his forehead with a hoof.

"Ah wanna know how it got t' the stage o' muh life where that wasn't a strange sentence t' me," he murmured. Soarin really needed to go home and rethink his life.

"Okay, let's hop to it. Operation: Twinzie is at go!" Surprise gave them all a salute before whizzing off in a blur.

"…well …I guess we're all waiting," Soarin leaned back in his chair. For a long while afterwards there was no movement or speech of any kind whatsoever. It was especially, awkwardly quiet with the cricket chirping by the window, but Cinder managed to take care of that problem.

"So…anyone for a game of Go Fish?" Soarin finally suggested.

"Meh, why not?" Rainbow Dash shrugged.

* * *

"I can't believe it; I just don't believe it!" Spitfire huffed and she walked through the kitchen door with Rainbow Dash. "This is the third time this month that she's stuck herself to something with gum!"

"SURPRISE~!"

"Whoa!" Spitfire exclaimed as the white pegasus in question toppled her onto the floor. She looked up into the once again bright purple eyes of Surprise and grumbled. "Don't tell me this is your idea of an attack," she folded her hooves.

"Nope-a-rooni!" Surprise got off of the captain and reached out a hoof to help her up, only to have Spitfire push it away and get up herself.

"So, you called me down here just as I was about to head home because…" Spitfire waited for a response.

"Well, earlier I might have said a few things that I didn't intend to, so I just wanted to say that I'm sorry," she admitted. Spitfire still didn't look convinced. She had been a jerk, and she believed that nopony could forgive someone that fast.

"Do you need musical support?" Pinkie Pie piped up from her spot next to Soarin by an oven. She reached behind her back and pulled out a ukulele. "Because I was working on a little number while you were out and I think it could be of use here," she strummed the instrument a couple of times to show that she knew how to use it.

"No songs!" the other ponies chorused and Pinkie Pie gave a small shrug of her shoulders before putting the ukulele back where it belongs (not that anypony knew where that was). Surprise hopped forward and hugged Spitfire tightly before she could protest.

"I'm sorry for leaving you out…and calling you a jerk…and saying that you were a terrible friend. _I'm_ the terrible one for treating you like that. I guess I wasn't thinking about how you'd feel," Surprise confessed, nuzzling Spitfire's cheek, which the captain wasn't too comfortable with. Physical contact was not on her list of tolerated things, but she decided to deal with it just this once. She ignored the ukulele music that was playing in the background.

"I'm sorry, too," she admitted, grimacing when she discovered just how hard it was for her to say sorry. It was like the word was refusing to leave her mouth. "I shouldn't have been jealous of you and Pinkie. It was unprofessional and really, really stupid of me," she apologized, too. She had never even considered how hard it was to say such sentimental things.

'_GAG! It's like I'm watching one of those TV shows you like to make fun of,' _Spitfire's conscience taunted her, though she ignored it.

"Pweeeeease be my friend again!" Surprise almost begged the fiery Wonderbolt, giving her an extra tight squeeze. Spitfire rolled her eyes as Surprise latched onto her, clearly not going release her until she said yes.

"Fine," she sighed, though the corners of her mouth were pointing up. Surprise let out a happy 'YAY!' and hugged impossibly harder. Spitfire looked over her shoulder at the source of the ukulele music that was still playing. "Will you give it a rest already?" she asked Pinkie harshly. Pinkie Pie chuckled nervously and tossed the instrument over her shoulder, somehow causing cymbals to crash and a cat to screech (typical Pinkie Pie).

"I'm just as sorry as you are," the pink earth pony shuffled her hooves. "I didn't mean to come between you and Surprise, so from now on just tell me if I'm stepping on your hooves," she told the golden Wonderbolt, who for the first time, smiled at the excitable mare. Suddenly, Pinkie stood on her hind hooves and spread her arms wide. "Bring it in!" she squealed cheerfully. Spitfire, as said before, not a fan of physical contact of any kind, uncomfortably scuffed the ground with a hoof.

"Uh, no thanks," she declined. Still Pinkie Pie refused to get out of 'hug-mode'. "You really wanna hug me, don't ya?" she groaned. Pinkie nodded enthusiastically in response. Spitfire dipped her head and muttered something. "Fine, bring it in," she gave in. A second later, Pinkie was hugging her fiercely with enough force that she actually lifted Spitfire off the ground.

'_Can I quit my job as your conscience, 'cause you're just embarrassing me!" _the pony in Spitfire's head grumbled. Finally after a metaphorical eternity of hugging and humiliation, Pinkie let Spitfire go and hopped away to talk to Rainbow Dash, humming a sweet little tune. Once everypony's attention was away from the two mares by the door, Surprise cleared her throat to get the captain's attention.

"Hey, Spitz, I got ya something," She pulled some stuff out of her mane: Two chocolate plaques from the candy store. Spitfire's mouth immediately watered at the sight of chocolate. "And check it out…" she gave Spitfire her plaque, which had the signature Wonderbolt badge iced onto it, before revealing her own plaque, which also had the Wonderbolt badge on it. "We're Twinzies!" she sang. Spitfire felt uncharacteristically touched at the gesture and grinned despite herself.

"Thanks. I appreciate it," she looked up at her friend. "But, you and Pinkie Pie can be Twinzies," she then looked over to the side to make sure nopony was watching before wrapping her hooves around Surprise and hugging her, not anywhere at tight as the hugs she would get from Surprise. "I'm just glad we're 'Besties'."

"Me, too," Surprise hugged back, and not in that usual suffocating squash style of hers. Spitfire, being the tough captain she was, took the opportunity to give Surprise a warning.

"Still, if you ever tell anypony I said something so gushy I will skin you and hang your fur on my wall," she threatened. Surprise nervously laughed and patted Spitfire's back.

"Noted."

* * *

_Hi guys,_

_You won't believe it (well, Pinkie Pie will) but I had to deal with _another_ friendship problem today! I know that Rarity had to learn this lesson herself when Fluttershy got that modelling job and she became jealous, but I'm not so sure if anypony has had to deal with their friends hanging out with somepony else, 'cause I know that it feels pretty awful._

_Oh wait, what am I saying? I remember that Pinkie was a little jealous when me and Gilda were hanging out a few years back so she knows how it feels, too. I guess that's why she was so understanding today. But I even learnt for myself that seeing somepony you're really close to want to spend time with someone else can sting a little, but I suppose it's times like these when you discover just how loyal friends are to each other._

_I'm gonna get some shut-eye now. Dealing with friendship issues is tiring business, especially when you're the one coming up with all the plans…yeah, even I wouldn't believe that plan part. I just wanted to see how it looked on paper._

_I'll write to you tomorrow, as usual. Oh, and make sure that Pinkie Pie paid the hot air balloon pony this time._

_Yours friendshipilly,_

_Rainbow Dash_

* * *

**Endnote: Whew, that took longer than I thought to write but hopefully it was worth it. Anyway next chapter is Spring Song's party, and it's gonna be one insane ride.**

**Soarin's sister- check**

**Cake the size of a couch- check**

**Paradise dancing like an electrocuted monkey- check.**

**See ya then! **


	24. Party Poopers

**Authors Note: OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH!**

**100+ REVIEWS!**

**You guys are the BEST! When I first started writing this I never thought it would get 100 reviews, and we're only just halfway through! I really couldn't do this without all your reviews and support, so thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! (And congratulations, MidnightBlaze16 for being the 100****th**** reviewer!)**

Spiralwish- Thanks for catching those references! Austin and Ally is one of my favourite shows ever! Ya know, that chapter was never supposed to exist, but I was watching reruns of the show a few weeks ago when that episode came on and I thought to myself '_I can so imagine Surprise and Spitfire doing something like this' _then one thought led to another and I came up with that chapter. Plus, I thought it would be a good opportunity to get Spitfire to start appreciating friendship.

MidnightBlaze16- Good theory, buddy, but there's no way I'm telling anyone whodunnit until the time is right. And I did actually consider the 'sandwiches' thing, by the way. Also, I've got that song stuck in my head now. Oh, and if you're a TwiDash fan you should check out this video on YouTube: _**TwiDash- Hearts and Hooves Day**_… unless you've already seen it, of course.

Litestardt- YES! SOARIN'S SISTER! And I promise- no fourth wall breaks in this chapter…maybe.

RosaSilvermist- Whew. I'm so glad I got Pinkie's character right. She's one of the characters I struggle with the most, so I feel really relieved now!

YoungBlood23- ME TOO! You have no idea how much I just wanna skip the whole relationship building thing, but noooooo! I have to write their whole stories out word by word and it's so irritating! Oh well, I'll get there eventually… maybe sooner than you think. *suspense face*

Tycser- YEAHISAWWUTYOUDIDTHERE! Well, Pinkie Pie is tied with Rainbow Dash for my favourite of the Mane Six but she is darn near impossible to write and I sometimes wonder how the MLP writers manage to portray her so well all the time. I remember the first time I tried to write her I messed up by making her _too_ random. But I once got some pretty good advice which was to write Pinkie as you would write a five year old girl: always doing funny and strange things to have a good time, but is super awkward when there is a real problem, kinda like how she acts in Filli Vanilli. The bottle episode thing is sometimes boring, I admit, and I struggled to keep things interesting, but I'm so glad I managed to do an 'okay' job. Oh, and in this chapter you're going to see just how messy things can get… literally!

The Super Saiyan 3- There ya go! You're in an Authors Note! Anyway, thanks for sticking with this story for as long as you have, buddy, and hopefully it will just get better from here. *Brohoof*

**And this chapter has a special appearance from DJ Storm's OC (who is also Soarin's little sister), Rock Star.  
**

* * *

"I can't believe you're gonna do this," Lullaby groaned, looking at Rainbow Dash over the top of her Harry Trotter book. Rainbow was preening her wings by the mirror, struggling with a particular feather that kept sticking up. "And just because she called you a chicken," the purple pegasus tutted and resumed reading her book.

"I know, I know, I was being an idiot, but I can't go back on what I said now," Rainbow admitted, getting that feather to lie flat only for it to spring up again after a second or two.

"Why can't you? I won't think any less of you. In fact, I'd think better of you because this whole idea is ridiculous!" Lullaby argued, her eyes never leaving the words of her book. Rainbow Dash put her hooves over her eyes and sighed. Lullaby had literally been bugging her about this all day! When they first woke up, when they were changing for drills, during drills, whilst eating lunch, heading back to the dorms after dinner, and now here, in their room, whilst she was supposed to be chilling out before the party.

"Don't you think you're overreacting just a little bit? What's the worst that could happen?" Rainbow shrugged her shoulders casually. She was pretty confident that they could pull this off and not be caught. The Main Hall already had a lot of party stuff in it from previous cadet graduations, so Spring Song didn't even need to worry about sneaking a bunch of tables into the room. In fact, the only thing Spring Song had to sneak in was the food, and nopony would get suspicious when they saw a few cadets carrying a truckload of food to the Hall…okay, maybe a little bit, but that's why everypony had taken turns carrying small amounts down. As much as she hated to admit it, Spring Song was pretty good when it came to planning things out.

"No, I think this is the reaction anypony would have if their featherbrain of a friend was about to go into the Danger Zone!" Lullaby snapped her book shut and glowered over at Rainbow, who glared back.

"Lullaby, this is nothing like the Danger Zone!" Rainbow argued. She finally finished preening her feathers and looked in the mirror to admire how awesome they looked. Yeah, even her wings were made of pure epicness.

"Well, maybe it's not, but it's still completely ludicrous! You're going to a party that's going against Academy regulations and being hosted by your arch nemesis whilst risking the trust of your mentor. If that isn't insane then I don't know what is!" Lullaby ranted.

"This conversation," Rainbow Dash deadpanned before walking out the door and closing it behind her. She leaned back against it and exhaled with relief at being away from her annoying Jiminy Cricket of a friend. There was still about twenty minutes until the Wonderbolts left for the airshow, so she decided to go see if Soarin and Braeburn were in the kitchen. That was usually where they were when they weren't working…well, Braeburn was in there whether he was working or not, but now this is just going off topic.

She headed to the Mess Hall and peered over the counter, where Soarin was flopped over the dishwasher, dressed in his flight suit, catching a quick nap before the air show. She had discovered that Soarin liked to snooze before a show for no apparent reason. He had said it was because he was afraid of falling asleep in mid-air, but she knew that he was just lazy. Braeburn and Cinder were there, too, silently squirting whipped cream onto Soarin's hoof. Rainbow Dash knew this prank very well and decided to be quiet and observe.

"C'mon, Cindy, ya know what t' do," Braeburn whispered to his little assistant, who spread one wing and plucked a feather out of it before hovering a few feet into the air and tickling Soarin's nose with it. Soarin only wrinkled his nose and grumbled in his sleep. After a few more tries, Cinder touched back down on the ground.

"Why isn't it working?" she hissed up at the earth pony, who looked equally as puzzled as her. He pulled out another of the blue cadet's feathers in his teeth and reached over to tickle Soarin's nose with it. This time it worked…sort of. Soarin reached up with a hoof to get rid of the itch and ended up hitting Braeburn in the face with the cream. The earth pony fell back with surprise and landed on his haunches with a loud thud. Cinder burst into a fit of giggles and Soarin sat upright.

"Whooza?" he groggily looked around, before noticing Braeburn on the floor. "Oh, hey there Brae. I'm not so sure you're supposed to wear food like that but I like your style," he said naively, earning a grunt of exasperation from his friend, who proceeded to wipe the stuff from his face. Rainbow burst out laughing, alerting the others of her presence.

"Oh, um…how much o' that did ya see?" Braeburn asked her, looking a little embarrassed. Rainbow sniggered and gave him a teasing stare.

"Every humiliating moment," she replied, shaking her head at him. Braeburn emitted a pained sigh and pulled his hat over his eyes.

"So, did ya want anything, Dashie?" Soarin asked her, rubbing his eyes and hopping off the dishwasher, stumbling a little before straightening himself up. Rainbow flapped over the counter and stood next to him.

"Just wanted to hang out for a while; I know we can't train today 'cause of the airshow but I didn't think that was an excuse for me to not stop by," she explained. Soarin gave her a grateful smile and ruffled her mane.

"Getting clingy, huh?" he teased her. Rainbow smirked and chuckled. True, she had grown closer to Soarin over the past month or so, but she wouldn't exactly call herself clingy. "Well, Spitfire wants us all to leave early so we can set up the fireworks. Surprise somehow even convinced the pony who runs the arena if we could borrow that cool rising platform room underneath it," Soarin told her about the air show. At that moment Rainbow Dash felt a twinge of jealousy that she wasn't able to go and see them.

"Man, I wish I could watch," Rainbow sighed. "It'd be so awesome to see you guys suddenly rise up out of the ground and then take off as a bunch of fireworks exploded around you all and then-"

"Whoa, Rainbow, easy there," Braeburn snatched a vase out of the way as Rainbow Dash gesticulated with her hooves whilst she described her imaginary performance. Rainbow put her arms behind her back and whistled innocently.

"Yeah, but we're gonna tell the other 'Bolts about the platform thing when we get there. Surprise wants it to be a surprise, no shockers there, so the only ponies who know are me, her and Spitfire," the co-captain said. He then reached out to the side and slapped Braeburn on the back, causing him to drop the vase. Luckily, Cinder was there to catch it. "And Braeburn's gonna be a roadie."

"Eeyup," Braeburn confirmed smugly, before whispering to Soarin out of the corner of his mouth. "What's a roadie?" he asked. Soarin rolled his green eyes.

"A roadie is a pony who sets things up for the performances," he explained. Braeburn got a blunt look on his face.

"So, basically Ah hafta do all the hard stuff," he grumbled. Soarin looked uncomfortably off to the side.

"Um…well…yes, but we can help you out," the pale blue Wonderbolt insisted, the look on his face suggesting that he wasn't telling the truth. Braeburn still didn't look convinced, probably sensing that Soarin was fibbing.

"Soarin, Ah'm not gonna do all that stuff. It's too much work fer just me t' handle and the chances are Ah won't get extra pay for it. So muh answer is no!" he stubbornly refused. The Wonderbolt stallion gave his friend a rough shove and Braeburn slumped away into the storage closet. Soarin shook his head at Rainbow Dash.

"Well, somepony's obviously not the helpful type," he tutted. "Still, I don't really care whether we have help from him or not as long as we get the air show done without any surprises."

"SURPRISE~!" a pair of hooves appeared on Soarin's shoulder and the pegasus stallion shrieked in an embarrassingly high voice. He backed against the wall, looking like he'd just seen a ghost, while his 'attacker' laughed her head off. Rainbow looked at the mare, expecting to see Surprise, but no. Instead of Surprise it was a charcoal black mare with a fiery red mane who looked a little younger than Rainbow Dash. Her cutie mark was a drum set and electric guitar and she had a grey beanie on her head.

"Well, I was at least expecting a 'hello'," she teased Soarin, who was feeling his neck for a pulse. He looked both thrilled and irritated at this strange pegasus. He finally got a grip and dove for the mare, squeezing her and ruffling her mane. "Hey, knock it off!" she whined at him through her giggles.

"Rock Star, it's been forever since I've seen ya," Soarin nuzzled her forehead. Rainbow Dash was instantaneously perplexed by the two of them. Soarin definitely knew this mare and seemed pretty okay with hugging her. She cleared her throat to get their attention.

"Um, hi there," she waved. "So, yeah, er, who's this?" she nodded at Rock Star. The black pegasus playfully slugged Soarin's shoulder so he would release her from their hug.

"Rock Star: Best singer, guitarist and drummer in Cloudsdale," she introduced herself. Soarin then grabbed her and put her in a headlock, making her squeal and wriggle as she tried to escape.

"And she's also the best little sister in Cloudsdale, too!" Soarin added, guffawing as Rock Star tried to punch him to get him to let her go. Rainbow felt a happy emotion rise in her chest as he said the word 'sister', though she couldn't figure out why. For a minute there she had thought that this was his marefriend or something; but then again if he had a marefriend he would have told her.

"I didn't know you had a sister, Soarin," she eyed him, wondering how she hadn't known. She knew a lot about the Wonderbolts, but surprisingly not about the ponies they were related to. Heck, most of the time she failed to acknowledge that the 'Bolts even had _parents _let alone siblings.

"You never told her about me?!" Rock Star shoved Soarin away from her and smirked at him. "Big bro, I thought you'd tell anypony who walked by about your awesome, musically talented sister," she sounded insulted, but smiled the whole time.

"Well, between training her and performing, I haven't had the time to talk about my family with her," Soarin explained, though Rock Star just ignored him.

"There's always time to talk about family, Soarin. I'm always telling ponies that my brother is the Wonderbolt co-captain," she told him. Soarin just rolled his eyes at her.

"Well, the Wonderbolt thing sounds cooler than-" he stopped talking when he saw Rock Star giving him a warning glare. "…Heh…when was the last time I told you I love you?" he nervously wrung his hooves.

"Rock Star?" Braeburn came out from his storage and looked over at the black mare. Rock Star gasped and jumped over to the earth pony, giving him a hoof bump, then a hug.

"Brae, it's been forever. Didn't expect to run into you, especially here…why _are_ you here?" she asked curiously. Braeburn then proceeded to explain the whole story of how he needed money from this job to her. The entire time she listened with interest and once he had finished telling her the tale she snorted with laughter.

"Dude, only you could mess up selling apples," she took his hat off his head and bonked him on the nose with it. Braeburn quickly snatched it back from her and sighed with irritation. Rock Star then looked over to the side and saw Cinder sitting on a chair, looking at her with wide eyes. Letting out a squeal, Rock Star fluttered over to her and wrapped her arms around her, squeezing her tightly, while Cinder writhed around, trying to get free, her face red. "You are the most _adorable_ thing ever!" Rock Star teasingly rubbed her cheek against the small cadets, who stopped struggling and hung limply, looking like she just wanted to disappear. After a while, Rock Star let Cinder go, and the little blue mare sat there, still flushed from all the hugging.

"Um…thanks," she shyly smiled, trying to get her now ruffled mane back into place. Rock Star, still grinning leaned against the counter.

"So, what's your duty around here?" she asked Cinder before giggling. "I just said 'doody'" she said to Soarin, who joined his sister in snickering. Cinder cleared her throat hesitantly.

"I just help Braeburn with stuff…and I'm training to be a Wonderbolt," she added that last part after some delay. Rainbow would have thought that she would have said that part first. Rock Star shot another glance at Braeburn.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly wanna be bossed around by a stallion who can't even sell fruit without messing something up…" she trailed off and gave the Appaloosan stallion a playful stare. "But, hey it's your life," she shrugged. Rainbow saw Cinder cover her mouth with a hoof as if she was trying not to giggle and Braeburn let out an unamused huff.

"Rock Star, d'ya think you can dial down the humiliation just a tad?" Braeburn put his head in a hoof. Rock Star, however just took the opportunity to make fun of him a little more.

"Nope. So, lemme get this straight, you get kicked out of the apple selling business 'cause your food wasn't good and then you get a new job where you have to feed an entire building of pegasi. Where's the sense in that?" she shrugged her shoulders. Rainbow Dash had to admit that the humorous mare had a good point.

"Well-"

"Ya know, he's not just a cook," Soarin cut his earth pony friend off. "He's a pretty useful member of staff; he fixes things, helps out when I train Rainbow Dash sometimes and he's even our roadie," he listed the things that Braeburn did. The stallion folded his arms and glowered over at Soarin.

"Ah thought Ah said Ah wasn't doin' that job," he cocked an eyebrow. At that moment, Spitfire opened the kitchen door, also dressed in her flight suit and addressed the two stallions.

"You guys ready? Everypony's out front for a head count. Oh, Cowboy, you're still helping with set up, right?" she asked. Rainbow Dash was flabbergasted as Braeburn's decision made a sharp U-turn.

"Yes, ma'am, Ah'm doin' it, ma'am. It's no problem at all fer me, and ya don't even hafta pay me extra. Yep, Ah'm yer roadie," he hurriedly rambled. The reactions from around the room made Rainbow Dash more confused than ever, Soarin face-hoofed, Cinder giggled, Rock Star's eyes popped out of her head and she shoved a hoof in her mouth to keep her laughs from escaping, Braeburn turned red and Spitfire just stood there, looking like she thought she'd stepped through the door to Nutcase City.

"…Okay," she replied awkwardly before noticing Rock Star. "Hey, I know you," she looked the mare up and down. "Rock Star, right?" she got a nod of affirmation from the mare in question. "Soarin's…" she ceased talking, her mouth open but no words coming out. Rock Star looked over at Soarin, who refused to meet her gaze before turning to face the Wonderbolt captain again.

"Sister," she finished the golden mare's sentence for her. Spitfire gulped and nodded, tugging at one of the sleeves of her flight suit.

"Yeah, that," she shifted her eyes to the side. "So, um, I hate to be a bother but-" she then decided to stop being polite. "Oh, who am I kidding, it's role call time! Let's move 'em out" she turned and headed out the door sharply, barking the order over her shoulder. Rainbow locked stares with Soarin.

"What was that about?" she asked him. Soarin just shrugged.

"Oh, nothin'," he said. Rainbow was about to ask whether he was telling the truth or not but after that Soarin seemed pretty desperate to leave. "C'mon, Brae, she'll bite our heads off if we don't get out the front pronto," he beckoned for Braeburn to follow him out the door. He quickly pulled Rock Star in for a final hug. "I'll catch ya later, sis," he promised her. Rock Star made a 'meh' sound.

"Yeah, I was about to head out anyway. I've got a club gig. That's lingo for a gig... via club," she gave Braeburn and Cinder another hug, hoof bumped Soarin, and shook Rainbow Dash's hoof before heading out the door. Soarin and Braeburn said bye to Rainbow, too before the door swung closed and they were gone. Rainbow looked up at the clock, her stomach seeming to twist as she realised that it was almost time for the P-A-R-T-Y.

"Hey, Cinder, are you going to Spring Song's party?" she asked the little blue mare, who hastily shook her head.

"No way, Rainbow Dash! I'm not hanging around with Spring Song all night. She…she kinda scares me," she admitted, hanging her head.

"Hey, don't be ashamed," Rainbow smirked. "Spring Song scares everypony," she added, getting a snort of laughter from Cinder. The blue cadet hopped down from the chair she was sitting on and the two of them walked out the door.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash, do you think you can at least tell me about the party in the morning? I'm too afraid to go myself but I still wanna know what goes on at parties," she bashfully looked down at the ground, and she would have crashed into the Mess Hall double doors if Rainbow Dash hadn't warned her to look up. She wasn't really in the mood to give the little blue mare the 'keep your head up' pep-talk again, so she kept her mouth shut.

"Okay, I'll catch ya later," Cinder said when they made it to her room. "I bet Bumble's already left," she muttered to herself as she pushed the door open and went in. Rainbow Dash waited until she heard the latch of the door click into place before traipsing down the hall, coming to a halt outside hers and Lullaby's room. She put a hoof on the door handle and stopped, debating whether or not she should open it. Lullaby would just bombard her with questions and make her feel guilty about the whole party thing. No… she couldn't face her, not now. Besides, it wasn't like there was anything in there she needed to retrieve before heading down to the party.

"Rainbow Dash?"

"Huh, what?" Rainbow looked over at the source of the voice, her sudden movement making the mare who had talked jolt with surprise.

"Whoa, no need for that reaction, Dash," Beau remarked, fluffing her high ponytail out. "So, are you heading for the party, now? Spring Song had better make this thing work," she began heading down the hall and Rainbow Dash, deciding that she needn't see Lullaby again before the party, walked next to her.

"Yeah, she's really put a lot of thought into this," Rainbow admitted, feeling ashamed for complimenting her rival.

"Well, still, if even one thing goes wrong I'm gonna bolt outta there faster than General Firefly on steroids," Beau vowed.

"Same here; Spring Song and I aren't exactly 'buddies' right now, so I'm gonna stay alert," Rainbow agreed. "If she makes a wrong move then I'm leaving, too."

"Great. We stick together, right Dash?" Beau nudged Rainbow's shoulder, and Rainbow shoved back gently, not managing to reach the dark pink mares shoulder since Beau was a lot taller than her.

"I just really hope Spring Song knows what she's doing," Rainbow sighed, though in truth she feared for herself. She still didn't trust Spring Song as far as she could throw her and there was no way she was starting now. Tonight she was going to stay alert and she didn't know it yet, but she would need to.

* * *

"What's the password?" Paradise, wearing her cactus disguise, asked from her post beside the huge, blue-painted, double doors to the Main Hall. She peered out at Rainbow Dash and Beau through a pair of eyes holes cut into the side of the vase she had squeezed herself in.

"What password? I didn't know there was a password!" Beau spat at 'Para-plant'. "And why do we even need a password?"

"I made up a password so that I know whether or not ponies are who they say they are, or evil alien overlords come to destroy us all!" Paradise explained. Rainbow Dash and Beau shared an incredulous look, both now 100% sure that Paradise was completely mental.

"Well, what's the point in making up a password if you don't tell anypony what it is? How are we meant to know it?" Rainbow Dash snapped down at the green pegasus, who made a humming sound as if she was thinking.

"You could always try guessing the password," she suggested. Rainbow Dash pictured her making a shrugging motion, but from the position she was in within that vase, a shrug would probably make her dislocate something. Seriously, how did she fit in that thing?! Beau pulled Rainbow Dash over to the side.

"Seriously, Paradise is so random the password could be anything," the dark pink cadet grumbled. Rainbow Dash tried to think of what the password could be; it was something Paradise-ish, she was certain. Beau stood up at her full height, which was pretty unnecessary since she already towered over all the cadets and most of the Wonderbolts, and sneered down at Paradise.

"You thought of it already?" Rainbow asked. Beau nodded.

"Yes. Paradise, you like funny words, right?" she asked the cadet in the cactus.

"Yeah! I love funny words!" she confirmed. Beau rubbed her front hooves together and sat down.

"Well, I have a funny word for you. The password is…" she paused to smirked down at Paradise and Rainbow leaned against the wall, curious to find out what Beau was about to say. "Rumpelstiltskin!" she declared. Rainbow Dash shifted her eyes to Paradise.

"Nope," the green mare sounded pretty smug, and Rainbow was sure that if she wasn't inside a vase she would look it, too. Beau didn't seem to be giving up any time soon, however.

"Kumquat," she guessed again. Rainbow thought that was actually a pretty good guess, since that was one of Pinkie Pie's favourite words and if anypony knew funny things, it was Pinkie.

"No," Paradise informed Beau, who rolled her eyes and frowned.

"Summer squash?"

"Nu-huh."

"Sandwich?"

"Wrong again."

"Pickles?!"

"No!"

"Hold on, why are all your guesses based on food?" Rainbow Dash asked Beau, who sighed and looked down at her tummy.

"I'm hungry, okay," she admitted before she continued her wild guesses. "Uno? Dos? Tres? Cuatro?"

"Nuevo incorrecto," Paradise revealed and Beau let out an annoyed hissing sound.

"Lions? Tigers? Bears?"

"Oh my…" Rainbow gave an exasperated sigh and buried her face in her hooves, feeling a little embarrassed for Beau. She had learned that while the pink mare was well organized and cared a lot about appearances, she also had a tendency to make a fool of herself on occasion.

"Tail? Ears? Wings? Hooves?" Beau kept on trying. Great, she'd resorted to guessing parts of the pony body now.

"Circle? Square? Triangle? Octagon?!"

"Still no," Paradise sounded pretty bored now.

"It probably isn't stripy…but it could be polka-dot!"

"No."

"I knew that was a long shot," Beau hung her head.

"Beau, just stop," Rainbow almost pleaded, but the pink mare just ignored her.

"It might be armadillo… but knowing you, it's probably not."

"Nope, it's not," Paradise confirmed, and Rainbow could see her roll her golden eyes.

"Kaleidoscope? Kindergarten? Bunny? Honey? Kittens? Paws?"

"Okay, this is just getting weird," Rainbow Dash commented, blowing a stray lock of her mane out of her eyes.

"Water balloon? Dental floss? Spaghetti with tomato sauce?!"

"I'm _begging_ you to stop," Rainbow Dash mumbled.

"Elephant? Pumpkin pie? Colossal hippopotami? Private eye? Hue and cry? I'm running out of words to try!"

"One can only hope," Rainbow Dash sat down and leaned against the wall, pretty close to just bailing on the party idea and leaving.

"OOOOH! Is the password 'Paradise'?" Beau guessed, pressing her nose against the vase, so that her eyes were pretty close to the green mares. Rainbow made sure to look down the hall every now and then, realising that the racket they were making could cause Whiplash or Fast Clip to come and investigate. That was the last thing they needed!

"No, it isn't," Paradise groaned, her voice sounding echoey from inside her disguise. Beau rubbed the sides of her head as if she was trying to massage an idea into it.

"That's okay, I've got a lot more," she told Paradise. Both Rainbow Dash and Paradise let out a moan in sync. Make it stop!

"Robin? Sparrow? Bow and arrow? Oreo? Parakeet? Drama? Llamas? Old pajamas? Yokohama? Blunt force trauma?"

Rainbow let out an agonised grunt and slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor. She wasn't sure she could take much more of this.

"Jalapeño? Jelly-beano? Cappuccino? Palomino?"

"Shut up!" Rainbow Dash yelled at Beau, who by now seemed oblivious that she was even sitting there.

"Penguin? Squirrel? Boy or girl? Ruby? Opal? Emerald? Pearl?"

"Can you just give up?" Paradise uttered, most likely wondering whether she would be allowed to climb out of the vase and run.

"Tenor? Bass? Piano? Treble? Alto? Mama Mia? Is it organization or ketosteroid?"

"What's that?"

"I've no idea! Is it eggs and bacon?"

"No."

"Forsooth forsaken?"

"No."

"Dragons?"

"No."

Wagons?"

"No."

"Cat? Hat? Bat? Rat?"

"No. No. No. NO!"

Beau took a deep breath. "I've got it, I've got it! It's… um…" finally she raised her hooves into the air to show she surrendered and slouched down on the floor, looking a little out of puff.

"You okay?" Rainbow asked, just glad that it was all over. Beau shrugged.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But that was every word I know… and even some I don't," she admitted, rubbing the back of her neck whilst her ears drooped. Paradise whistled softly to get their attention.

"Welp, you two aren't getting in, so just head back to the Mothership," she told them. Just then, Rainbow Dash got an idea as to what the password could be. She moved to sit in front of Paradise and looked down her nose at the vase she was in.

"Paradise, is the password 'Spring Song'?" she guessed.

"N-WHAT?" she gasped, jolting up clean out of the cactus. "Aw man, I didn't think you'd get it," she headed over to the door. While Paradise performed some kind of secret knock on the door, Rainbow Dash glanced at Beau who was staring straight ahead with her jaw slack.

"Heh… easy, right?" she teased the pink mare, who just made a 'meep' sound and sunk lower to the floor, knowing that she would never get the five minutes she had spent guessing back. Some shuffling was heard on the other side of the door and Spring Song opened it up.

"Hurry up, you morons," she snapped at them. "You're late!"

Rainbow Dash noticed that nearly all the other cadets were already there. Wait…how?

"Paradise, did you give the other pegasi the password warning?" Rainbow asked the green mare who nervously twiddled her hooves.

"Well... no… but I thought Spring Song would appreciate it. She doesn't really like you that much, ya know?"

"Why I oughta-" Beau started advancing on Paradise so Rainbow Dash quickly stuck a hoof out to stop her from throwing the crazy cadet clean off Cloudsdale. Before Paradise did anything else to annoy her, Beau went over to talk to Bumble and Tempest who were eating by the small table of snacks Spring Song had found in the closet (the table, not the snacks). It looked like she didn't want to do too much work and had only brought out one table. It was just big enough so that everything fit on it without falling off, but was still pretty cramped.

The room had the lights turned down enough that it was dark but still light enough to see to give it a party like feeling and Rainbow heard music playing, though it was at a low volume just in case one of the guard ponies got too close to the door. Hopefully, Paradise wouldn't let that happen, though… okay, maybe putting trust in Paradise wasn't the smartest of moves, but then again she was the only pony Rainbow Dash knew that could fit in such a tiny space. She still wanted to know how she managed to do that. Rainbow Dash's mouth gaped open when she saw the cake in the centre of the snack table.

"Whoa, Spring Song, I knew you were loaded but that thing looks _really_ expensive!" Rainbow said to the blonde devil-mare. It was taller than Rainbow Dash, Paradise, Spring Song and even Beau stacked on top of eachother, was decorated with red velvet frosting and had small white flowers iced onto it literally everywhere! If Rainbow peered at it closer she could see light pink swirls littering it. It must have taken forever to make; Rainbow Dash wasn't even sure that Pinkie Pie and the Cakes could make something this advanced.

"Oh it wasn't that much," Spring Song casually examined one of her freshly polished hooves. "52,000 bits put a little dent in Aunt Sunny Money's bank account, but it's nothing we can't just earn again."

If Rainbow Dash had been drinking something she would have sprayed it right out. "52,000 BITS?!" she exclaimed. That was almost as much as her house! She looked back over at Spring Song, who to her surprise was reading a _newspaper_!

"Yeah? So?" she didn't even look up from the page she was on.

"So, that's a lot of bits! I'm just impressed!" Rainbow admitted. She hated that she was a little envious of Spring Song. Still, who wouldn't be in this situation? "Are you even listening?" she asked the pink cadet, who looked up from her newspaper.

"Hmm? Oh, sorry, I'm just so used to ponies complimenting me because of my money. It's got really old," she returned to reading. Rainbow Dash looked over at Paradise, who had just come back from covering up all the gaps in the door and filling the keyhole with putty. The cyan pegasus still wasn't sure whether the room was completely soundproof or not, but decided not to question it. Paradise seemed unphased by _Stink_ Song's snootiness, most likely because she'd been dealing with it since they had first interacted.

"Hey, what are you reading? Shouldn't you be partying with everypony else?" she walked behind Spring Song and peered over her shoulder at what she was reading. Paradise got excited at that idea.

"Yeah, let's party, Spring Song!" she got up onto her hind legs and bounced up and down flailing her forehooves around in the air. Spring Song decided to ignore her, which was probably for the best because Paradise's dancing made her look like a chimp trying to climb an invisible rope.

"Oh, I'm just checking out my horoscope," Spring Song replied, holding it to the side so Rainbow Dash couldn't see it. She smiled ecstatically at Paradise, who had stopped dancing. "Apparently I'm gonna get kissed tonight!" she squealed, and Paradise hopped up and down, squeeing like a crazed fan. Suddenly, there was some silent knocking at the door and Spring Song jumped, dropping the paper in her hooves. Paradise instinctively switched off the radio and tiptoed to the door, moving the putty in the keyhole just enough that she could see through it. Letting out a sigh, she looked over her shoulder at the concerned cadets.

"Everything's fine, it's just Ray, Free Fall and Sugar Swoop," she informed them and Spring Song let out an exhale of relief and wiped some sweat from her brow. At least Rainbow knew that she did actually care about not getting caught. Paradise opened the door and ushered the three stallions inside before closing it again and blocking it with the putty and the draught excluders that they were using to conceal the bottom of the door. The green mare then switched the radio back on and took her usual spot beside Spring Song. The pink she-demon mare, who at some point had picked the newspaper up again, looked down at it hopefully and then cast her gaze towards the yellow stallion she fancied.

"There he is," she smirked, reading her horoscope over again. Rainbow Dash looked at Spring Song as if she were a massive loon.

"Wait a second. You think Ray is gonna kiss you?" she asked, raising a brow. Spring Song rolled her eyes at the blue coated pegasus.

"Well, duh! He likes me, doesn't he?" she gave Paradise a glance and the loyal cadet nodded to show that she thought Spring Song was correct. Rainbow Dash sighed and looked from Ray to Spring Song.

"Look, Spring Song, I don't think he wants to kiss you. I don't even think he sees you in that way," she told the pink mare, who slitted her eyes at her before looking away and fluffing out her blonde bob-cut mane.

"Pfft. You don't know what you're talking about," she tossed Rainbow's musings away like garbage. "Paradise, why are you just standing there? You're meant to be on guard duty!" Spring Song snapped. Paradise sunk to the ground.

"Um…it's kinda cramped in the-"

"Do it!" she gave Paradise a little shove to get her moving. The green mare sprung to her hooves and was out the door as fast as she could, leaving Spring Song to replace the draught excluder. Rainbow Dash decided to go and talk to somepony. Lullaby wasn't there so she couldn't hang around with her first choice, but there was always another pony there to talk to. So, for around twenty minutes she talked to Butternut and Free Fall… well, Butternut did most of the talking because that mare couldn't shut up for a full minute. Suddenly-

"You're busted!" somepony grabbed Spring Song by her shoulder and she screamed from the surprise. She whipped round to face the pony who had scared her and was met with a hysterical Tempest. The orange stallion was laughing like there was no tomorrow at the stunt he had pulled on Spring Song.

"Man, you should have seen your face!" he wiped a tear from his eyes, still chuckling. "It was the best thing ever!"

"You complete ass!" Spring Song jabbed him in the chest. "You could have-"

Just then there was a rhythmic, frantic knock on the door and Spring Song's eyes shrunk.

"Celestia damn it, that's the warning knock! Everypony hide!" Spring Song rushed over to the side of the room and turned the lights all the way down while Ray switched the radio off. The cadets hid wherever they could, which wasn't easy since the Main Hall was almost completely empty, aside from a few stacked chairs and the table that Spring Song had set up on one side of it. Rainbow Dash sat down on the left side of the door, so that if the door opened she would be hidden behind it. Unfortunately she wasn't the only pony with that idea and Spring Song, Tempest, Ray and Stains crowded around her, none of them daring to breathe. It was so silent that all Rainbow Dash could hear were the approaching hoofsteps from outside. Actually, now that she thought about it; being in a huge room, in the dark, where all you could hear was hoofsteps and the fast-paced beating of your own terrified heart was pretty scary.

"I'm sure I heard something," Rainbow Dash heard Fast Clip say, his hoofsteps slowing down until they stopped altogether.

"Like what?" Whiplash's slightly gruffer voice responded.

"It was a scream; you must have heard it, too," the white pegasus guard told his companion. Rainbow Dash, along with several other ponies glared at Spring Song, who shot a menacing scowl at Tempest, making the green maned stallion shrink lower to the floor with shame.

"Fast Clip, you're just imagining things. I would know it if anypony had screamed," Whiplash denied his colleagues accusations. A hoof could be heard stomping on the floor.

"But, you're half deaf!" Fast Clip yelled. The two stallions continued bickering as they headed back down the hall, their voices fading to nothing until Rainbow Dash could hear nothing but the soft breathing of the ponies surrounding her. Spring Song whispered to them from her spot beside Ray (who she was clinging to for dear life, much to his embarrassment).

"Okay, we just need to wait for Paradise to give the 'All Clear Knock'," she informed them. Just then-

"_All Clear Knock!_" Paradise whisper-shouted from outside the door.

"That would be it!" Spring Song announced, standing up and turning the lights up a notch. While she turned the radio back on and everypony cooled down from the shock of having to hide from the two guard ponies, Tempest cleared his throat and spoke to Rainbow Dash, Ray and Stains.

"I got her pretty good, didn't I?" he asked them, smiling cockily and chuckling.

"You sure did," Stains agreed, giggling as well. "I've never seen Spring Song so ticked… and that's saying something," she looked to the side to make sure the pink mare couldn't hear what she was saying. "If you ask me, she's deserved that for a long time," she whispered. Rainbow Dash snickered in unison with Ray and turned to face the yellow stallion.

"Um… Rainbow Dash?" he hesitantly spoke to her, looking down at the ground. The cyan pegasus stared at him with concern.

"Yeah?" was all she asked. He opened his mouth then closed it again, looked at Rainbow Dash, then looked away, then babbled, then looked back at Rainbow Dash, then away again and this went on for quite some time, until he finally started to talk.

"I was just… wondering if you'd… um… like to-"

"What. Is. Happening?" Ray was interrupted by a certain pink pegasus standing right next to him, glaring dangerously at Rainbow Dash. Ray completely tensed up and gulped.

"He was just asking me something," Rainbow shrugged. Spring Song stepped between her and Ray and the yellow stallion slunk away, his ears hanging limp with a disappointed expression on his face. Rainbow Dash went to follow him to ask him what was wrong when Spring Song bit down on her tail. "Hey, what's the big idea?" the rainbow maned mare snarled at her. Spring Song spat her tail out and got up in her face so that they were nose-to-nose.

"I know what you're up to," she hissed through her teeth. "And you'd better stop it before I make you regret being born!" she added, her green eyes shimmering with anger and hatred. Rainbow groaned loudly and prodded Spring Song's shoulder.

"Look, _Ding Dong_, I've told you a thousand times! I. Don't. Like. Ray!" she emphasised every word to make it extra clear. The devil-mare just scoffed as if she couldn't understand a word Rainbow Dash was saying.

"Yeah, right, Rainbow Trash. You'd just better watch your back, 'cause if I find out that something's going on between the two of you I will bring a world of pain upon you," she threatened in a cold voice that was barely above a whisper. She began to trot away, but paused to look over her shoulder. "Not that he'd ever like you, anyway. You're just so _worthless_," she spat before heading away.

Rainbow Dash felt as if she'd just taken a bullet through the brain. Her ears flattened to her head and she looked down at her hooves. It wasn't what Spring Song had said to her so much as _how_ she had said it. There had just been so much venom in her voice when she said the word 'worthless'. But Rainbow Dash wasn't worthless. She was strong, and she knew better, and nothing Spring Bitch could say would make her forget that.

After that, things went surprisingly smoothly. Spring Song didn't give her any problems; she stayed away from Ray at all times, and actually had a pretty good time just hanging out with the other cadets. Come to think of it, she had seen Spring Song give her a couple of envious glances while she was talking to the others, most likely jealous that nopony wanted to talk to her. Well, that's what you get for being a jerk, sister. Before Rainbow Dash knew it, it was 1AM and they had been at the party for almost six hours! As much as she condemned saying it, Spring Song was great when it came to planning these things.

Rainbow Dash decided to give herself a little sugar boost and headed over to the snack table to munch on some of the candy. Whilst she was busy chewing some jelly beans, she became aware of somepony standing next to her.

"Um… do you know when we can have some of the cake?" Ray asked her, sounding a little shy. Rainbow was pretty shocked, mostly for fear of Little Miss Jealous spotting her and getting the wrong idea, but also because that was the longest sentence she had heard Ray say. He was a pretty quiet guy, but when you hung out with somepony with a mouth as big as Spring Song, then not speaking was probably part of the deal.

"Nope, no idea," Rainbow Dash replied, refusing to look at him. Instead she looked over to the side where Spring Song was talking to Smart Set, and sure enough she was giving her a furious death stare. Rainbow looked up at the yellow cadet beside her.

"Look, Ray, Spring Song doesn't want you to talk to me, so-"

"Well, I don't have to do everything Spring Song tells me," he cut her off. Rainbow Dash was surprised to see him being so independent, especially with Spring Song in the same room as him. "I can be friends with whoever I want, and I don't care what Spring Song thinks," he smiled down at her, and Rainbow Dash felt pretty proud of him. She had known him for almost two months and not once had she seen him stand up for himself like that.

"Try telling _her_ that," Rainbow nodded towards the pink mare, whose eyes she could feel burning into the back of her skull, into her brain and melting everything in there. Ray cleared his throat and looked down at the floor again.

"So, um-"

"Hey, Rainbow Dash, buddy, can I talk to you for a second, over there?" Spring Song suddenly popped up next to Rainbow Dash and began dragging her away by one hoof. Deja-vu, much?

"What's up _now_?" Rainbow sighed as she dragged her all the way to the other side of the room, wishing that Spring Song would just leave her alone. The she-demon gave her a shove and flapped into the air a little so she could stare the cyan pegasus down.

"What's up is that you're completely messing up my party!" she pointed an accusing hoof down at her rival. Rainbow's jaw dropped open.

"HUH? No I'm not!" she argued, wishing that she could just make Spring Song disappear. What right did she have to say that she was ruining the party? She hadn't even done anything!

"Yes you are!" Spring Song shot back. "You're taking all the attention for yourself and you're trying to steal my coltfriend!"

"Ray is NOT your coltfriend!" Rainbow Dash told her, flapping into the air as well so they could be eye to eye. "He doesn't even like you!"

Spring Song didn't have a response to that, so the two mares just stared at eachother for what felt like hours, each trying to intimidate the other. Finally Spring Song let out a breath through her nose and landed back on the ground. "Well let's see what he thinks of you by the time the party is done," she hissed before heading over to the snack table to talk to Ray. Rainbow Dash decided that she couldn't give a flying feather. To get her mind off Spring Song and her ridiculous allegations she went to talk to somepony else. Soon, she was speaking to Bumble by the snack table, thankfully on the opposite side to Spring Song and Ray. She and Bumble just talked about drills and how much they wanted to show how they'd improved flying through hoops, and Rainbow Dash tried to explain to Bumble what it felt like doing a Sonic Rainboom. All the while, Rainbow Dash kept one ear open on Spring Song, curious to see if she was saying anything about her. She wasn't, but Bumble obviously caught on to what she was doing.

"Pfft, I can't believe Spring Song's still crushing on Ray. Why can't she just accept that he doesn't like her?" she asked Rainbow Dash.

"That's exactly what I think," Rainbow agreed, watching Spring Song attempt to flirt with the brown maned stallion. "Then again, it's pretty fun just watching her suffer," she added. Bumble giggled.

"Yeah, you're right. For everything she's done and what she's put you through she should get rejected a million times," she watched the pink mare as she unsuccessfully tried to hold his hoof. He 'accidentally' moved it away just in time.

"I wish I had a camera," Rainbow thought about how satisfying it would be to film Spring Song failing at winning Ray's affections and then replaying it over and over and over again.

"I'd definitely have a copy of the tape," Bumble joked. Then they just settled on watching Spring Song hopelessly flirting. She tried flipping her mane at him, leaning against him, which he found especially awkward, and then she did the typical pegasus thing of putting on a plumage display.

Spring Song opened up her wings and began preening them in earnest, ruffling and shaking them loudly and making pronounced gestures as she dragged the feathers through her mouth, never taking her eyes off Ray, who much to Rainbow Dash's amusement was busy watching Butternut and Free Fall play fight across the room. Spring Song was by now pulling at her feathers with frantic frustration, standing in a way that one of her legs was being extended briefly. She shifted and extended out another leg in an exaggerated display of balance as she worked on her other wing.

Rainbow Dash and Bumble were struggling to hold in their laughs, but painfully tried their best, knowing that the show would stop if Spring Song was aware of the two of them watching her like hawks. Rainbow reached over to a bowl on the table and picked up a hoof full of popcorn, chewing them slowly, hoping that they would block her incoming laughter.

Spring Song let her wings fall to her sides and she let out an irritated growl. The look on her face was worth a billion bits! But, Spring Song was a strong mare, and if she had to make the first move then that was exactly what she'd do. Rainbow bit her lip to conceal her chuckles as Spring Song took a few breaths to calm herself down.

"Is she…" Bumble cocked her head to the side and looked from Spring Song to Ray and then back again, before her ears pointed straight up and she softly gasped. "She _is_!" she folded her hooves on the table and stared straight ahead at the two pegasi as Spring Song closed her eyes and leaned towards the oblivious Ray, who was still watching Free Fall and Butternut wrestle while several other cadets rooted for whichever one of the cousins they wanted to win.

Unfortunately, since Spring Song had her eyes closed she didn't see a certain green mare popping up in front of her.

"Big prob-MMPH!" Paradise's words were snatched away as Spring Song's lips connected with hers, paralyzing her. Rainbow Dash and Bumble finally did let out a laugh at this, Bumble falling over backwards, clutching her tummy. Rainbow looked back in time to see Spring Song slightly lift one eyelid. Suddenly, both her eyes shot open and she pulled away, gagging and spluttering while Paradise just stood there, her mouth still slightly open while blushing like a fool.

"Paradise, what's the big idea; you'd better have a good reason to be here!" Spring Song sounded ballistic. Paradise shifted her eyes from side to side.

"Um… why _am_ I here?" she asked herself, blinking a couple of times and rubbing her head. "Oh yeah, Fast Clip and Whiplash are heading this way and some of the Wonderbolts are with them!" she reported. Spring Song shook her green furred friend roughly.

"Well, you could have said something sooner!" she scolded her. Paradise shamefully looked down at the floor.

"Sorry," she muttered, before replacing all the stuff by the door. Spring Song called everyone's attention.

"We've gotta hide again, somepony get the lights!" she ordered as she switched the radio off. Tempest turned the lights all the way down, while Rainbow Dash ran for cover past the snack table. She suddenly crashed into somepony else and landed on the floor, winded.

"Rainbow Trash, was that you?" Spring Song's silhouette could be made out in the darkness.

"Uh-huh," Rainbow replied, focusing on her now bruised leg too much to care about Spring Song's stupid nickname for her.

"You did that on purpose!" she snapped harshly and Rainbow stood at her full height.

"No, I didn't!" she snarled as Spring Song began circling her. Not wanting to seem like the weak one, she began circling Spring Song, too, forgetting exactly where she was standing, and about hiding altogether. If it was a little brighter in the room, Rainbow Dash would have seen the cunning look in Spring Song's green eyes, a look that suggested that she was about to do something dastardly. She would have seen the evil smirk she gave her as she finished connecting the dots of her plan and would have seen her spin round and kick out with her hind hooves.

Spring Song's hooves made contact with Rainbow's shoulder, sending her flailing backwards… face-first… right into 52,000 bits worth of frosting, sponge and sprinkles… which then tilted over and fell on top of her.

Even thought there was fondant in her ears, Rainbow Dash could hear the loud gasp that rang throughout the room. Slowly lifting her head up, she looked over her shoulder, cringing as a large clump of cake fell off her nose and splattered on the floor. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness enough so that she could see the cadets standing there in silence, staring right at her.

Then Spring Song started laughing.

And then Paradise started laughing.

And then everypony was laughing.

Rainbow Dash's face burned as all the cadets in the room started cackling and pointing at her while she sat there… the victim… the loser… the chicken…

"Rainbow Dash… are you… okay?" Sugar Swoop asked her between laughs.

And then it dawned upon her that after seeing her like this, the cadets had completely forgotten that they were supposed to be keeping quiet.

"WHAT IN CELESTIA'S NAME IS GOING ON IN HERE?!"

Everypony whipped round to face the door, as it swung open. Fast Clip and Whiplash were there along with Soarin, Spitfire and Fleetfoot and they all looked _very_ mad. The room was silent for a few seconds before Paradise whispered loudly.

"I have a plan!" she then addressed the Wonderbolts. "Look over there!" she pointed up. Then, not noticing that the Wonderbolts hadn't looked up in the first place, glanced around and hissed: "Run!" before galloping towards the storage room, the silence being vanquished by her faint, lone hoofsteps as she ran. Upon realising that nopony was following her she slowed to a halt and sat down sheepishly, giggling weakly.

"Who is responsible for this?" Spitfire gave the cadets her signature death glare of mass destruction. The cadets knew that they were in potential danger, so they instantly pointed a hoof at Spring Song, who began shaking and cowering lower to the ground in terror. Normally, Rainbow Dash would have been satisfied seeing Spring Song in this state, but she was too busy staring at Soarin, who was staring right back at her. His expression was unreadable, but Rainbow Dash could tell that he was probably disappointed in her. Why wouldn't he be?

Not being able to look at him anymore, she spread her wings and zoomed past him and the others, out of the room and down the hall, wanting to say a million things to Soarin to explain what had happened. But only two words stuck out in her mind as she raced out of the Academy doors and into the night.

_I'm sorry._


	25. Just A Cloud Away

**Dj Storm- Glad you liked it. I really hope I got Rock Star's personality right. **

**RosaSilvermist- Yeah, I tried to make it shy but subtle. Well, I would have if Spring Song hadn't butted it there. Also, I really really like your avatar! **

**Litestardt- Yes, Rock Star is Soarin's biological little sister.**

**YoungBlood23- Whoa! I had no idea I was that good! **

**The Super Saiyan 3- Well, I hope I continue to amaze you. I can't promise that this won't stop being interesting, but hopefully it will be 'okay' until the very end. And I won't lie I actually felt a little guilty when Spring Song got busted, but she had it coming, anyway.**

**Guest- Llamas are awesome! I've always wanted to hug one just to see how soft and fuzzy they are!**

**Sparkling-nexis137- Best chapter yet, eh? There is pride oozing up inside me right now and it's about to overflow!**

**Luna'snight625- Spring Song should have known they'd get caught. She's probably learned her lesson: No good can come from putting Paradise on guard… and inviting your arch-nemesis. Nothing!**

**Tycser- I can fix it! …Just wanted to use a quote from my favourite movie. ^^**

**Okay, so this chapter is a little shorter than the other ones, but hopefully the insane amount of sweetness makes up for it. In the words of Agnes from Despicable Me: IT'S SO FLUFFY!**

* * *

Soarin grumbled as the pouring rain cascaded down from the clouds above him, soddening his feathers and trickling into his eyes. Blinking away the raindrops he flopped his forehooves over the edge of the cloud he was laying on and stared straight ahead, squinting to see anything through the thick sheet of rain. Thunder boomed over his head and a fantastic streak of lightning briefly illuminated the sky, highlighting the training grounds below him before it was plunged into darkness once again. He folded his front hooves over his head, knowing that there was no way he was going to find any comfort outside in this storm. He was too busy worrying about Rainbow Dash to care about the rain anyway.

After she'd flown away he'd followed her immediately, not sure if Spitfire, Fleetfoot and the others had even noticed him leaving. After the air show that evening, Fast Clip and Whiplash had called them back to the Academy, Fast Clip ranting about how the building was haunted or something. The elite three Wonderbolts had returned to the Academy and had been alerted to the crazy party by loud laugher. Soarin had definitely not expected to see Rainbow Dash in there, let alone covered with cake. She'd looked absolutely mortified when they burst into the room unannounced, and he could only imagine how embarrassed she felt, being surrounded by her peers while looking like a walking dessert with wings and a tail.

As said before, he followed her right away, but when he got outside she was nowhere to be found. He'd looked all over the training grounds, the Mess Hall, the kitchen, checked her dorm room, but Lullaby had said that she hadn't seen Rainbow Dash in hours. He'd even resorted to looking in the storm cloud cluster, but she wasn't there either. He'd looked on top of the Academy, all around it, even the area outside the Academy, but she seemed to have vanished into thin air.

He felt like a failure. He had promised himself that he would do whatever it took to make sure that Rainbow Dash was always happy. He had told himself over and over again that he would never let anypony hurt her… but he'd failed. She was upset, somewhere in Cloudsdale, and she probably thought he was mad at her. He wasn't mad at all; he had told her that he could never be angry at her after all. Okay, maybe he was a little disappointed in her but not mad. Never mad. He understood why she had been asking him all those questions, now. She had been afraid of him being mad at her if she got caught at the party. How could he have just overlooked that? He'd had a suspicion that something was going on but just circled around it. Was that the right thing to do? He wasn't sure now.

Soarin felt a sharp shard of pain pierce his heart at the thought of Rainbow Dash being upset. Soarin never ever cried, well, okay there was one time when he watched a sad series finale, but he definitely felt tears stinging his eyes now. He hadn't ever wanted Rainbow Dash to feel alone, miserable and above all he never wanted her to think that he hated her. But now she was obviously all three of those, and he couldn't be there to comfort her or tell her that he still liked her more than any pony in the world because he couldn't _find_ her.

He wasn't sure what he was feeling now. A few of the emotions he considered were sad, heartbroken, useless and awful, but finally he settled on frustrated. He was frustrated with himself for being so clueless to all of this, frustrated with Rainbow Dash for disappearing on him, frustrated with this rain for messing up his mane… but that's not important now.

The tears threatened to leak out but he pushed them back in, thinking that crying wouldn't make a difference right now. Besides, his tears would just get lost amongst the raindrops slinking down his cheeks. This cloud was getting pretty soggy, too, but he just couldn't grasp hold of the will to care anymore. He just wished that he could step out of his body for a moment and yell down at the Soarin who'd messed up. _'You idiot! You should have known better, Soarin, the evidence was as clear as day and you still didn't see it all coming. Now she's hurt and there's nothing you can do about it. You're a terrible mentor, Soarin, and a terrible friend!'_

He had failed.

He stuck his muzzle over the side of the cloud and looked straight down, feeling empty inside. Another thunderclap sounded over his head but he didn't even flinch. He had more to worry about than the weather at the moment. He had no idea how long he lay there, but he must have fallen asleep at some point, because out of the blue he was suddenly aware of hoofsteps approaching from behind him. He just looked down again and hoped that whoever it was would just see that he wanted to be alone and go away, but the pony just sat down beside him. Still, he didn't look up, not until he heard who it was anyway.

"Soarin?" was all the pony said. Soarin's ears pricked up right away and he lifted his head up to look into the ever so slightly bloodshot magenta eyes of Rainbow Dash. "You okay?" She tucked her legs underneath her body (which was no longer covered in frosting) and placed her head down on the damp cloud, staring right ahead.

"What do you mean 'am I okay?' I should be the one asking if you're okay?" he retorted, startled to find that he'd raised his voice a little. That was the last thing he needed to do right now. Rainbow refused to look at him.

"I'm fine… I just wanted to be alone for a little while," she replied meekly. Soarin found it unbearable to look at her right now, mostly because he couldn't stand seeing her so wrecked up like this.

"Where did you go?" Soarin asked out of curiosity. He was fairly certain that there was nowhere that he hadn't looked in the Academy. Rainbow sniffled and wiped her nose.

"I just flew around Cloudsdale… stopped outside the old Junior Speedsters Flight Camp for a while… then came back here. Why are you out here, anyway?" Soarin could feel her eyes boring into the side of his head, but he knew that if he looked at her he'd choke up.

"Looking for you, of course," he rubbed some more rainwater from his eyes. Was it just him or had the rain picked up a little? He heard Rainbow Dash gulp beside him. Great, she probably thought she was in trouble or something.

"How come?" she didn't even move a muscle, probably tensed up to fly away in case he said something she didn't like the sound of. Not that he blamed her. Back when he was in the Academy if he thought he was in trouble with a senior Wonderbolt he'd be especially shifty, too.

"So I could make sure you were alright, what else? Wouldn't you want to check up on your personal cadet if you walked in on her covered in cake frosting?" he swiftly glanced up at her, letting out a snort of laughter.

"What's so funny?" Rainbow folded her arms and sneered down at him. Soarin tried to keep a straight face but the thought of Rainbow covered in cake was too much for him.

"Come on, Dash, it was a little funny," she didn't look like she agreed with him at all. Soarin decided to try and lighten the mood. "Fine, if it helps imagine _me_ covered in sugary stuff," he invited. Rainbow Dash just sat there sternly for a while before the corners of her mouth poked up and she sniggered, until she was howling with laughter loud enough to be heard over another crash of thunder.

"Okay, it's pretty hilarious," she admitted after she'd got the last of the giggles out of her system. Soarin was relieved to see her smiling again; this was the Rainbow Dash he knew and loved: the one who grinned even when the going got tough. Rainbow scooted a little closer to Soarin and dangled her front hooves off the edge of the cloud and hummed silently to herself.

Soarin, not being able to help himself, draped his wing across her back, stroking it up and down her spine to try and comfort her, though she said nothing to alert him to whether or not this was having any effect on her, positive or negative. However, Soarin didn't need any audible answer because Rainbow Dash leaned her head against his shoulder, nuzzling it softly and snivelling.

Soarin felt his face grow warmer despite the freezing cold rain smacking against his cheeks. He was growing number in the cold, but he couldn't care less at that moment. The two of them were silent for a few minutes, just listening to the storm as it crashed and clapped above their heads and enjoying each other's company. Then Rainbow Dash blurted out:

"Why do all the cadets hate me?"

Soarin was shocked beyond words at her. How could she, Rainbow 'Danger' Dash, possibly believe that all the other cadets didn't like her? They all adored her… well, most of them did anyway. Soarin had heard enough from Lullaby and Cinder to know that they thought Rainbow Dash was incredible. And they sure weren't lying.

"Dashie, aren't you aware of how much you inspire these cadets. I mean, just the other day I heard a couple of them talking about how well you did in that synchronized flight drill. They sounded pretty impressed if I do say so myself," he tried to cheer her up. "How could you even consider that all of them would dislike you even in the smallest possible way?"

Rainbow sighed and buried her face in the cloud, probably sniffing up some of the water that it had soaked up, not that she reacted. Soarin noticed her body trembling and he came to the conclusion that she was sobbing a little. He wrapped his wing tighter around her and shifted closer to her, wanting her to be 120% sure that she could say anything to him. She slowly lifted her head up from the cloud, though she never stopped staring down at it, as if she were looking at something that only she could see.

"Back at Flight Camp I… well… the other fillies and colts used to make fun of me. They used to tease me because of my wings and my flying and call me 'Rainbow Crash', and I hated it," she recalled, her voice shaking as if it was painful for her. "This one guy, Dumb-Bell, he was the worst. He used to beat me up when none of the adults were looking and he and his friends even tried to cut my mane off once…" she looked off to the side, obviously not wanting Soarin to see her in this state. "They… they all hated me and I never did anything to them… and when I told somepony about it they wouldn't believe me because Dumb-Bell and the others acted so nice around everyone else," she let out another sob. "So, I got myself to toughen up and I fought back, but I… I never wanted anypony to hate me ever again, b-but now I guess it was no use," she face planted the cloud again and began whimpering.

"Oh, Rainbow Dash," Soarin sniffled a little himself, reaching out and pulling her closer to him, resting his head on top of hers, and stroking her back gently with a wing.

"And… they'd always gang up on me and say that I was worthless and would never be a great flyer. I've never forgot how much that ate me up inside and now it's happening all over again," she croaked, her eyes clouded and distant. Soarin leaned away from her and put on hoof under her chin, lifting her head up so he could gaze directly at her. She didn't even protest as he forced her to look at him.

"Rainbow Dash, I want you to listen to me okay. Are you listening?" he asked her as seriously as he could manage. Rainbow sniffed again and nodded once in response. "I just want you to understand that I never want you to hurt like that again. No matter what you do I will always be your friend. You could be the worst flyer in Equestria and beyond and I'd still think you were number one, because I care about you more than I've cared about anypony in a long time. And if it came to it I would crawl across the whole world with every bone in my body broken to make you happy. Got it?" he stroked her cheek with one hoof, wiping away her tears. Rainbow Dash just teared up again at this, though he wasn't certain what emotions she was feeling at the time. She huddled closer to him and Soarin felt his entire body warm up, though whether this was because he was sharing body heat with another pony in the pouring rain or because he had a bad case of the blushes he didn't know.

For quite some time after, Soarin considered what he could say next. Rainbow Dash definitely wasn't going to break the silence, not that there was any silence due to the constant drumming of the rain against his skull and the booming of the thunder as it lit up the sky like a huge flickering candle. He did have one thing that could help her out, but he wasn't comfortable telling ponies about this. Well, for Rainbow Dash, he'd do anything, so he could handle it.

"When I was in the Academy I had some tough times with a bully, too," he admitted, feeling a little ashamed to be sharing this with somepony. Rainbow Dash's ears perked and her eyes shot open. She looked up at him, bewildered.

"_You_ were bullied?" she asked, not believing him in the slightest. Soarin nodded and grumbled, not finding the memories he was getting pleasant.

"Yeah, my lead pony, Paladin, used to push me around and treat me more like a slave than a wing pony. But since it was the rules for me to obey the lead pony at all times, I didn't have a choice," he suddenly smiled so wide that his face practically glowed. "But when we graduated from the Academy, Captain Concorde told me that doing all of the crummy things that Paladin told me to do showed integrity and loyalty and that's one of the main qualities of a Wonderbolt. Paladin was such a huge jerk that he didn't graduate, and the look on his face is probably the greatest thing I've seen in my whole life: the look on the face of a bully who got what was coming to him."

Rainbow Dash let out a tiny giggle. "I hope Spring Song has that look on her face someday," she thought out loud, a satisfied expression spreading across her features. Soarin hoped that the pink cadet would have the same fate, too.

"Yeah… but I remember that when I was even younger I was kinda like Spring Song," he told Rainbow, whose jaw dropped.

"Huh? Wha- but… but you're so nice, Soarin. You're not like Spring Song at all," she looked like Soarin had just told her he was pregnant or something. Soarin let out a snicker at the face she was currently making.

"It's true. Back when I lived in Fillydelphia, I mixed in with the wrong crowd. I got bumped from school to school 'cause I was that much of a rebel," he tried not to sound like he was bragging when he said the 'rebel' part. "My best friend was kinda like Spring Song… only he was about ten times worse. Yeah, my future didn't look bright at all," he sighed.

"What made you change?" Rainbow asked, her eyes glowing with interest at hearing about how her idol went from a zero to a hero. Soarin chuckled.

"Braeburn. One of my teachers assigned me to him for some kind of 'peer assistance' thingy. At first I hated it and him but then he brought out the good guy in me and I finally had a friend who liked me even though I wasn't one of the tough bad-boys. If it wasn't for Braeburn, I never would have made it through school and into the Academy. I owe him a lot, and I'm so grateful to have met him 'cause for all I know, without him I could have ended up in jail," he smiled. Rainbow smirked and twined her tail with Soarin's.

"Well, I'm grateful that you met him, too, 'cause you're one of the most amazing ponies I've ever met… even if you are a bit of a dunderhead," she giggled, giving him a playful shove. Soarin snorted with laughter and shoved her back, resulting in a push fight between the pair of pegasi. After a while, and several tumbles off the cloud, they stopped shoving each other and just lay side by side, both grinning despite the grimness of the situation. Soarin put his wing over her once again and nuzzled her cheek.

"I don't want you to go through what I went through with Paladin, so if anything happens, or you feel threatened or are even the tiniest bit suspicious of Spring Song, you can come straight to me. It's not fun at all, so please just remember that I'm always there for you," he smiled down at her ardently.

"I know," was all Rainbow Dash said as she pushed some strands of her soaked mane out of her eyes. Soarin sunk lower into the cloud, feeling peaceful again after the party fiasco.

"Dashie, ya know that out of all the ponies I could have chosen to mentor, I thank Celestia every single day that I chose you," he blushed. Rainbow Dash turned her head to smile down at him.

"I'm glad you chose me, too… ya big mook," she teased him. Soarin was about to scold her for calling him names again, but he was silenced by the rainbow maned mare reaching down and gently kissing his cheek, leaving it tingling. He chuckled goofily and turned redder than a tomato as Rainbow Dash nestled down next to him and folded her own wing over his back, letting out a content sigh as she rested her head against the soft, fluffy cloud.

And as the two of them lay there together, the clouds over their heads parted, the rain began to slow, and the first fireflies of spring danced their ancient dance as dreams found those within the Academy and those above.


	26. True, True Friends

ANOTHER NEW COVER!

This one was made by the incredible Captain Alaska, who has inspired me in more ways than you could possibly imagine. Thanks, man, you're the best!

**Spiralwish- Whoa, I had no idea that other people would accept my crazy headcanons. Thanks for that! **

**Litestardt- And it's about time their relationship got somewhere, too… even though they aren't actually in one yet. And the bet thing actually sounds like a good idea; who knows, I might actually make it happen.**

**RosaSilvermist- *cue Rihanna's '**_**Diamonds**_**'* I'm sure if Soarin was here he'd be blushing right now. It's true, he is a huge softie. And in response to your review on Let The Rainbow Remind You, it's still going, and I write it on the side of this. In fact, chapter four is almost ready, so more Key Six stuff coming soon! :D**

**Dj Storm- Thanks! I wonder if I can make something even fluffier… okay, that's my new personal challenge.**

**Hudsoda- Welcome to the Dashing and Soaring bandwagon! Maybe I'll upload this to FimFiction, but let's just see how things go on here first.**

**Luna'snight65- Glad I wrote something that made it onto your favourites list. I confess that this was my first time writing fluff, so I must have done a pretty good job. ^^**

**Guest- Thanks. Ya know, I think I got diabetes writing it.**

**Tycser- I promise that you won't have to wait much longer for the two of them to actually get serious. It's better later than never, right? And yes, that quote is from Wreck-it Ralph, my all-time favourite film! :D**

**Sparkling-nexis137- This is some pretty good advice, Nexis. I've never heard of the 'wants and needs' thing, but I like it and it's definitely given me a new way of looking at things. I do find that Rainbow Dash is the hardest for me to write, which I think is quite strange since she's the main protagonist, but just so you know, I do have a plan for her, and I think it's gonna be pretty cool, so just hang in there. Your reviews are always a pleasure to read and have indeed inspired me on more than one occasion. Keep up the good work. *cyberhugs***

* * *

"Alright, we have good reason to believe that you were the one who is responsible for the whole horseshoe debacle," Spitfire told the suspect as she strode in front of her desk in the dark office. Surprise, who had somehow dyed her mane and fur grey, spun round in Spitfire's spinny chair, clapping her hooves together softly, making the scene even more grim looking.

"Yeah, so you'd better tell us everything you know, or we'll be forced to use…" she looked off to the side for dramatic effect. "…The electric chair."

Spitfire groaned and rolled her eyes. "No, Surprise, there is no electric chair," she sighed. Surprise looked disappointed, but didn't say another word on the subject. Spitfire pushed her shades up her muzzle and circled around the suspect.

"So, tell us your motives or we may have to use brute force," she hissed down at the pegasus in the chair. Surprise jumped on top of Spitfire's desk and shone a lamp down into the pony's face.

"So talk!" she ordered.

Paradise looked up at Surprise as if she had gone completely insane. "I-I-I didn't do it," she finally spluttered out. "And is that light and the dark room really necessary?"

"Hold on a second," Spitfire interrupted. "Surprise, why are you all grey?" she asked, flicking Surprise's tail. The white (now grey) pegasus looked herself up and down.

"Oh, I just dyed my everything grey so I'd look like a character from one of those old black and white detective movies," she revealed, pulling a pipe out from her uniforms pocket and puffing on it, making bubbles float out of the other end. Spitfire briefly wondered how it had got to the point where all of this was normal for her (and how Surprise passed the psyche exam) before turning to face Paradise again.

"Please ignore my colleague-"

"Assistant," Surprise barged in, much to the Wonderbolt captain's irritation.

"_Assistant_," she corrected herself, complete with another eye roll. "Now, please tell us why you did it," she asked Paradise once again. The green mare sat up in the chair she was in.

"But I didn't!" she insisted. Spitfire admitted that she sounded serious about this, so either she was innocent or a really good liar. After the events of the party she had noticed how super dumb Paradise was. Kinda like whoever wrote that tip, right?

"How can you prove it?" the golden Wonderbolt looked over her sunglasses at Paradise, giving her the coldest glare she could manage. Paradise folded her hooves and crossed on hind hoof over the other.

"How can_ you_ prove I did it? Do you have any actual evidence?" she asked back. Spitfire paused to think. She had just assumed judging by Paradise's estimated IQ of 8 and the level of brain power that the pony who wrote the note had that they'd be the same pony.

"What kind of proof do you want to see?" Spitfire asked, leaning against her desk and raising a brow, inviting Paradise to speak.

"Photographs, DNA samples, witnesses, anything that shows that an actual investigation took place," the green mare listed. Spitfire and Surprise glanced at eachother, the mirrored expression on the faces suggesting that they were both wondering how Paradise suddenly got better at this mystery solving business than them. It was actually pretty humiliating

"Okay, well we don't have… any of those," Spitfire admitted, feeling a little awkward. "But we're working on it. Anyway, before you start question my crime solving skills any further would you be so kind as to tell me what you were doing when the tempest cloud incident took place," she put on her professional face again and Paradise looked down at the floor.

"Um… oh, I remember!" she exclaimed, jolting up in her chair. "Okay, before Rainbow Dash told me to guard our stash, I headed over to Spring Song and asked if I could help her out. She said I could help her look before I remembered that we were on different teams, so then I flew back to the mountain me and the rest of the gold team were meeting at and that's when Rainbow Dash let me guard the stash," she began to explain. Spitfire changed her mind back to the 'Paradise being a huge idiot' decision.

"Okay, then I was sitting by the shrub humming 'Ten Green Bottles' when Spring Song flew past. She said that she was gonna check on Lullaby and Cinder and I started bragging that we were doing really well. Then she started telling me that her team was gonna win and that our stash was probably somewhere totally lame. So I told her it was somewhere she'd never find it and she flew away."

Spitfire yawned, wondering if this was actually going to go anywhere. She wasn't exactly a detective, but she was sure that there was nothing here that she could use as evidence.

"Lullaby came past a few minutes later and I said hi. I remember back then she wasn't all that nice around me because I was friends with Spring Song, but she acted pretty nice then; probably because Spring Song wasn't there. After she left I just sat there singing 'No mare no cry' until Cinder came past; sounded like she was crying but I didn't hear her very well. I was gonna fly after her to see what was wrong but I couldn't leave my post 'cause someone might have stolen the stash, so I stayed there doing nothing. It was so boring!" she flopped over the back of her chair to demonstrate.

'_Kinda like this story,'_ Spitfire thought, stifling another yawn. Holy Celestia, when would this actually get somewhere?

"Oh, and then Sugar Swoop came to the stash with a whole bunch of horseshoes that the silver team was hiding. He put them under the stash and then flew off again 'cause Bumble, Lullaby and Butternut were chasing after him. They didn't catch him and when they came back past I heard them arguing about places to look. I only really heard them arguing about going in the Storm Cloud Cluster. Butternut was rambling about how they should check it out, and Lullaby was disagreeing, saying that you had to be a pea-brain to go in there and then they just flew out of earshot," Paradise continued.

"So, those three were talking about the Cloud Cluster… what next?" Spitfire was beginning to get interested in Paradise's story.

"Um… then Rainbow Dash came to check on the stash. I showed her it and then that's when I told her that she did the right thing, not sending anypony in the cluster. I didn't actually think she'd go in there, though… I'm not in trouble am I?" she looked up at Spitfire with huge eyes. The Wonderbolt captain was practically immune to puppy dog eyes, so took no notice of them. Well, Paradise certainly wasn't the culprit if she hadn't been the one to put the horseshoe there. She had only given Rainbow Dash the idea of going into the cluster, and hadn't actually inflicted any harm on her. She definitely didn't mean for any of this to happen, she could see it in the green mare's freakishly huge eyes.

"No, you're in the clear, cadet," Spitfire watched as Paradise's face lit up like a torch in a dark room… wait a minute, they were still in a dark room. "Surprise, turn the lights on, for Celestia's sake," she commanded the excitable Wonderbolt. Surprise did as she was told and flicked the light switch, bathing the room with brightness. Spitfire sat back down at her desk and looked over at Paradise.

"You can leave now. This doesn't mean you're off the hook though, you need to go and help your pals with the cleaning," Spitfire felt a stirring in her chest as Paradise frowned miserably.

'_Don't feel guilty, she deserves it!' _Spitfire's conscience snapped at her. Spitfire gave in to the voice in her head and dismissed Paradise from her office with a flick of her forehoof without a second glance at her.

"Well, that's that done," Surprise started rubbing some of the grey stuff she was wearing off her face. However, Spitfire didn't feel like they'd accomplished anything. Sure, they knew which ponies had been talking about the tempest clouds first, and how certain ponies had behaved around that time, so that gave them some more potential suspects, but she just wanted to know who done it so she could act. There was a guilty pony around here somewhere and it got on Spitfire's nerves like nopony would believe.

"Yeah, it is," the golden mare replied to Surprise. "Now, we just need to figure out how Spring Song's gonna be punished. She was the ringleader of that fiasco, so she deserves something more than just cleaning the toilets," she decided, looking over to Surprise for suggestions.

"Um… ooh, we could make her walk the plank!" Surprise decided. Spitfire threw her hooves in the air and spun in her chair to face away from Surprise.

"I honestly don't know why I try with you, Surprise!"

* * *

Rainbow Dash stretched out her legs as she finished mopping the floor outside the Mess Hall. She was aching from the day's work and still couldn't stop because of the Wonderbolts watching her and the others like hawks with uniforms. Since she was at the party yesterday, she had to be punished just like everypony else, and she took her punishment like a mare! She did kinda deserve it; it was against the rules and- oh, Celestia she was beginning to think like Lullaby!

She found herself thinking of the things that had happened that morning. She had woken up beside Soarin on the cloud and was greeted by the warm sunlight and a clear blue sky; one of the nicest days there had been that year. She remembered showing up to drills that morning and had been surrounded by the other cadets immediately.

"Oh my gosh, Rainbow Dash, are you okay?" Beau had put a hoof on her shoulder, looking concerned. Bumble brushed her tail along Rainbow's flank affectionately.

"We went down to your room after the party to see if you were alright," she'd revealed, looking guiltily down at her hooves.

"But you weren't there," Sugar Swoop added, looking equally as ashamed. Free Fall moved to stand beside Sugar Swoop, the look on his face suggesting that he felt pretty disappointed in himself, too.

"We really didn't mean to laugh at you like that… and we had no idea you'd get so upset," he'd confessed, scuffing the cloud covered ground with one front hoof. Rainbow Dash scoffed.

"What? I'm not upset, guys. Seriously, I'm fine so don't worry about it," she insisted, looking as cool as she could manage, blowing her multi-coloured mane out of her eyes for extra measure.

Then after drills she and the others had to grasp the day with all four hooves… and a mop.

Wiping her brow, she folded one wing around her mop and began dragging it down the oddly miserable looking hall, past a few of the other cadets, who were sullenly doing their chores. She still hadn't seen Lullaby since the party incident, since she was in their dorm room, probably smiling about the whole thing. She and Cinder had been the only ponies not to go to the party, so they didn't have to do any of these cruddy chores. They didn't know just how lucky they were.

"Hard work, Dashie?" the voice of Soarin made her jump. Rainbow stumbled and slipped on the freshly polished floor, skidding across it a few feet before bumping into the stallion. Soarin helped her to her hooves and she became aware of a burning sensation in her cheeks.

"Hey, yeah it's hard work. All this mopping and shining is really boring, too," she groaned, though she was still smiling in spite of this. Soarin looked a little sorry for her, not that she blamed him. She'd feel sorry for her, too; she was way too awesome to be doing all this dumb work.

"Ya know, I think the coffee table in the staff room needs dusting; you can head down there with me if you want," Soarin offered. Rainbow Dash thought it over; it seemed like a good idea, and who knows, maybe she'd get some free coffee while she was there.

"Sure, why not?" she shrugged casually, walking beside the Wonderbolt stallion as they headed to the staff room, Rainbow not realising that she'd just left her mop lying around. She couldn't quite understand it, but she'd found that over time she'd been wanting to spend more and more time with Soarin, and she'd been enjoying it more, too. She felt particularly happy when she was around him, and smiled a lot when she was with him, as well. It's probably the ever growing excitement of hanging around with one of your heroes, right?

Rainbow Dash and Soarin pushed the door to the staff room open to be met with a rather peculiar sight. Rapidfire and Wave Chill were sitting on the couch on the left side of the room while Feather Duster sat in the middle of the room, balancing a broom on the end of her nose. Wave Chill looked up as Soarin and Rainbow came in.

"Guys, you've gotta check this out. Feather Duster's been balancing that on her nose for three whole minutes! She's broke her record!" he told them, bouncing up and down in his seat. Rainbow didn't know Wave Chill all that well apart from he was a very dedicated Wonderbolt who followed orders without a second thought. However, off duty he could be a little excitable.

"Not giving up yet," Feather Duster squinted as she struggled to keep the broom straight. Rainbow didn't know that much about Feather Duster either, other than she got the janitor job by accident after crashing through a window a couple of months ago. She had been given the job to pay for a new window, which was still smashed in one of the hallways while we're at it, and preferred to eke as much fun as she could out of her chores. Rainbow had also noticed that she had underdeveloped wings, so they were much smaller than most pegasi. Then again, Feather Duster was smaller than most pegasi, anyway, and Rainbow Dash had also seen that when Feather Duster flew or hovered, her wings fluttered like a hummingbirds. Maybe she could teach that to Scootaloo? When Rainbow Dash had seen her for the first time she had mentioned to Soarin that she didn't seem like janitor material. Soarin had replied that she really wasn't and told her about how Rapidfire had hit on her on her first day, saying that she should get a job as a model. The result was a bucket over his head. Man, Rainbow Dash wished she could have seen that!

"Four minutes," Rapidfire announced, looking up at the clock. Feather Duster let out a silent cheer, never taking her eyes off the broom. She didn't even flinch when Lightning Streak burst through the door.

"SURPRISE ATTACK!" he yelled. Everypony in the room looked at him bluntly. Soarin rolled his eyes and nudged Rainbow Dash.

"He does this all the time; it used to freak us out, but now it's just plain dumb," he explained. Rainbow Dash nodded in understanding. Lightning Streak wasn't exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer…

"What's going on?" Lightning Streak asked the others. Wave Chill explained what Feather Duster was doing once again and Lightning Streak nodded along.

"Will you guys keep it down; I'm trying to focus," Feather Duster quietened everypony else. "Only a few more seconds and then-"

"Hey, what's happening?" Fire Streak came through the door after his older twin brother. Feather Duster snapped round to face him.

"Fire Str-YOW!" she yelped as her broom poked her in the eye before clattering over her head and knocking her down to the floor. Rainbow Dash and Soarin shared an amused look as Feather Duster got back to her hooves.

"You okay?" Fire Streak asked, looking concerned. Feather Duster casually leaned against the coffee table.

"Yeah, I'm good," she chuckled, grabbing a mug and going to take a sip before discovering there was nothing in it. "Heh… I'm gonna go to Starbucks," she excused herself, leaving the room hastily. Wave Chill called after her.

"Ya know you could just use the coffee machine. It isn't broken or anything!" he yelled, though Feather Duster didn't turn back. Rainbow then remembered that she was supposed to be dusting the coffee table and got to work. It didn't take long for her to finish up and she did help herself to some coffee in the end after all, though Feather Duster was probably drinking all the good stuff at Starbucks by now.

"Welp, who wants dinner?" Soarin spoke up after a while. As if on cue, Rainbow Dash's tummy gurgled. This may have just been because she was exhausted, but it almost sounded like her tummy said: 'I do'.

Everypony left the room after that and made their way down to the Mess Hall. Lightning Streak had some fun on the way down by kicking the door to Silver Lining's office and running. Unfortunately for Lightning Streak he tripped over a mop that _somepony_ had left lying in the middle of the hall and crashed into the floor, but it amused Rainbow Dash a lot.

When they arrived at the Mess Hall it was still fairly empty, aside from a few cadets trailing in, looking every bit as fed up and tired as Rainbow Dash. The cyan mare noticed a purple pegasus sitting on one side of the room with Cinder. She cleared her throat to get Soarin's attention.

"Hey, Soarin, mind if I go over there; I need to allow somepony to call me as many names for 'doofus' as possible," she grinned at Soarin's baffled expression.

"Um… okay?" he was unsure of how to answer, which was expected of course. Rainbow nodded her thanks and went over to sit in the seat next to the purple mare. She tapped her on the shoulder and Lullaby shot her an irritated glare. Rainbow fumbled to find the right words to say.

"Lullaby, I admit it: you were right. I was dumb okay, and I'm a huge idiot," she confessed, rubbing the back of her neck. Wow, saying bad things about herself sure was hard.

"And?" Lullaby asked her, looking up at her bluntly. Rainbow sighed and stared down at the table.

"And a real numbskull," she mumbled. Lullaby scooted a little closer to her, beginning to sound playful.

"And?" she repeated.

"A selfish diaper baby," Rainbow Dash put her head in her hoof, smirking back at her (admittedly smarter) friend.

"_And_?" Lullaby chirped.

"And…" Rainbow snickered a little. "A featherbrain," she was suddenly pulled into a hug by her purple furred roommate, who agreed affectionately.

"The most feather filled brain ever."

* * *

"Nougat!" Surprise finished telling her joke. Soarin didn't really understand it himself, but the word 'nougat' was funny, so he laughed anyway.

"That made no sense," Spitfire, who was sitting in between Soarin and Surprise, murmured. Surprise put a hoof around the golden mare's shoulder.

"Spit, what fun is there in making sense?" the white pegasus asked. Spitfire swatted her hoof away.

"For the love of Luna, don't call me Spit! And don't steal Discord's lines either, it's annoying enough when he says it," she snapped. Soarin suddenly became aware of presence beside him.

"Um, Thpitfire?" Fleetfoot knocked on the table with a hoof. "What're you doing here?" she asked. Soarin had been a little shocked himself when Spitfire had decided to sit with the other Wonderbolts. Surprise, of course, had been thrilled and had hugged the captain for a full minute and a half before releasing her.

"What do you mean?" Spitfire asked, taking off her shades and letting them hang around her neck. Fleetfoot put an elbow on Soarin's shoulder to prop herself up.

"We've been athking you to eat with uth forever and today you finally do it. Mind if I athk why?" she raised a brow. Spitfire shrugged and folded her hooves in front of her.

"I dunno; I just felt like it, I guess," she tugged absentmindedly at her tie. Fleetfoot made a small 'uh-huh' noise.

"Right… well, anyway, you're in my theat," she lisped, nodding down at the chair Spitfire was sitting in. The captain looked puzzled.

"Your seat? You don't own the seat," she countered. Fleetfoot just stood there and glared at her, her face blank. Spitfire rolled her eyes and went to stand up before Surprise pushed her back down.

"C'mon, Fleet, let her sit there just for today?" the yellow maned Wonderbolt put on her best puppy dog eyes. Fleetfoot sneered down at Spitfire with immense hostility.

"Yeesh, what _won't_ you take that ithn't yours?" she slunk off to sit someplace else. Spitfire looked like she was about to say something but Fleetfoot had already gone. Soarin had a suspicion that Fleetfoot 'knew'; and if she knew, then things could get a little tricky.

"Soarin!"

Speaking of being in the know…

"What is it, Brae?" Soarin asked as Braeburn glared down at him. The earth pony slugged him on the shoulder.

"Two words: Cherry. Pie!" he seethed. Soarin knew exactly what was happening, but chose to play dumb.

"Hey, you've learned to count," he joked. Unfortunately, Braeburn didn't seem to find it very funny.

"Soarin, Ah know you ate 'em all," the light gold stallion didn't look very pleased… at all… maybe he should run, just to be on the safe side.

"What? Soarin, you've been eating all the food?" Spitfire spoke up from his other side. Braeburn hadn't noticed she was there until then, and seemed pretty embarrassed to have been seen so mad in front of her.

"Oh, um… evenin', ma'am. Didn't expect t' see ya here," he smiled over at her, and Soarin was pleased to see her smile back at him. Maybe if Braeburn could stay distracted for a little while longer…

"So, Soarin, aren't ya gonna do somethin'?" Braeburn returned his attention to the pale blue pegasus. Darn it!

"Like what? Do you want me to puke 'em back up or something? Apart from that I see no way of resolving this situation," he shrugged his shoulders. Braeburn seemed to cringe a little at that image.

"At least apologize," the earth pony rolled his eyes. Soarin scoffed.

"Why? If it makes ya feel better, they tasted fantastic!" he complimented him, drooling a little at the thought of eating those cherry pies.

"Soarin, just say you're sorry, won't ya?" Spitfire poked his shoulder. Soarin's jaw went slack at this. She was actually siding with Braeburn against her own teammate. He didn't know whether to feel happy for his friend or betrayed.

"Make me," he folded his hooves across his chest and poked his tongue out. He looked from side to side at the two ponies giving him death glares, realising that they both had pretty good evil stares. He sighed and gave in, mostly because it gave the two of them another thing in common: control over him. "Fine, okay, I'm sorry. Done," Soarin gave in. Then, smirking slightly, he danced his gaze between the two of them. "You're not gonna punish me are you, _mom and dad_," he teased them. He could only sit and watch while withholding his chuckles as the two ponies glanced at eachother, then looked back at him, each of them turning a shade pinker.

"Right, Ah'm just gonna go make some more pies, no thanks t' you," Braeburn snapped at Soarin. He addressed Spitfire before he left. "It was good t' see ya, ma'am," he shyly said to her. "See ya 'round," he left after that. Spitfire gave him a tiny smile as he retreated.

"Yeah, see ya," she called after him before looking back down at the table. Soarin heard Surprise let out a 'hmmmm' noise as if she was thinking… and if Surprise was thinking then it was _the end of the world_! Okay… maybe it wasn't that drastic. The white pegasus twisted Spitfire round to face her and then stared deeply into her eyes, leaning forward so their noses were pressed together. Just when Soarin was wondering if Surprise could get any stranger, she opened her eyes as wide as they would go, to maximise the freakiness of all this. Spitfire's eyes flicked around, and she was clearly wondering what in Tartarus Surprise was up to.

"Surpr-"

She was cut off by Surprise gasping and jumping several feet into the air before landing on top of the table, hopping from hoof to hoof and making happy little squeaks and giggles.

"What's happening?" Spitfire faced Soarin. "What's happening?" she repeated. Soarin chuckled up at Surprise.

"You look like you're doing riverdance," he commented. Once Surprise had stopped dancing and springing on the table (which had just been wiped, so that was a waste of time) and had taken a moment to catch her breath, she leaned down to look Spitfire in the eyes again. Only less creepy this time.

"You like Braeburn!" she exclaimed. Spitfire made the exact same face that a pony would have made if they had just been slapped.

"What?! No I don't!" she argued. Soarin curiously watched the two mares, interested to find out Spitfire's view on all of this. Surprise seemed to be ignoring what the golden pegasus was saying.

"You _do_!" she squealed, bouncing up and down on the table. Spitfire looked over at Soarin as if saying 'Is she for real?', but Soarin didn't meet her gaze. She was on her own this time. "My Surprise Sense never lies," the white Wonderbolt told Spitfire. Soarin piped up from his spot next to the slightly flushed looking Wonderbolt captain.

"Surprise Sense?" he questioned. Surprise sat still long enough to explain.

"My Surprise Sense allows me to fathom what emotions a pony is having. And I got an itchy knee, which means that Spitfire's got a crush!" she started hopping up and down again while Spitfire grumbled and buried her face in her hooves.

"Whoa, Surprise, you didn't eat jumping beans again, did ya?" High Winds trotted up to the table with Blaze at her side. Spitfire quickly spoke up.

"Whatever she says is a lie!" she blurted out as quickly as she could before Surprise butted in.

"Spitfire likes Braeburn!" the poofy maned Wonderbolt told them, earning gasps from the two mares.

"She does?!" they chorused. Spitfire face hoofed.

"Did you not just hear me?" she almost yelled. Blaze and High Winds sat down at the table next to Surprise.

"When did this happen?" asked High Winds.

"Do ya think he's hot?" asked Blaze.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" asked Surprise.

"_Shut up_!" Spitfire barked at them all. "I don't like him, okay, so let's not say one more word on the subject," of course, that just went in one ear and out the other.

"So, are you gonna tell him?" High Winds asked almost immediately afterwards. Spitfire rolled her orange eyes.

"Unbelievable," she groaned.

"It _is_ unbelievable," Blaze agreed, putting her chin on her folded hooves. "You and him; never would have seen that coming."

Spitfire was surprisingly calm. "I fail to see how you three can't understand the simple thing I'm trying to tell you: I. Don't. Like. Him!" she drew out each word nice and long. Surprise, just flicked a hoof in dismissal of her words.

"Denial is the biggest giveaway that you like somepony," she told the captain, whose left eye began twitching.

"That makes no sense!" she slammed a balled hoof on the table. Soarin snorted with laughter. This was just too hilarious! Surprise sat beside Blaze, who was stroking High Winds' mane and rocked back and forth in her chair.

"Spitfire and Braeburn… they'll call you SpitBurn!" she decided, raising her hooves in the air as if she were worshipping the new name or something. She then gasped and clapped her hooves to the side of her face. "Oooh, I've gotta go print that on a bunch of T-Shirts!" she decided. Spitfire quickly stopped her.

"NO!" she yelled, making a few of the other ponies in the room look over at them. Spitfire waited until they'd turned their attention away before speaking to Surprise again. "You're not printing anything on any T-shirts, because _I don't like him_!" she repeated.

"She's lying," Surprise said to the smirking Blaze and High Winds, who nodded to show they agreed with Surprise. Spitfire slitted her eyes at her annoying white furred friend.

"If the liar says I'm lying then I'm not lying," she riddled. Surprise got a challenging glint in her eyes.

"Unless you're a liar," she shot back.

"I know you are, but what am I?" Spitfire seemed pretty sure Surprise couldn't beat that. But she _could_!"

"Liar says what."

"What?" Spitfire cocked an eyebrow.

"HA!" Surprise booped the Wonderbolt captain's nose. Soarin wished he had a camera so he could record this and show it to Rainbow Dash. What she wouldn't give to see something like this?

"That doesn't prove anything! That's just stupid!" Spitfire fumed. Soarin was surprised that steam wasn't coming out of her ears. Surprise snorted and rapped her hooves on the table to get rid of some of her bottled up excitement.

"It proves _everything_! This is the bestest thing ever, right guys?" she looked over at High Winds and Blaze, who simultaneously said 'yep'. Then Surprise said something completely unexpected.

"So when's the wedding?" she smiled widely, and Spitfire's eyes almost popped out of her skull.

"What?!" she gasped.

"Can we be the bridesmaids?" High Winds asked, making her best begging face.

"_What_?!" Spitfire exclaimed once again.

"I wonder which one of you will wear the pants in the family," Blaze scoffed.

"_WHAT?_!"the golden mare spluttered. Then Surprise went ahead and wrapped her arms around herself, smiling like the biggest loon ever.

"I can't _wait_ to hug your little foals!" she squeed.

"WHOA! Okay, that's enough of that!" Spitfire gave Surprise a sharp slap on the shoulder that would most likely leave a bruise. Surprise rubbed her shoulder, making a pouty face.

"Ouchie…" she whimpered. Surprise seemed to shut up pretty sharpish after that. Still grumbling, Spitfire glanced over at Soarin.

"And you wonder why I never hang out with you guys," she sourly said to him before looking straight down at the table. Soarin just shook his head and turned his head in time to see Rapidfire approaching with a plate of cookies in his mouth. He put them down on the table and started to say something when Blaze reached forward.

"Hey, thanks man, I'm starving," she said before Rapidfire slapped her hoof away.

"Hooves off, these are mine," he told her, earning a huffy glare from her. He sat down opposite High Winds. "So what was all the arguing about earlier?" he asked. Spitfire was about to answer when High Winds did it for her.

"Spitfire likes Braeburn. And I mean '_likes him'_, likes him," she smirked. Spitfire sat up straight and glared embers at the ponies around her.

"How many times? I don't!" she then turned to speak specifically to Rapidfire. "I _don't_!"

"MMMMMM!" Surprise suddenly grabbed everyone's attention. She was happily munching on one of Rapidfire's cookies. "Excuse me," she begged the others' pardon. "But these cookies are out of this world," she took another big bite. Rapidfire looked pretty annoyed.

"What- who said you could eat my cookies?" he pulled the plate away from her. Soarin decided there and then that he loved eating with everypony around. This was just too amusing to miss. "Anyway, why would you think that?" he asked High Winds, Blaze and Surprise, who was wiping cookie crumbs from around her mouth.

"Because I saw the two of them with my own eyes," Surprise said after swallowing the last of the sugary snack.

"Doing what?" Rapidfire asked with interest.

"Telling Soarin off," Spitfire sighed, but Surprise of course had a much different view of things.

"All kinds of things! If you'd seen the way Spitfire was looking at him you'd believe me! She practically glowed for Celestia's sake," she exaggerated. Spitfire gave Surprise a small shove.

"Rapidfire, are you really gonna take Surprise's opinion over mine? This is the same mare who once thought that bank cards actually had money _inside_ them!" she looked angrily at the white Wonderbolt, who raised her hooves in defence.

"Are you ever gonna let that go? You got a new one!" she scooted away from the captain a little, just to be safe. Rapidfire shrugged and nodded.

"Okay, maybe Surprise isn't the most reliable of sources-"

"MMMMMM, these cookies!" Surprise blissfully exclaimed. Soarin noticed that she had grabbed another of the cookies from Rapidfire's plate. "I have _got_ to get the recipe!" she said to Rapidfire, who then stood up and put both forehooves on the table.

"Put that cookie down!" he ordered her. "**NOW**!" he added, raising his voice a little higher than he should have. Sure enough, everypony in the room fixed their eyes on him, while he stood there, looking as awkward as he felt. He sunk back down in his chair and everypony at Soarin's table was silent until the other ponies in the room had returned to their business.

"Anyway, I have a short list of things that proves that Spitfire likes Braeburn. For starters, she smiles at him without being told to," she began.

"It's called having manners," Spitfire defended herself and Surprise snorted with laughter.

"When have you cared about being friendly to ponies? That's also point number two."

"HA!" Soarin burst out laughing. When he saw how everypony was staring at him he slowly stopped giggling and told them what was so funny. "Number two," was all he said, letting out one last snigger. Surprise rolled her purple eyes at him.

"And, point number three: she didn't react when Soarin called her and Braeburn his 'mom and dad'," she finished. Spitfire looked like she wanted the ground to swallow her up.

"So? It was a joke; why should I have reacted?" she asked. She meant it rhetorically, but Surprise answered anyway.

"Spitfire, you take _everything_ seriously, and you just let this one slide. That's not like you," she explained. Soarin had to admit that even though Surprise wasn't exactly what you'd call a smart pony, she did come up with some pretty legit things when she wanted to.

"Holy mother of Nightmare Moon, what does it take for me to get it into your thick skulls that I don't like Cowboy?" she sounded pretty exasperated by now. High Winds giggled.

"And you have a pet name for him, too!" she squealed. Spitfire let out a distressed groan before face-planting the table.

"It's just a nickname!" she insisted, folding her hooves over her head. Rapidfire looked from Surprise, to High Winds, to Blaze.

"Um… I think she's being serious," he told them. Blaze just smiled smugly and gazed over the table at the rather flustered Wonderbolt captain.

"I think she's _seriously_ in L-O-V-E," she playfully teased her. Soarin actually felt a little sorry for his captain as the three mares next to her started giggling together. He would have hugged her to cheer her up… but he didn't want to die, so he decided against it. Well, even though Spitfire was humiliated, Rapidfire had embarrassed himself in front of everypony in the room and he never got to try one of those cookies, he decided that eating in here was great.

There was never anything this funny on TV!

* * *

_Hi guys,_

_I know I didn't come to the Academy to deal with a bunch of friendship lessons and stuff like that, but I learnt something over the past couple of days that I thought would make a great letter._

_Over a month ago, Spring Song and I had our falling out, and she refused to be friends with me again because she wouldn't let my victory over her go. Since then things have been getting worse between us and I was beginning to worry about friendships never rekindling. That's why I was so worried about Soarin getting mad at me for… something. Well, he was really cool about everything and even though what I did was wrong and he could have acted like Spring Song, not making up with me and hating me, he forgave me straight away. He's such an awesome pony!_

_And my friend Lullaby tried to talk me out of this situation (which really isn't important) and got pretty ticked with me for not following her advice. And, like Soarin, she forgave me, too; she didn't even seem all that mad. Though this might have been because I let her call me names… actually, she made me call myself names but that's not important right now. _

_And that taught me something. Friends forgive eachother! No matter how dire what you did was true friends always come through for you in the end. Spring Song never accepted my friendship after the race situation, so I guess she was never really my friend in the first place. Soarin and Lullaby are real friends; only friends like them would have wanted to stay buddies with me after this incident in which I did things they wouldn't have approved of. Now _that_ is loyalty!_

_I'll see you guys soon, and tell Scoots I miss her._

_Yours loyally,_

_Rainbow Dash._


	27. The Trouble With Tomboys

Authors Note: So, who's enjoying season 5 so far? I know I am!

And who loved _Tanks for the Memories_? I think I'm gonna give our favourite little tortoise a shout out at the end.

**Dj Storm- I'M GONNA WRECK IT! :D**

**YoungBlood23- Pleased I made your day, man. I think that's one of the scenes I'm most proud of overall. A lot of thought went into that.**

**Spiralwish- I love Fleetfoot, too! I mean for one thing, her mane and tail are so FLUFFY! And she seems like a huggable pony; can't you just imagine hugging a super soft Fleetfoot? **

**The Super Saiyan 3- Thanks for reading, as always, and I can't begin to tell ya how happy I am that the 'Surprise Sense Scene'- as I have dubbed it- was funny for you. **

**MidnightBlaze16- Awesome review is awesome! And yeah, it was meant to be a nod to Big Hero 6; at least I read it in Hiro's voice, anyway. HA! Now I'm imagining a robot Surprise! **_**"Your neurotransmitter levels indicate that you are experiencing philo, common in ponies of both gender. Diagnosis- SPITBURN!**_

**RosaSilvermist- I'm super glad you like that story! I'd say it's about 80% done by now and there's a preview on my profile. ^^ Also, Surprise made me want a SpitBurn T-shirt. I wonder if she'll actually make some…**

**Sparkling-nexis137- I guess it would be great to tease Spitfire… and dangerous. I'm glad you think it's funny 'cause (I'm not exaggerating) I've been scripting that for like three months. And I feel sorry for Rapidfire, too. COOKIES ARE AWESOME! **

**The Ghost Writer- Wowzers! Ya know, I just recently had a conversation about how there is such a huge lack of slow-paced stories, so this is both cool and ironic. I think the main thing I see with SoarinDash fics these days is that the writer uses the many, many things they have in common to initiate something intimate within a matter of minutes, and I personally don't like it when that happens. And Braeburn and Soarin's friendship is actually inspired by the official IDW pony comics, since it is shown on a variant cover of issue 11 that they did in fact go to the same high school. So that fact is canon, it's just their friendship that's not. As for the S.S. SpitBurn, I guess you could say… this ship has sailed! *I get shot in the foot*.**

**Litestardt- Glad ya liked it! Surprise is quickly becoming one of my favourite characters to write, ya know, and Soarin calling Spitfire and Braeburn his parents came to me at the last second, and I'm so happy that I put it in. ^^**

**Luna'snight625- *cyberhugs back* That review made me so freakin' happy! :D**

**Tycser- Yeah, I do find that sometimes I need a little more character development here and there, so the chapter usually turns out a little pointless; but, hey, I do tend to find that the chapters where not much happens are the most fun to write. **

**Guest- Aww, thank you! I'm thrilled you think my story's funny. *cyberhugs***

_**And now we move on to another of those chapters where nothing much happens besides some silliness and Paradise… so, mainly just silliness.**_

* * *

"So, how's it going with Sea Monkey?" Soarin asked Rainbow Dash as they walked down the hall after a particularly exhausting training session. The stallion had been teaching Rainbow Dash how to time turns just right; Rainbow had found it rather boring since she wanted to learn some more awesome tricks, leading Soarin to explain to her the importance of finely timed turns. One moment out of sync during an air show and the whole performance could get botched up. That had made the rainbow maned mare pay attention.

"Hehe," Rainbow giggled. Soarin had taken to calling Spring Song 'Sea Monkey' now since he thought she looked just like one. Actually, Rainbow Dash had to admit that if you looked at her a certain way then she did look like a sea monkey… boy, she'd have to try hard not to call her that in front of her. "Same old, same old, her trying to make my life miserable, and me imagining her as a chicken," she explained. Soarin gave her a perplexed look. Rainbow smirked and shook her head, as if remembering something. "Ask Lullaby," was all she said.

Soarin thought about the purple pegasus that was friends with Rainbow Dash. She seemed like a really nice mare, tending to be Rainbow's voice of reason. Lullaby was probably one of the most level-headed pegasi Soarin had ever met and wouldn't mind being friends with her himself. Rainbow definitely had a good taste when it came to friends.

"Ya know what? We should expose what a jerk she is to everypony in Equestria, get her kicked out of the Academy and everyone would hate her. What do ya say?" Soarin offered. He was only kidding but Rainbow Dash took it pretty seriously.

"No!" she exclaimed, her wings opening out to the side. "Soarin, I'm not gonna be a tattletale," she stood her ground stiffly and stone-faced. Soarin was pretty surprised at her stubbornness.

"Dashie, there's a difference between being a tattletale and standing up for yourself," he told her. He expected her to say something about how he wasn't as much of an idiot as she thought, like she usually did, but no joke came.

"Soarin," she had absolutely no positive emotions in her voice. "Just let me handle her myself,_ please_," the word 'please' kinda came out as a hysterical plea. Soarin thought it over for a little while.

"Fine," he _very _reluctantly agreed, sighing a little. He swore to Celestia that if Spring Song did one more thing to Rainbow Dash he'd personally strap her to a firework and shoot her into the stratosphere.

"So, are cadets usually allowed in the staff room?" Rainbow asked as they turned another corner. Soarin shook his head, feeling a little cautious.

"No… don't tell your friends, I don't want 'em getting jealous. Only you can get the star treatment," he smiled down at her and the cyan pegasus beamed proudly. Holy Luna's stars, he loved it when she smiled; it was the perfect mix of happy and cocky.

"I won't. I mean it wouldn't be much of a staff room if every single cadet was in there," she chuckled at the thought. Soarin shrugged.

"Yeah, can't see why they'd want to go in there anyway," he said as they walked through the door. "It's always boring in there anyway," that turned out to be proved wrong about half a second later.

Rapidfire and Lightning Streak were at the coffee table staring down at a piece of paper with horror filled eyes while Braeburn stood nearby, looking a little awkward. Soarin and Rainbow Dash approached them warily, wondering what had got them so frazzled.

"Um, hi guys, Whatcha doin'?" Soarin chirped. Lightning Streak looked at the out of the corner of his eye.

"Just reading Braeburn's mail," he replied before resuming his letter reading. Soarin looked over at his earth pony friend, who instantly looked away. Leaving Rainbow Dash to ponder the other two stallions' behaviour, Soarin trotted over to the light gold pony.

"Care to explain exactly what's going on?" he asked. Braeburn sighed and leaned against the wall.

"Well, Derpy stopped by this morning with some mail and Ah got a letter back from muh parents. Muh pa kinda wrote some… stuff in there, and Ah got a little mad, came down here to rant about it, Lightning Streak and Rapidfire asked t' read it and-" he gestured over to the coffee table. "-this happened."

Soarin went over to the two Wonderbolts. "Um, what's shaken you two up so bad?" he asked nervously. Rapidfire looked up from the letter, his eyes wild.

"Heh… whoa, Braeburn's dad sure has a way with words," he gulped. "I hope he doesn't talk like this in public," he added, reading another sentence. Okay, if Rapidfire was concerned about this then it must be bad.

"Let me see then," Soarin stood next to Lightning Streak and Rainbow Dash joined him a second later. The first part of the letter was nice and polite- most likely Braeburn's mother, since she was one of the sweetest ponies Soarin had ever met- but when they got about halfway through things started to get a little pegasus-offensive.

"Yeesh!" Rainbow Dash and Soarin chorused, leaning back from the letter and gritting their teeth. Rainbow looked over at Braeburn with an incredulous look on her face.

"Are you sure this guy isn't from Manehattan?" she asked. Soarin nodded in agreement; usually ponies from thereabouts had language problems, and not the spelling, punctuation and grammar kind…

"Wow, how can a guy get so worked up over ponies with wings?" Lightning Streak unfolded his feathery wings and looked them over. Soarin rolled his eyes, remembering many times from his teen years where Braeburn's dad had treated him like a ten day old mouldy hayburger because of the wings on his back. Racism wasn't usually a problem for the three races of pony (four if you included alicorns), but there were some ponies that liked to discriminate the other types of ponies. Unicorns liked to boast about their powerful magic, pegasi sometimes liked to tease the others with their ability to fly and control the weather, and earth ponies, like Braeburn's dad, loved to hate the pegasi and unicorns for their abilities. If only harmony amongst ponies could be understood by everyone.

"Ya know, on that note, Lullaby wanted me to help her out with some wing exercises. I'll catch you guys later," Rainbow Dash left the room, looking a little distraught at the language in the letter. Soarin honestly couldn't blame her; he'd never get those terrible sentences out of his head.

"Um… so, how about we talk about something else?" Soarin suggested, trying to shake himself back to sense, or whatever it was Soarin felt in reality. He tried to think of something. "So, Lightning, how's Fire?" he asked Lightning Streak, who instantly got an angry look on his face.

"He's just chilling in his fancy schmancy office, lounging around in his spinny leather seat with the cup holder. A cup holder, man! I mean, how come he gets an office?" he sat down on the sofa and slouched down into the cushions, scrunching up his muzzle with annoyance. Maybe Soarin should have picked a different topic. Lightning Streak did tend to get a little mad whenever somepony mentioned the success of his senior Wonderbolt brother.

"Because he's smarter than you, better at his job, and knows what bipartisan means," Rapidfire listed things. Lightning Streak looked a little awkward at the memory, and so did Soarin because he had been there when Fire had tried to explain to Lightning what the word meant with some difficulty. He probably listed Lightning Streak as the second dumbest Wonderbolt, the most dumb being Surprise, of course.

"Ouch," Lightning Streak sounded pretty hurt at the older Wonderbolts words. "For your information I happen to have a very high intelligence level," he argued. Rapidfire smirked.

"Well, what is it?" he asked. Lightning Streak raised his head proudly and folded puffed out his chest.

"One hundred and seven! Triple digits, baby!" he cheered. Rapidfire snorted at Lightning Streak, mostly out of pity.

"Dude, that's stupid," he told the light blue Wonderbolt, who didn't look like he believed him.

"_You're_ stupid," he told Rapidfire, who rolled his eyes at him.

"Worst comeback ever, man," he teased Lightning, who got up from the sofa and stood nose to nose with his older friend.

"Well, it's not like you could come up with anything clever either," he challenged. Still annoyed, Lightning Streak slammed a hoof on the table, shaking one of the mugs and splashing a little coffee on the table just as Feather Duster came through the door. She looked at Lightning Streak as he left the room then pointed at the coffee spillage.

"I'm not cleaning that up," she told the others, making Soarin tut at her.

"Oh, there's a shock," he said sarcastically as Rapidfire moved to stand in the doorway.

"I'd better find Lightning before he does something stupid," he told the others. "I'll be back!" he declared before heading after his colleague. Feather Duster shook her head at the two stallions and hovered over to curl up on one of the couches. That was one of the perks of being a rather diminutive pony; you could comfortably fit on a small cushion and still have room to spread your wings out. Soarin moved over to her and cleared his throat.

"What?" Feather Duster looked up at him. The blue pegasus glowered down at her sternly. Even though he loved to have fun he was still the co-captain, which meant that he had to ensure that everypony was doing what they were supposed to do.

"Don't you have work to attend to?" he asked her. Feather Duster shook her head and curled into a tighter ball.

"Nah, Spitfire's making Spring Song do all the work for me today. She's scraping gum off the bottom of the tables," she took a second to laugh. "Boy, it's good to see somepony else suffer for a change," she sighed. Soarin shook his head and stared down at the dust coloured mare. And ponies thought that _he_ was a slacker… well, they weren't wrong, but still.

"So yer just gonna sit there all day?" Braeburn piped up, moving to stand next to Soarin. Feather Duster rolled onto her back.

"No, of course not, I've been busy all day and thought I'd take a nap. I do have a life outside of this job, ya know?" she replied. Soarin folded his hooves on the arm of the couch.

"Busy doing what?" he asked, not believing that the small pegasus had actually been doing anything vaguely productive. Feather Duster slitted her eyes at the much taller stallion.

"Is there a reason you want to know my personal business? I don't go 'round asking you what you do in your free time; I already know. All you ever do is eat," she told him, sitting up and resting her back against the other arm of the chair. Soarin's jaw dropped and he made it clear that he was offended by this.

"Excuse me, Little Miss Oompa Loompa," he mocked her, prodding her in the tummy. "I do way more than just eat!"

"Well, what else do you do then?" Feather Duster raised a brow and waited for his response. Soarin opened his mouth but nothing came out… oh great. He tried to think of something he did outside of work.

"I… sleep?" he shrugged. "I… Brae, help me out here," he whispered to his earth pony friend. Braeburn rolled his eyes and sighed.

"He does have some hobbies," he told Feather Duster, who suddenly looked interested.

"Like what?" she asked. Soarin wondered what Braeburn was about to say to help him out.

"Um… well, last week he called me over t' his place so Ah could help cut him out of a wet suit 'cause he was pretendin' t' be a dolphin," he looked over at Soarin with a slightly worried expression. The blue pegasus, however, looked absolutely horrified. Braeburn had promised him that he wouldn't tell anypony about that!

"Really?" Feather Duster put her hooves over her mouth and cackled into them. Soarin gave Braeburn a shove.

"What was that for?" he hissed. Braeburn shrugged his shoulders and his green eyes darted around.

"Ah was tryin' t' help!" he insisted. "Ah dunno what ya do in yer free time. She's right; all ya do is eat and mess around with wet suits!"

"I do other stuff; I just don't want anypony to know about them!" Soarin argued before thinking of an example. "I mean, do I really want everyone knowing that sometimes I dress up as Princess Celestia, and I record a speech, and then I play it back to see what it would be like if I was the Princess?" he asked. Braeburn took a step away from him.

"D'ya actually do that?" he asked.

"No…" Soarin replied, casting a wary glance to the side, before going back to the original conversation. "Goin back to the topic on hoof, what did _you_ do today that wasn't lounging around and imagining an arrow through everypony's head?" he asked Feather Duster. The small pegasus grumbled and threw her hooves up in the air.

"Soarin, don't be ridiculous, I stopped imagining arrows through your heads like a month ago… now I imagine axes," she added, smirking and slowly rubbing her hooves together. Okay, Soarin didn't like the look on her face.

"So, are you gonna tell us what you _did_ do or not?" he asked, hoping to draw her attention away from the imaginary axe slicing through his frontal lobe- ACK! Feather Duster looked off to the side, trying to remember what she did.

"Well, I got to work early- which is kinda unlike me, I know- so I hung around and waited for breakfast time outside Fire Streak's office… and then… I got something to eat, then after I took a walk past Fire Streak's office. After that… I went to watch Spring Song do my job, purely because I wanted to see how somepony else liked it, then I went past Fire Streak's office to-"

"Hold on. Why do you keep hanging around Fire Streak's office?" Soarin butted in. Feather Duster shrugged.

"I'm not," she lied. Then Soarin noticed her cheeks turning redder. Okay, after the past month and a half, he recognized that look loud and clear.

"No way!" he leaned down and used his best tease-voice. "You have a thing for Fire Streak," he nickered. Feather Duster's brown eyes went wide and she made a bad poker face.

Whaaaaat? Fire Streak? That's crazy, uh, why would I- stop looking at me like that!" she snapped, standing on all fours and swiping a hoof at Soarin's face, narrowly missing him.

"That explains a lot, like how you get crazily awkward whenever he comes into a room," Soarin told her.

"I do not do that," Feather Duster refused, shaking her head.

"Or that time you accidentally 'spilled' orange juice over him and mopped him up," Soarin realized, remembering how thorough Feather Duster had been with her cleaning that particular time.

"I was just being clumsy," the small mare argued.

"And the day you fell asleep on the couch and leaned against him," Soarin added. Feather Duster looked off awkwardly.

"Actually, that one _was_ an accident. I had to stay at work the last night until I'd cleaned the whole staff room," she then got a mortified look on her face. "Did you know that dust can get _under_ furniture? This job is impossible!" she flopped back on the couch.

"So, ya _do_ like Fire?" Braeburn sat on the floor in front of the couch. Feather Duster sighed and shrugged.

"Okay, maybe I like him a little, but it's just a crush, right? I mean it's not like it could ever happen," she turned her head to the side to look Braeburn in the eye, suddenly looking distressed. "I mean you have absolutely no idea what it's like to be so desperately smitten with a Wonderbolt and know that there's an almost 0% chance of them liking you back," she rambled. Braeburn got a blunt look on his face.

"Wanna bet?" he asked. Feather Duster looked confused.

"What do ya mean by that?" she asked. Braeburn stood up and headed over to the coffee table.

"Not important," he called over his shoulder as he moved across to the other side of the room to sit on the long green sofa, pulling out an issue of Pick Your Pegasus and reading it upside down. Feather Duster seemed to shake it off after that.

"Anyway, it's no biggie, so just forget about it, okay?" she didn't give him a chance to reply and hastily left the room. Soarin exhaled sharply and looked over at Braeburn.

"Since when did the Academy turn into a huge drama-house?" he asked his friend, who shrugged.

"Ah'm used t' it by now," he replied, and Soarin had to agree.

* * *

"So, she's really scraping gum off the tables?" Rainbow Dash whispered to Lullaby as they crept down to the mess hall to see for themselves. As soon as Rainbow had heard she had begged Lullaby to go and find out with her.

"Well, Sugar Swoop doesn't lie," the purple pegasus replied, smirking as they neared the mess hall. "If he says Spring Song is on gum duty, then she probably is."

"Pfft. Gum doody," Rainbow snickered, earning an eye roll from Lullaby. Rainbow tried again. "Lullaby- gum doody!" she repeated. Lullaby shook her head and looked away from Rainbow Dash.

Still determined to make someone laugh, Rainbow Dash breaks the fourth wall and turns to look up at you through your screen. "Gum doody!" she chuckles again, waiting a few seconds for your response. "Nothing here either," she shakes her head before re-entering the story.

"Here we are," Lullaby announced as she peered into the mess hall. Rainbow Dash joined her friend's observation and almost lost control of her laughter as she laid eyes on Spring Song lying on her back under the table with a scraper in her hoof. She had a bucket beside her, probably full of the old gum and the look on her face was brilliant! She was gagging and softly whimpering as she scraped off some more of the old, chewed up stuff. It must have sucked to be Spring Song right then.

Paradise sat at one of the tables a few metres away, staring, unblinking, at her pink furred friend. Actually, now that Rainbow Dash was properly looking at Paradise the way she was looking at Spring Song was freaking her out… it was just plain creepy with a capital C.

"Do you want some help, now?" Paradise asked her friend, still not blinking. Spring Song grunted as some more gum came off onto the scraper.

"No, I can do this by myself. If you help, Spitfire will probably give me some other dumb job," she replied. "Who does she think she is, giving me these crummy chores? She's a complete _ASS_!" Spring Song sat up straight at that last word, whacking her head on the table as she did so. She fell onto her back again, probably seeing stars. Rainbow Dash didn't even feel the slightest bit sorry for her; it served her right for insulting the Wonderbolt captain like that. Paradise got up and walked over to Spring Song.

"Do you need help, now?" she asked once again. Spring Song raised a hoof in the air, the other one rubbing her sore forehead.

"No, I'm still fine. Just leave me alone for a minute," she grumbled, wincing a little at the pain in her skull. Paradise sat back at her table and resumed staring at Spring Song. After a few seconds, the green mare spoke again.

"How about now?"

"NO!" Spring Song drew out the word longer than it should have been before returning to her scraping, shrieking with disgust as some gum landed on her face when it fell off the table. That was when Rainbow Dash and Lullaby forgot all about holding in their giggles and burst into a fit of chuckles, snorts, you name it. Spring Song and Paradise looked over at them, eyes wide as they hadn't known they were being watched. Spring Song put on that same bitter frown she always got when Rainbow Dash was in her line of vision.

"What do you want, Rainbow Trash?" she then smiled sweetly. "Can I just say that your fur doesn't look nearly as messed up as usual," she added in a high, nicey-nice voice that made Rainbow want to puke. She decided to come back at her somehow.

"And, Spring Song, you don't smell as much as you usually do. Most of the time I can tell when you're gonna show up by scent," she teased the pink mare. Rainbow felt pride welling in her chest as Spring Song's jaw dropped. Yeah, who's smiling now, Stink Song?

"Ugh," Spring Song went back to scraping. "Look, unless you two have some reason to be here, just go. I have an important job to do," she boasted. Rainbow Dash couldn't believe she was bragging about gum duty… yeah it didn't sound as funny now. Lullaby flapped over one of the tables and landed next to Spring Song.

"I'm just gonna sit here and watch you do your 'important job' then, if you don't mind," the purple mare sat on her haunches and smirked down at Spring Song as she worked. The devil-pony angled her green eyes so she could look Lullaby in the face.

"I actually do mind," she told Lullaby, who just shrugged.

"All the more reason for me to watch," she put her head in her hooves and stared at Spring Song as if she were a TV screen. Rainbow sat next to Paradise and watched, too. Spring Song dealt with the three other ponies staring at her for an impressive amount of time (half a minute- which is good for Spring Song anyway) before groaning and snapping at all of them.

"Will you stop staring at me? What am I, some kind of zoo animal!?"

"Do you really want us to answer that?" Rainbow Dash sniggered, and Spring Song let out an over the top breath, before stubbornly scraping some more gum. Rainbow Dash caught sight of a cunning glint in Spring Song's eyes… that couldn't be good. Rainbow didn't have time to warn Lullaby as she flicked some gum right at the purple mare's face. She yelped as it stuck to her left ear and even Spring Song visibly cringed. Lullaby shook her head to get the gum off and stood on all fours.

"You b-" Lullaby then got a little bad-mouthed. Rainbow didn't often see Lullaby mad, but when she did it was wise to just give her some space… but for some reason she didn't feel like giving the pink she-demon the heads up. From then on, Spring Song argued back. They yelled louder and louder until Spring Song and Lullaby were standing nose to nose spitting insults at eachother.

"Whoa," Paradise said beside Rainbow Dash.

"I know, right," Rainbow Dash briefly glanced at the green mare in the seat next to hers. "How long do ya think they'll be arguing?" she wondered out loud. So she and Paradise sat there, hooves folded on the table in front of them, while Lullaby and Spring Song bickered, their words a blur of random syllables as they chattered back and forth, not even stopping to breathe.

"What's going on?" Cinder suddenly emerged from the kitchen, her ears flat to her head as if she were frightened. Well, Cinder was a pretty timid pony and all the yelling must have unnerved her quite a bit.

"Stay out of this, Shrimp!" Spring Song quickly looked over her shoulder and snapped at the tiny blue pegasus, who quickly scampered over to Rainbow Dash and Paradise, who hadn't even looked up from watching her two fellow cadets argue.

"But seriously, what's happening?" Cinder grunted as she tried clamber onto the chair next to Rainbow Dash, her front legs on the seat while her back legs flailed in mid-air as she tried to haul herself up. Rainbow lent Cinder a wing to hoist her up and the little mare gave her a grateful smile.

"Spring Song's on gum duty-"

"Pfffft! Gum doody!" Cinder giggled, covering her mouth with her small hooves. Rainbow Dash raised her voice so Lullaby could hear her.

"See?! _She_ thinks it's funny!" she patted Cinder on the head; though Lullaby was far too occupied with her Spring Song issue to pay attention to Rainbow's boasting. The two of them were now circling eachother like a pair of lions about to attack eachother.

"Yikes," said Rainbow Dash, biting her lip as Lullaby threw a rather harsh insult at Spring Song, who gasped loudly and gave Lullaby a small punch on the shoulder.

"Oh boy," Cinder covered her eyes with her hooves for a few seconds before removing one just enough so she could see the conflict between the two rivals a little.

"Spring Song looks cute when she's mad," Paradise murmured. The green mare was completely unaware as Rainbow Dash and Cinder slowly twisted their heads to the side to look at her. They must have stared at her for at least a minute before Rainbow Dash spoke a single word.

"…what?"

Paradise looked over at her. "What do ya mean, 'what'?" she asked. Rainbow Dash and Cinder wondered how Paradise could be this unaware as to what they were getting at.

"You… you think she's cute?" Cinder nodded over at Spring Song, who was hovering a few feet in the air now, yelling down at Lullaby with vigour and fury. Paradise nodded, staring back at the pink pegasus.

"Yeah… I mean, she's just so smart, pretty and talented," she listed Spring Song's positives… wait a sec.

"Are we talking about the same pony?" Rainbow looked over at the devil-pegasus who was yelling up a storm. She was surprised that none of the Wonderbolts had come down to complain. Paradise naïvely nodded, sighing quietly, gazing at her with starry eyes, her voice silky as she spoke of the mare she fancied.

"Look at her; even in the heat of battle she is so elegant, regal. She is Ajax, mighty Greek warrior," Paradise slurred. Rainbow Dash hadn't known Paradise to be so poetic before now, not even when… hold on.

"Wait a minute, I thought you were obsessed with Fire Streak," Rainbow recalled the time during combat training when Paradise had practically swooned over him before chasing him. Paradise shrugged and fiddled with her forehooves.

"Well… he doesn't like me," Paradise finally saw the light. "And I guess I acted a little wacky around him, right?" she waited for Cinder and Rainbow to finish nodding at her. "But… I guess I've always had some kind of thing for Spring Song, ever since I first met her… but I didn't know about it until the party when she… ya know. Before that, all I knew was that I really cared for her and would do anything for her. Sure, she can be a jerk but nopony knows her like I do. Somewhere in there there's a kind, caring pony, she just doesn't know how to show herself."

Wow… Rainbow Dash hadn't heard Paradise talk about something so meaningful before. But that wasn't the only thing on her mind.

"Paradise?" she asked a little embarrassed. Paradise made a humming noise, signalling for Rainbow Dash to talk. "Do you… _love_ Spring Song?" she rubbed the back of her head. She felt really dumb right now. Paradise shrugged her shoulder again.

"I don't know. Maybe?" was all she said. "I don't have anything to compare this to, so I can't be sure," she admitted. Though tomboys like herself didn't much care for stuff like this, Rainbow Dash was curious about these sorts of emotions. She'd tried not to think about it for quite some time, but after the party incident and the time she'd spent with Soarin on the cloud, she'd been noticing more and more that when she was around the stallion she felt… better. Rainbow Dash hadn't really been concerned with stallions before, but for the past few weeks she'd become aware of crazy things going on with her. When she hung out with Soarin she never wanted it to end, whenever he praised her or called her awesome she'd grow warmer, mostly around her facial area and ears, and on more than one occasion she had got the weird desire to hug him… she was just so confused.

"Still, when you're around her what does it feel like?" Rainbow wanted to barf all over herself for asking such a stupid question. She was Rainbow 'Danger' Dash and she wasn't meant to ask questions like that. It wasn't in her nature!

"Well, it's kinda like… I want to spend every second of every day with her, and I feel like I'd do anything to make her like me," Paradise explained. Rainbow wasn't so sure if this was the same thing she felt for Soarin. Cinder piped up from next to the cyan mare.

"Paradise, I recall you once saying that ponies were like socks," she reminded the green pegasus. Rainbow Dash obviously hadn't been around for this, but she listened in anyway. "If you lose one in the drier you just go and find another one that's been left lying around," she explained. Paradise folded her arms close to her body and looked down at the table.

"I know. There's just something different about this sock. I just wanna hug it and kiss it and-"

"Are we still talking about a sock?" Rainbow Dash butted in. As much as she hated to admit it, Paradise's objection to the 'Sock Theory' was actually quite accurate. She did feel that kind of compulsion whenever she was around Soarin, though she never paid it any attention. She'd been training with the guy for almost two months now and over time she'd grown fonder and fonder of him. She thought back to the beginning of the boot camp when they had trained together for the first time, thinking how excited she had been to train with a Wonderbolt! She compared that to her feelings now. She hadn't been so foggy headed and blushy around him before, that was certain… so when had all this started?

"Rainbow Dash!"

The rainbow maned cadet suddenly felt somepony rapping on her shoulder, breaking her out of her thoughts. Lullaby started tugging her by a forehoof.

"Come on, we're leaving before somepony does something she'll regret," she was talking to Rainbow but didn't take her eyes off Spring Song.

"Well, I bet you're gonna say something you'll regret first!" the pink pegasus snapped back. Lullaby pushed Rainbow Dash towards the door, so rough that she tripped over her hooves a couple of times.

"No, I bet it'll be you who says something you'll regret first!" Lullaby yelled back at her. Paradise flapped into the air and landed next to Spring Song, flaring out her wings to make her look a little tougher.

"I'm not saying anything!" Spring Song stood at her full height, her ears folded back to show she meant business.

"Neither am I!" Lullaby snarled.

"Now get out of here!" Spring Song pointed a hoof at the double doors.

"We were just leaving!" Lullaby pushed Rainbow Dash the remainder of the way to the door and then strode briskly down the hall. Rainbow looked back into the mess hall one last time. Cinder was still sitting at the table, looking very awkward, Paradise was looking hesitantly out the window as if she was ashamed of choosing sides and Spring Song glared at Rainbow Dash with all the hatred of a herd of Windigo's. Rainbow felt her blood chill before she followed after Lullaby, leaving 'Sea Monkey' to resume her gum duty.

* * *

_Hi everyone,_

_Do you guys have any idea how satisfying it is when you see somepony finally get what they deserve? Well, Spring Song was given what has to be the second grossest job next to poop-shovelling- (no offense, Applejack)- gum duty! I can tell Pinkie Pie is laughing!_

_I don't exactly have a friendship report today other than I learned that when Lullaby is angry she yells a lot… and that can give you a mild earache. So my lesson of the day is 'don't make Lullaby mad'. Is that a valid enough lesson, Twilight? _

_Other than that nothing else happened today. Nope. Nothing weird at all. Certainly no wild discoveries were made and I definitely didn't get help from an idiot (I pray to Celestia that Paradise never finds this letter and discovers that I called her an idiot) and everything is 120% totally normal. _

_I'll see you guys soon, and feel free to come and visit. I'd love for you to hang out with me and meet Lullaby, Cinder and some of my other friends here. And Pinkie Pie, I give you my full permission to party cannon Spring Song right in the face. Boy, I'd pay any amount of bits for something like that. And the best part about that? We could have a party to celebrate Spring Song being humiliated and we wouldn't even have to bother with the decorating!_

_Yours awesomely,_

_Rainbow Dash_

_P.S: Fluttershy, I hope you're not having any trouble taking care of Tank for me. The little guy hasn't broken anything right?_

* * *

**Endnote: Paradise has a terrible taste in mares… that's all I have to say.**


	28. Thingamabobs

**Authors Note: And we've hit 30+ favourites! Thank you to everyone who has stuck with this story so far! Cyberhugs all round!**

**RosaSilvermist- I don't know if Paradise could have chosen a worse mare to fancy. Ooh, and Surprise wants to talk to you:**

Surprise: Hi, Rosa! I managed to get some of those SpitBurn T-shirts for you! I also have SpitBurn backpacks, SpitBurn lunchboxes, SpitBurn notebooks, SpitBurn pencils, SpitBurn yoga mats, SpitBurn slippers, SpitBurn leg warmers, SpitBurn- GAH! Gotta go, I think Spitfire's coming!

**YoungBlood23- Was it really that obvious… yeah, I guess it was. ^^**

**Luna'snight625- Soon, my dear reader. Very soon.**

**Dj Storm- More SoarinDash in this chapter, my friend, lots of it!**

**Litestardt- Yes, she is my OC, but she's also a bitchy villainess, so still bad taste on Paradise's part. And I know how terrible it is when a phone breaks, and I'm sure if Rainbow Dash could she'd buy another one for you… right, Dashie?**

**MidnightBlaze16- It is actually pretty sweet I guess… aaaawwww, yeah, now I'm imagining Paradise hugging Spring Song really, really tightly. Okay, I have to go draw that! :D And I think Tanks for the Memories is one of the best Rainbow Dash episodes to date.**

**Sparkling-nexis137- I didn't mean it to be a sad chapter but looking at it now I guess there is a bunch of depressing stuff in there. Yeah, racism one of my least favourite things about the world (if not my overall least favourite thing… besides war, of course) and I figured that there had to be some racial discrimination in Equestria. As much as I hated to add that in I thought it would be another thing that makes the human and pony worlds alike. Not everything can be sunshine and rainbows, after all. Earth ponies do tend to be perceived as boring and plain, a fact prove by looking at the number of pegasus and unicorn ponysona's around the internet, and a very low number of earth ponies. Then again if I could be a pony, I'd be an earth pony so they have my support. And Paradise is probably doomed right now. I mean, she's one of those optimistic ponies that can see good in everyone and now that's gonna be her weakness. I've gotta admit, the idea of Paradise getting in a relationship with Sugar Swoop or Ray sounds pretty intriguing. Hmm… well let's see how this goes.**

**The Super Saiyan 3- Interesting and great, two of my favourite adjectives! Thanks for reading… or, courtesy of the new episode, should I say Tanks for reading? **

**TheMouseOfAwesomeness- Oh my gosh! Another mouse! It makes me so happy that you reviewed; especially if you don't do it often, and I had no idea people would like my style so much! Thank you, thank you, thank you! And your username is epic! Also, I think Paradise creeps everyone out. **

**Tycser- Yeah, I guess you're right. Kinda like with how the slice of life episodes in the TV show work out really well. As for Soarin's voice in the series I agree with you 120%. I've honestly never liked his voice on the show, (no offense to Matt Hill, who is awesome on Ed, Edd and Eddy!) Every writer hears a voice in their head when they write- not in the weird 'I'm going insane' kind of way- they hear the voice of the character they're writing. I hear a completely different voice for Soarin when I write him and, in short, I really don't like Soarin's show voice. Anyway, thanks for reading! You're awesome!**

* * *

They say that time flies when you're having fun. This statement is both true and literal for Rainbow Dash. For a few weeks, time went by pretty darn fast, the still slightly chilly month of April edging by day by day until it slipped away for another year and let May take its place. It was slowly growing warmer, the pegasi at the Weather Factory had less cloud making to do because of the joyful days of clear skies and morning dew, and Celestia was blessing the ponies across Equestria with her glorious sun for a longer and longer period as each day passed.

Rainbow Dash had made several trips to Ponyville to see her friends and hang out with Scootaloo, and had once even taken Lullaby with her. Her friends had treated Lullaby like one of their own at first glance (except maybe Pinkie Pie, who kept a close eye on her to 'see what she was worth'). Rainbow Dash had managed to see firsthoof just how good Lullaby was with foals when Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had come to Twilight Sparkle's castle to explore it some more since they were trying to get their cutie marks in 'Castle Tourism', whatever that was. Lullaby had agreed to let them take her around the castle and, several times, had ruffled their manes and told them how cute they all were.

As for Rainbow's Academy life, it actually went pretty smoothly for a short while. Drills went on as planned and the only thing wrong with them was that awful bugle call first thing in the morning. Even Spring Song was going easy on Rainbow Dash, and the worst thing she did since the gum incident was insult Rainbow's mane, and it sure took more than that to get to the great Rainbow Dash!

The one thing that Rainbow Dash was struggling with were these odd… Rainbow couldn't bring herself to call them 'feelings', so she settled on calling them (Lullaby's suggestion) thingamabob's, for Soarin. She had started discussing them with Lullaby the previous week after waking up at three in morning after having a dream that she went on a date with Soarin. At first she viewed the thing as a nightmare and practically ordered Lullaby to work her anti-bad dream magic on her, but Lullaby had said that it didn't count as a bad dream. Rainbow had tried to convince her otherwise, but her purple roommate wouldn't stand for it. That just wasn't fair right? She comforted Spring Song whenever she had a nightmare but she couldn't do the same for her own roomie? Shameful!

And two weeks back, Rainbow Dash had gotten the worst case of the blushes ever when Soarin had hugged her after she successfully pulled of a double Soar-Spin. Her mind had gone all over the place.

"_Oh my Celestia… he's hugging me… why is he hugging me… can't move… scared_!" she had thought frantically, stiffening up and biting her lip, not being able to process her thoughts.

She had experienced a similar thing a few days ago when Soarin took her for a cloud ride. While they were zooming through the sky Rainbow had let her mind wander… again.

"_Seriously, I'm reading waaaaay too much into this… I mean_ Soarin_ liking_ me?" she had silently scoffed at herself. "_Soarin is an awesome friend, and there is nothing else to it. Now shut up and enjoy the ride_!" she had dismissed the thought after that. In fact the thought had amused her so much that she chuckled a little. Soarin had cleared his throat to get her attention.

"What's so funny?" he asked her, giving her his usual goofy smile. Rainbow just shrugged and shook her head.

"Nothing," she replied casually.

"_It would never happen. And even if he did like me, so what, right_?" she thought to herself. For the rest of the day she had ignored the thoughts and thingamabob's and carried on with life as usual, even hanging out with Blaze and High Winds for a little while after to get her mind off things.

But those weren't the only times she'd had those thoughts. One time when Lullaby had invited Cinder to hang out in their room she'd started writing her letter to her friends and had completely zoned out from reality, beginning to scribble random squiggly lines on the parchment.

"_There is absolutely no reason to let these stupid thingamabob's get in the way of our friendship… ugh, but I'd wanna know about it! _Does_ he like me… maybe I could ask him…?"_

"NO!" Rainbow had suddenly exclaimed out loud, spraying ink across her page. Lullaby and Cinder had stared at her awkwardly.

"Okay, if you didn't want me to give Cinder some of our candy you could have been a little gentler," Lullaby told her roommate.

But she had even been thinking about it in _drills_, and things had gotten a little out of hoof one time during a formation lesson when the cadets had been practicing switching positions. She had meant to switch places with Sugar Swoop at the back left of their arrow formation but had drifted away from the world.

"_What if he has a crush on me but doesn't know about it… can that happen_?"

"DASH, LOOK OUT!"

Rainbow had turned her head just in time to see Sugar Swoop crash into her. The two had tumbled out of the sky and landed in a heap beside the Dizzitron. After a quick trip to the nurse, and no injuries (thank Celestia) they had gone back to drills and Rainbow had quietly performed every other task with ease.

Then just a couple of days ago, when she and Soarin had come in from training, he had hugged her and nuzzled her forehead and she'd almost completely lost all connection with Equestria.

"_What if he _does_ know and is just waiting for the right time to say…what would it be like if… if I said I liked him, too_?" she'd thought as he'd released her from the hug.

"Catch ya tomorrow, Dashie," he'd waved at her as he went out the double doors to go home. Rainbow had waved back, smiling as if nothing was wrong.

"Yeah, see ya," she'd called after him as the doors closed.

"_I mean, it wouldn't be all that bad, would it_?"

"Dashie and Soarin sittin' in a tree!" somepony had started singing. Jumping, Rainbow Dash spun round to face the speaker. Butternut and Stains were standing in the mess hall doorway, Butternut giggling and Stains rolling her eyes.

"Seriously, Butter? Why is it you can't see two ponies together without assuming something's going on?" Stains mumbled. Rainbow Dash had managed to slip out the door and sneak around the other way to her room as Butternut broke into a long rant about her and Soarin.

* * *

"You okay there, Dashie?" Soarin asked the cyan mare as she came in with the other cadets. Rainbow let out a noise that was halfway between a groan and a sigh. The training session had been terrible! No, the drill itself had been pretty fun since the cadets had been racing eachother, but Rainbow Dash could barely focus! She was being plagued by these thingamabobs and it was really taking its toll on her performance. Lullaby had obviously noticed and had spoken to her about it several times. Rainbow had just told her everything was fine and repeated that until Lullaby gave up trying to sway her.

"Yeah, I just didn't do as well as I'd hoped," she lied, hanging her head. She noticed Butternut looking over at them and nudging Free Fall. Thankfully the other cadets were way too busy getting snacks to pay attention to her. Soarin, being the kind-hearted stallion he was, decided to cheer Rainbow Dash up.

"Well, ya know what you need- a little fun. How about we go and train early? And you can learn whatever you want," he offered her. Rainbow felt a pang in her chest that made her both happy and angry (mostly at herself) at the same time. Why did he have to be so stinkin' nice?

"Um… Soarin, I don't really feel like training today," she replied. She felt like a huge jerk and the moment the words left her mouth she regretted it. Soarin looked her up and down, his green eyes filled with concern.

"Wow, this isn't like you, Dashie. Do you have a fever or something?" he put a hoof against her forehead but Rainbow quickly pulled away.

"No! It's just that I'm not feeling it today. I just wanna go lie down for a little while," she turned away. Soarin called after her.

"You sure you're okay?" he double-checked. Rainbow hated lying to him. She felt fine and she'd love to go training with him, but she was more focused on getting her thingamabob's in order.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Soarin, really I am. I just don't feel up to it. Maybe tomorrow," she repeated. Soarin still didn't look convinced.

"If you say so," he started to head to the kitchen. Rainbow couldn't help but notice that he looked a little disappointed. Holy Celestia, she needed to stop noticing things, if she noticed anything else she swore to the sun itself that she'd dig a hole, crawl into it and die! "If you change your mind you can always come and find me," he added before facing away from her and heading off again. Rainbow Dash stood and watched him until he disappeared through the kitchen door. Shaking her head at herself, she turned tail and left the mess hall. She didn't feel like eating right now. Usually after drills she'd be more than happy to help herself to a fritter or two, but now the thought of food made her feel sick.

All the while as she walked back to her and Lullaby's room she kept her head low, her wings hanging limp and her tail dragging on the floor behind her. Okay, this didn't make any sense. One moment she was happy, the next she was distracted, then she was depressed… this wasn't normal, right? She was Rainbow Dash, and she did _not_ get sad. Life was an adventure made just for her, and she usually enjoyed every minute, awaiting the next thrill that this journey called life would throw at her. But now her adventure had taken her down the road to confusion and sadness. Where did she take the wrong turn? Oh, how she wished she could go back to that fork in the road and figure out what happened, or at least that she could read the sign and see where the path would lead her. Ugh! Great, now she was coming up with road metaphors! This was just getting ridiculous!

She pushed the door to her dorm room open and stepped in; focusing on her senses more than she usually did. She had never really noticed how soft the blue carpet felt under her hooves… and had the walls always been purple?

Stop noticing things!

Grimacing, Rainbow Dash closed the door behind her and traipsed over to her bed. She flopped onto it front ways and buried her face in the sheets. Her breathing was muffled and the covers clogged her nose a little but by now she couldn't care less about it.

What to do… what to do…

Rainbow Dash was in a pretty difficult situation at that time. She'd never ever had to deal with anything like this before and to get this thrust upon her shoulders while she was a cloud away from her friends just made matters worse. If she were as smart as Twilight she could probably come up with some way to resolve this little problem of hers. If she was as carefree as Pinkie Pie she could just look past all of this as if the thingamabobs didn't exist. If she was an expert in this category like Rarity, then she'd already know what to do. She couldn't think of a way that Fluttershy or Applejack could be of any use in this kind of thing since Flutters was way too shy and Applejack… well Applejack just wasn't a relationship kinda gal. But neither was Rainbow Dash! Ugh! Why oh why couldn't she resolve this herself?!

What to do…

Rainbow lifted her face from the bed and stared ahead determinedly at the wall. She was Rainbow Dash and she didn't let things like this bother her. She'd had enough of being distracted, and she had an idea. She knew exactly how to get all of this off her chest, so she rolled up her metaphorical sleeves…

…and started reading Daring Do and the Search for the Golden Key.

She must have read for at least an hour before the door opened up, signalling the return of her roommate.

"There you are!" Lullaby said as she closed the door. "Why weren't you in the mess hall with the rest of us?" she sat on the end of Dash's bed and peered over the top on the blue mare's book. Rainbow Dash was still on page 12. As she read the words on the pages became a blur and her mind couldn't process them. She'd had to read and re-read the same pages around five times each before finally jamming the story into her skull. What was happening to her?

"I just felt like reading," Rainbow lied once again, using a flat tone as if there was nothing bothering her. Lullaby still didn't seem to buy it.

"Really? But you always grab some grub before coming back here. And even then you go and train with Soarin first and… wait a sec," Lullaby stared bluntly at her rainbow maned friend. Rainbow Dash pulled her book closer to her face so she couldn't see Lullaby's golden eyes glaring down at her, but even then she could still _feel _them.

"What?!" Rainbow snapped, dropping her book on her stomach. Lullaby folded her arms and slitted her eyes.

"You're avoiding him, aren't you?" she asked with disbelief. Rainbow Dash shook her head. She hadn't been avoiding him… at least she hadn't intended to, anyway. Rainbow's face contracted as the truth clattered down on her like a bunch of bricks. Had she blown Soarin off because she was too guilty and confused to hang out with him? Great, now she was confused about being confused!

"Lullaby, what's going on?" Rainbow asked the question on her mind, picking up her book, opening it up and flopping it across her face. She heard Lullaby sigh and she could picture the purple mare rolling her eyes.

"How am I supposed to know? They're your emotions, not mine," she replied. Rainbow groaned and threw her forelegs out to the side, her right one hanging off the side of the bed.

"This stinks! _I_ don't even know how I feel, so what am I supposed to do?" she lamented. Holy Celestia, she could practically smell the pity emanating from Lullaby. She didn't want sympathy, she wanted _help_!

"Well I don't know what to tell you," Lullaby swung her hind legs over the edge of the bed and sighed, folding her arms and squinting down at the carpet as if she was focusing on something. Rainbow Dash was way too impatient to just sit there and wait around for Lullaby to think of something. Closing her book and putting it on the bedside table next to her lamp, she sat up in bed, and then flung her legs off it. She stretched out her wings and shook her head as if trying to thrust the distractions from her mind.

"Do ya wanna go for a flight?" she asked Lullaby forlornly. Lullaby looked up from the floor.

"How come?" she asked, standing up and preening her wings a little. Rainbow was already heading for the door.

"I just need to clear my head for a while," she replied. Lullaby followed her into the hallway.

"And this will help, how?" she asked. Rainbow Dash honestly had no idea how to answer that. She didn't know how it would help, and the whole point of this was to focus on something other than her crazy thingamabobs.

"Maybe I'll think of something while we're out?" Rainbow shrugged, saying the first thing that popped into her head. Lullaby had learned by now not to pester Rainbow Dash any further on the subject so she just smiled and nodded.

"Okay, let's go," she agreed.

* * *

"So where are we headed?" Lullaby asked as she flew over Cloudsdale beside Rainbow Dash. In truth, Rainbow didn't know either; she was just flying where the wind took her.

"You'll see," Rainbow Dash replied simply. Even she was beginning to notice the new, slightly depressed tone of her voice. She seemed to slur out each word like they were weighing her down and her confusion was even beginning to show in other places. Her mane was a little ruffled from where she hadn't paid attention whilst brushing it, she had bags under her eyes from the lack of sleep and her feathers were a little matted from where she hadn't preened them in a while.

"Building!"

Rainbow Dash gasped and lurched sharply to the side as she suddenly became aware of the large cloud apartment building getting dangerously close to her. Her right wing clipped the side of the building and she glided down to rest on the ground. Lullaby landed next to her a second later.

"What the hay was that about?" Lullaby asked Rainbow while the multi-coloured pegasus checked her clipped wing. Rainbow Dash let her wing fall limply against her side before locking eyes with her friend.

"I just…"

"Got distracted again?" Lullaby finished her sentence for her. Rainbow sighed and nodded. Lullaby seemed to be able to read her mind… if that was so, why did she bother to ask?

"I can't help it Lullaby. I want to focus and… not crash into stuff but my mind's always wandering," she tucked her legs under her body and settled down into the clouds under hoof. "I don't know what to do," she rested her head on the ground and angled her eyes down so that her vision was flooded with fluffy whiteness. She heard Lullaby sit down next to her.

"Rainbow, as much as I hate to say this, I can't help you. I'm all for helping other ponies in times of need, but the only pony who can decide what you're feeling is you," she broke the news to Rainbow Dash. The blue pegasus rolled onto her back and stared up at the afternoon sky.

"I wish somepony else could just tell me how I felt. My brain's all twisted around right now, heck I can't even avoid slamming into a freakin' building!" she threw her hooves into the air before slapping them over her eyes and moaning. "Why is this so _hard_?" she felt so useless right then. Lullaby brushed her tail along Rainbow Dash's side to comfort her.

"Feelings like this can be hard, Rainbow Dash. They can be so hard that you feel like giving in, but in a way this is kinda like a race," she said. Rainbow Dash removed her hooves from her eyes and looked up at her purple friend.

"A race?" she echoed. Okay, this was Rainbow's kind of language. Lullaby nodded her head.

"Yeah, you're zooming along that track when an obstacle gets in your way. You feel like there's no way you can get past it because if you don't pull up in time you'll crash, if you slow down you'll be overtaken and if you try to go around it then you'll whizz off the track and crash into the fence," Lullaby explained. Rainbow nodded along, realising that Lullaby was right. "But if you time things just right and square up to whatever's in your way you can flap right over it and everything will go smoothly again. You see what I'm getting at?"

Rainbow thought about it for a while. "The boot camp is my race track and Soarin is my obstacle. I can't go too slow because I'll torture myself, I can't go around him because that'll hurt too much and I can't go zooming out of control because I'll mess up. So you're saying that I should wait for the right time and go for the plunge?" Rainbow guessed. Lullaby folded her arms and nodded her head once.

"Exactly," she confirmed. "Maybe you aren't such a dummy after all," she teased. Rainbow Dash shoved Lullaby gently, earning a giggle from her roommate.

"Thanks," Rainbow sat up, still chuckling a little. "Ya know what, you're a great friend, Lullaby," she hoof bumped her to show her appreciation. The two of them took off into the air again and started heading off.

"So where are we going, now?" Lullaby asked. Rainbow Dash shrugged once again.

"No idea, but I just wanna be with a good friend right now," she smiled over at Lullaby. "So anywhere's fine by me."

* * *

_Hi everypony,_

_Okay, so the last week or so hasn't gone so well, but before you go all panicky on me and charge on up here with a bunch of cannons to blow anyone who seems fishy into oblivion (yes, I'm talking to you, Pinkie) I want to say that it's nothing serious._

_I just learned a pretty good friendship lesson today, one that relates to a few distraction issues I've been having. When something's bothering you or you're even the slightest bit worried or concerned about something a good friend will comfort you in any way they can. I've also learned that having things explained to you in a way that you could clearly understand could open up a whole bunch of new doors. It sounds a little crazy but if you explain something to me in the context of a race then even a mathematical equation can become real simple._

_But please, Twilight, I don't wanna learn about equations so ignore that last sentence._

_It's been an exhausting few days and I haven't had much sleep so I'm gonna finish up this letter now and hit the straw. I want to have a peaceful sleep tonight so I can blow everypony away at drills tomorrow._

_I'll see you all soon!_

_Yours not-distractedly,_

_Rainbow Dash._


	29. Three Little Words

Authors Note: Oh my gosh, Appleoosa's Most Wanted was super-ultra-extreme-awesomazing! What did you guys think?

**Captain Alaska- Top Gun references are best references.**

**RosaSilvermist- I actually haven't seen Surprise today but I guess-**

Surprise: [pops out of cactus plant and scares the hell out of me]

**Holy mother of Celestia, Surprise, get out of my plant… wait a sec I don't even have a plant!**

Surprise: Neat, huh? Paradise taught me that trick. Sorry, but I almost got caught selling this stuff last time and I don't wanna take any more chances. [Pulls crate out of plant somehow] Rosa, here's my entire stock of SpitBurn water bottles; you need to get out of here before Spitz catches you. If she does, get to the nearest train station and follow the train tracks north. You should hit Ackerton by sundown. Blend in, it's a college town. Get a retail job and save up enough cash for a bus ticket to the Canadian border. Somepony will get in touch with you when the coast is clear. Now I've gotta hide again.

**Surprise, go home!**

**Dj Storm: Not long now, I Pinkie Promise.**

**Litestardt- Oh, Dashie's feeling a little embarrassed right now, but she did want to give you a first aid kit for that bite of yours.**

**Tycser- The same mare who destroyed some of the Weather Factory to keep her pet tortoise from hibernating… well, maybe she needs improvement in the intelligence category. **

**Luna'snight65- Lullaby definitely knows, and I think Rainbow does, too, but is ashamed to admit it.**

**Guest: Thank you! You're awesome, too!**

**Sparkling-nexis137- Aaaawwww. You have no idea how much I wish I could give you a hug through the screen. *cyberhugs* On a more cheerful note, ParaRay is fun to say. THAT RYHMED! Is this a good enough struggle for Rainbow Dash yet? **** And now that you mention it, I suppose Butternut represents all those ship obsessed bronies and pegasisters who ship ponies with anything that moves. **

**The Super Saiyan 3- I want Soarin and the other Wonderbolts to be in season 5 so much that it makes my brain hurt! If they aren't in season five then I will be VERY disappointed. **

**PinkUnicornLover190- Wowzers, someone's a big fan. I'm so thrilled that you like this story so much and I (sort of) promise that this will get even more addictive. **

This chapter puts my comedy skills to test, and I hope three-four months of planning this was worth it. Here we go!

* * *

"_Good morning, _

_Good morning,_

_Sunbeams will soon smile through_

_Good morning,_

_Good morning,_

_To you_

_And you, _

_And you, _

_And you!"_

Braeburn muttered something under his breath as he opened the door on Soarin's grinning face. Yes, this had been his (and everyone else in the streets) wake-up call basically every single day since he'd moved to Cloudsdale. He'd bet anything that the neighbor's couldn't wait for him to move back to Appleoosa.

Somepony then called from across the street.

"SHUT UP!"

"_You_ shut up! I'm singing here!" Soarin yelled back over his shoulder. Braeburn groaned and pulled his hat down over his face.

"D'ya hafta do this every mornin'?" he asked, exasperated. Soarin pulled him out the door and closed it behind him.

"I don't have to, but I do, because I care," he smiled goofily. Braeburn looked at him in disbelief.

"In that case, can ya care less?" he suggested flatly before noticing something. "Okay, yer seemin' pretty chipper today. What's up?"

Soarin shrugged his shoulders. "I just have a really good feeling about today. It's got a frisson about it," he spread his wings to show how happy he was. Braeburn admitted that it was still good to see his friend smile so much even if he did wake him up at half past six every morning with his obnoxious, out of tune singing. Yeah, he'd already decided that he was going to get Soarin singing lessons for his next birthday.

"So you ready fer work?" Braeburn asked and Soarin nodded.

"Yep, all set and ready to go. How 'bout you?" he returned the question to his friend, whose face suddenly fell.

"You shut muh door key in the house," he told Soarin, who chuckled with embarrassment. The blue pegasus flapped a few feet into the air.

"Heh… I'll get my copy," he said, zooming off before Braeburn could respond. Suddenly, the earth pony gasped.

"What the- when did ya get a copy o' the house key?" he shouted.

"SHUT UP!" that pony snapped again.

* * *

"…and then Spitfire tells me that my take off isn't as good as it should be!" Rainbow Dash finished her report of the day's first half of drills, throwing her hooves up in the air. Soarin felt genuinely sorry for her. Rainbow Dash had come into the kitchen in a really bad mood along with Lullaby, who was practically shoving her wherever she went.

"Well… _do_ they need improving?" Soarin wanted to make sure that the cyan mare wasn't exaggerating. Rainbow flushed and looked away.

"Yeah… I guess I need a little help," she admitted sullenly, flapping her wings a couple of times. Lullaby rubbed Rainbow's back to calm her down, looking over at Soarin and getting what the pale stallion thought was a cunning glint in her eyes. Smirking, she put a hoof on Rainbow Dash's shoulder.

"Ya know, Soarin could help you out when you train," she suggested. Rainbow whipped round to face her purple friend, looking distressed.

"Yeah, I'll help you," Soarin agreed with no hesitation whatsoever. He loved spending time with Rainbow Dash, and he'd found that he was becoming more and more eager to hang out with her. Maybe a little too eager, because he often found that when he wasn't slacking off work he was daydreaming over his paperwork or fantasizing while he was in the middle of a conversation. Way too often he found himself saying things that he hadn't intended to… but that's not important now…

"You will- I mean, you don't have to, but- ya know. If you want…" Rainbow Dash started babbling. "Like I said, I'm not forcing you or anything but- YOW!" Rainbow yelped as Lullaby roughly kicked her left foreleg. "Save it for combat training, won't ya?" she rubbed her left leg with her right one, while Lullaby innocently looked away.

"I'm helping out, Dashie, and that's my final say-so," Soarin insisted, folding his hooves across his chest to show that he meant it. For a reason he couldn't quite fathom, Rainbow Dash looked a little worried. Was it something he'd said?

"Heh… great," Rainbow clapped her hooves together softly, and lowered her ears. She then looked up at the clock on the wall. "Hey, would you look at the time there's… ten minutes till we need to be back outside. Lullaby, let's go and get ready early. I'll see you two later," she got up and started trotting to the door.

"Are you okay there, Dashie?" Soarin flapped over to stand next to her before she made it to the door. Rainbow Dash looked up at him, her magenta eyes wide and occasionally flicking away from his.

"Of course I'm okay. When have I ever not been?" she asked, raising her head and giving Soarin the cockiest grin she could manage. Soarin looked concernedly at her, noticing that her smile seemed a little forced. Something was definitely wrong, but he knew Rainbow Dash enough to know that it would do no good questioning her any further.

"If you say so," he settled on saying. He found himself looking her up and down again. Holy Celestia why was it so hard to just come out and tell her he liked her. He'd considered doing it so many times since he'd first found out, but for some reason it was harder than a triple Soar Spin. He could be the toughest pony in Equestria but the idea of confessing his feelings to her would still sap all the courage from him.

No! This was as good a time as any… he was going to say it, right then and now and he wouldn't have any trouble. He could do this.

"Um, Dashie, I just needed to say that I…" his voice got caught in his throat again. Oh, words couldn't describe how much he hated it when that happened. Rainbow Dash tilted her head to the side.

"What?" she asked him. Soarin tried to force the words out but all that he did was make hoarse croaking noises as if he was being choked.

"I… I… I… eyes are to see you with, noses are to smell with," he sing-songed, booping Rainbow Dash on the nose once he was finished. For a few seconds, everypony stood in silence, Soarin struggling to keep on smiling, Rainbow Dash looking down at the floor looking completely frazzled, Braeburn face-hoofing and Lullaby rolling her eyes. Finally, Rainbow Dash made her way out of the door.

"See ya later," she bidded him farewell as the door swung closed. Lullaby gave Soarin a pity filled shake of her head before following after the blue cadet. Soarin walked over to a counter stacked with pie and grabbed one, slinking down in a seat and taking a small bite. Braeburn groaned and stood beside him.

"Is it so hard fer you t' actually help me bake instead o' slow me down?" he asked his friend. Soarin swallowed his mouthful and stared down at the table.

"Sorry, Brae, I just can't tell her that I like her. Every time I try I freak out and do something stupid," he massaged his temples with his hooves, staring straight ahead. He heard Braeburn scoff beside him.

"No kiddin'," he commented. Soarin looked up at him.

"Really? I just made a huge idiot out of myself and that's all you have to say?" he asked, wondering whether Braeburn's head would look better on the floor than on his shoulders.

"Eeyup," the earth pony replied simply. Soarin sighed and rolled his eyes, knowing that Braeburn would be of no use here.

"Braeburn, you're an ass," Soarin stated, putting his chin in the crook of his shoulder. Braeburn smugly snickered at him.

"And yer a doof, we've covered this," he teased before heading over to wash a few dishes. Soarin let out a long breath and looked around the room. He caught sight of something that he would find incredibly useful next to one of the ovens. Smirking evilly, he crept over and grabbed the frying pan in his teeth, stalking up to his earth pony friend, raising his head high and aiming the frying pan at the back of Braeburn's head. He stretched his neck back, ready to swing when-

"HEY!"

"WHOA!" Soarin yelled with surprise, tripping and falling on his face, dropping the frying pan. Once the world stopped spinning and his ears ceased to ring, he shakily got back to his hooves, grunting as objects doubled before his very eyes and then merged back into one.

"You okay there?" he heard Braeburn ask somepony. Getting his eyes to focus again, and trying not to be mad that Braeburn hadn't asked him if he was okay, he noticed a mare on the other side of the counter, bouncing on her hooves.

"Yeah, I'm fine, can I just use the bathroom here?" she asked. Soarin examined the cause of his pain. The pegasus mare was a little shorter than average, with red fur and a long brown mane that fell past her shoulders and flopped partially over her right eye. She also had light blue eyes that showed just how desperate she was to… go.

"Sure, out that door, take a right, when you get to the end of the hall the mare's room is the fourth door on the left," Braeburn stood opposite her by the counter and gave her directions. The mare nodded her thanks before zooming off. Soarin cocked a brow.

"Well, that was odd," he remarked, making his way back to his seat and slumping forward so that his front hooves were resting on his knees.

"But back to the task at hoof," he remembered what he was worrying about in the first place. "You've gotta help me find a way to tell Rainbow Dash about… everything," he jumped up from his seat and put a hoof on Braeburn's shoulder. "_Please_! We're like a sofa and a little stool together- the perfect team," he added. Okay, maybe using furniture to describe him and his friend wasn't the best way to win him over. The look on the earth pony's face suggested that he wasn't doing his best job of getting him to help out, a fact confirmed by the stallion going back to the sink. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash flew over the counter.

"I dropped my cadet badge in here somewhere!" she looked a little distraught, probably because she wanted to get back to drills as soon as possible. "Badge, badge, badge. Where, where, where?" she rambled, looking around the room frantically. Soarin pointed across the room.

"Table, table, table! Everyone's at odds, odds, odds!" he added that last part to himself since he was getting a little flustered, probably because his head was still hurting from when he'd fallen to the floor. Rainbow Dash, true to her name, dashed over to the other side of the room and started searching the tables. Just then the mess hall doors opened and the red mare walked back through, looking relieved.

"Thanks," she said, coming up to the counter. "Sorry to be a bother, I'll just be on my way now," she turned to leave. Unfortunately (for her, at least) Soarin got an idea.

"Actually, do you think you could help me out a second?" he asked her. The mare looked over her shoulder at Soarin.

"Um, yeah, sure," she then got a starstruck look in her eyes. "I'm helping a Wonderbolt," she breathed to herself before relaxing. "Okay, what's up?" she asked, putting her forehooves on the counter.

"How do I tell somepony I like them?" he asked her, lowering his voice so nopony else could hear him. The red mare clicked her tongue and thought for a moment, before her ears perked up.

"Write it on a cupcake and give it to her," she replied. Soarin got an angry look on his face.

"Well even if I knew how to make a cupcake, I wouldn't have time to make a cupcake, _she's right there_!" he pointed over at Rainbow Dash. The red mare briefly glanced at the blue mare he was gesturing at before looking back at him.

"Well I didn't know that," she defended herself.

"_Think_!" Soarin gave her a sharp slap on the shoulder before frantically pacing back and forth. "Okay, this is a code red, amber alert, rising to pink, dogger moving east, showers later- THAT'S THE SHIPPING FORECAST!" he yelled to the ceiling. He looked to the side to see Rainbow Dash staring at him, a little warily.

"You okay there?" she asked him. Soarin, who was far too embarrassed to speak by now, just nodded, giving her his best grin. Thankfully, she left after that, heading through the doors back to the training grounds. Soarin pointed an accusing hoof at the red mare.

"That was your fault!" he snapped at her. "Now, you need to help me workshop why I can't say I like her. Stay and hang."

She nodded towards the door. "Ya know, I really should-"

"STAY AND HANG!" Soarin ordered her, making her shrink back in fear. Not wanting to take any risks, the mare folded her hooves on the counter and made herself comfortable, mostly because she had a feeling she'd be sticking around for quite a while.

"Okay, um… what comes to mind when I say 'what do you love?'" she asked him. Soarin gave her an appreciative nod.

"I like where this is going," he looked over his shoulder at Braeburn. "Don't worry about a thing, Brae, I've got a new friend," he pointed at the red mare, who waved at the earth pony casually. Braeburn just rolled his eyes before shoving another tray of apple dumplings into an oven. Soarin returned his attention to the mare.

"Alright then, what do you love?" she asked him. Soarin thought for a second.

"Pie," he replied. The red mare didn't approve.

"Again, what was your first love?"

"Pie," Soarin repeated.

"More emotional; what makes your heart skip?"

"Pie," said Soarin, again.

"Okay, I think I know what your problem is," the red mare told the Wonderbolt, who energetically hopped up and down.

"Whatwhatwhatwhatwhat?!" he rabbited.

"You're a dim halfwit with no knowledge of connecting with your emotions and it's only fair that you get over this mare so you won't make a total moron out of yourself," the mare turned to leave, but Soarin reached over the counter and grabbed her.

"WHAT?!" he exclaimed. "You can't just say that and go!" he climbed onto the counter and flopped across it on his back, helpless.

"Braeburn," he croaked, before wailing louder. "BRAEBURN!"

"What's goin' on, Soarin?" the earth pony hurried over to his messed up friend, who shakily pointed a hoof at the red mare.

"Sh-sh-she said…" he stammered. Braeburn didn't need to hear anymore and patted Soarin on the head.

"Calm down now," he looked up threateningly at the mare. "Now you, stay back. _Ah'm_ Soarin's number one workshopper. He's emotionally constipated and Ah'm his metaphorical prune."

"He's back," Soarin got back down to the floor. "Luvoo," he gave his friend a hug to show how pleased he was.

"Luvoo," Braeburn said back, returning the hug.

"Luvoo," the red mare flapped over the counter about to join in.

"No!" the two stallions backed away from her. Breaking apart, Braeburn cleared his throat.

"Now, as-" he gave the red mare a shove. "_This _says: Ya have no idea how t' voice yer emotions. Ah mean, ya know how ya feel, but when it comes to sayin' 'em out loud ya need a li'l help."

"Yeah…" Soarin agreed, his ears drooping. Braeburn patted Soarin's shoulder sympathetically.

"So all we need t' do is work out how you'll let 'er know," he stated the obvious, and Soarin nodded.

"Can't he just tell her the normal way?" the red mare piped up. "He just has to say three little words: I. Like. You," Soarin finally got a glimpse of her cutie mark: a glowing light bulb. He wondered what her special talent was. It certainly wasn't being helpful.

"The normal way," Braeburn took a moment to scoff. "Soarin can't be direct. It's a condition," he looked down at the blue stallion.

"I call it 'Pushy Captain-itis and Messed Up Talkativeness-ness-ness-ness'," Soarin declared, making a face as he said 'ness' after 'ness'. Braeburn nodded at the co-captain before addressing the red mare.

"He had to write a letter this morning just t' change gas suppliers," the earth pony picked up an envelope on the counter next to Soarin.

"I'm too scared to call them," he confessed, looking a little distraught. "They make me feel guilty. I end up paying them four times the usual amount and offering them a place to stay if they ever visit from Saddle Arabia."

"Though, to be fair, Mahja and Shahina were very nice," Braeburn butted in. Soarin mumbled his affirmation under his breath before going back into panic mode. "I'm gonna have to tell her in a letter, it's the only way," he started rifling through the drawers to try and find a spare sheet of paper.

"Too stupid," Braeburn and the red mare said at the same time. Braeburn began pacing back and forth across the room.

"C'mon, think 'n pace," he said and Soarin started walking beside him, putting on his best thinking face. The red mare gestured to the door with one wing.

"But I think I really need to-"

"THINK AND PACE!" Soarin and Braeburn both yelled at her. The mare wasted no time in putting on her own thinking face and pacing alongside them.

* * *

"Well, Ah guess we're out o' ideas," Braeburn sighed as the three ponies looked down at the table and their small list of ideas. They had come up with:

_-Phone Call_

_-Get Braeburn to do it_

_-Write it on balloons_

_-Interpretive dance_

"Well, I've already written her that letter," Soarin held a white envelope in his teeth. Braeburn quickly snatched it away and put it on the table.

"Ya can't give 'er that!" he chided Soarin. "Why can't ya be less sappy?"

Then somepony came through the door. "What's going on?" Soarin recognised Spitfire's voice. The red mare turned to speak to her.

"He can't be direct because of a pushy captain," she replied. Soarin and Braeburn gasped and rushed forward, Soarin standing in front of the mare and Braeburn standing in front of Soarin.

"-he loves very much," Braeburn finished the sentence while Soarin turned around to speak to the mare.

"_That's the captain_!" he hissed.

"Oh, Holy Celestia," the red mare cringed. Spitfire pointed a hoof at the mare.

"Who's this?" she asked.

"We don't know," Soarin and Braeburn replied in unison. Spitfire spoke directly to the mare.

"I'm not pushy," she defended herself. Soarin wanted to say otherwise, but he also didn't want to die so he kept his mouth shut.

"Did ya need something?" he asked the golden mare, who nodded.

"Yeah, Soarin, I need to talk to you about Rainbow Dash," she informed him. Soarin looked from Braeburn to… whoever this mare was before heading across the room to the captain. He could see over the counter that the cadets were all flooding in from the training grounds, talking and showing off a few flips.

"So, what's up?" Soarin asked Spitfire. The captain leaned against the back wall and folded her hooves.

"Do you know anything about why Dash's flight skills have dropped to an all-time low?" she asked him, one eyebrow raised. Soarin made a noise that was supposed to be a gasp but sounded more like 'habazawha?!'

"What?! No, I don't. She just told me that her take off needed improvement; not once did she say that anything else needed work," he answered. Spitfire took her shades off and let them hang around her neck. Oh Celestia, she was gonna say something important.

"Soarin, answer me truthfully. Is there or is there not anything going on between you and Rainbow Dash?" she asked. Soarin's pupils shrank at the captain's words.

"Again: no!" he said. "Why would you think that?" he asked curiously. Spitfire got a blank look on her face.

"Because when she started lacking in prowess, it was around the same time you starting messing up your paperwork," she revealed. It was Soarin's turn to ask the questions.

"What do you mean?" he asked. Spitfire groaned and prepared herself to say some stupid stuff.

"Three weeks ago you were supposed to be signing for a new control panel for the Dizzitron, and instead of signing your name you drew a picture of Rainbow Dash riding a dragon that looked like Rainbow Dash," she explained. Soarin turned red as the memory came back. Frankly, he was disappointed that Spitfire hadn't complimented his awesome drawing skills.

"Is that so?" he tittered, looking down at the floor with shame.

"Yes!" Spitfire poked him in the chest. "Listen Soarin, I have no problems with you training her, but from the looks of things she's distracting you… big time. I'm not sure if her descent in training is linked to this in any way but you're my co-captain and I can't have you drooling over a mare when you should be focusing on more important matters. I mean if you were to fall into a daydream during an airshow…" she trailed off to give Soarin time to imagine what would happen. Okay it wasn't anything good, and in his mind it ended with a Soarin shaped hole in the ground. "Soarin, sort yourself out!" Spitfire kept on talking. "You're one of my best fliers and Rainbow Dash is by far the best in the Wonderbolt Reserves, and now the two of you are- possibly- keeping eachother distracted when your duties should have your full attention. Soarin, it's a serious matter when two hard workers' performances suddenly drop…" she hesitated a moment. "If this keeps up I might have to forbid her from training you, and I _really _don't want to do that."

Soarin finally made a gasp that didn't sound stupid. "You can't do that!" he said to Spitfire, who raised herself to her full height, which still wasn't as tall as Soarin, so she still had to look up a little.

"Then fix things! If you two start working as hard as I know you can then I won't have to. But the well-being of my co-workers and cadets come first for me and if I have to take action myself then I will," she warned him. Soarin sighed and nodded. She was right; he knew she was, and he didn't want to let her down.

"I'll figure this out. I promise," he put his hoof over his heart. "That's the Word of a Wonderbolt," he added, knowing that when a 'Bolt said that it meant that they couldn't break that promise. Spitfire gave him a nod before looking over Soarin's shoulder.

"Have you two been listening the whole time?" she asked. Soarin looked behind him, seeing Braeburn and the red mare sitting at the table a few feet away. As soon as the two Wonderbolts' attention was on them they started whistling nonchalantly.

"Look, I'll sort this all out, okay," Soarin repeated since he wanted to make sure his point got across. Spitfire gave him a nod and headed for the door.

"See ya, ma'am," Braeburn called after her. The captain looked over her shoulder at him and smiled radiantly.

"See ya, Cowboy," she replied before leaving. Soarin watched as Braeburn and the red mare headed back to the table. He headed over to the serving counter and snatched up a couple of apples since he was feeling extra peckish.

"And you _still_ haven't asked her out?"

Soarin's ears angled in the direction of a conversation that had captured his attention. Two stallions, one of which he had seen Rainbow Dash with a couple of times, were talking at the table closest to the counter.

"I never get the chance," the yellow stallion with the brown mohawk replied. The orange stallion with the green mane and storm cloud cutie mark slugged his friend on the shoulder.

"She'll say yes, man, I mean look at you!" he gestured to the yellow one. "You're not as good looking as me, of course, but she couldn't resist. She'd love a stallion who has to catch up with _her_," he said with a teasing tone. Soarin hummed his own spy music as he listened to them talk.

"Isn't she out of my league?" the yellow one asked his friends. The orange one gagged.

"Yeesh, Ray, it's like talking to a little filly. Just ask out Rainbow Dash so you'll stop wallowing like a walrus!" he flopped front ways on the table. Ray folded his hooves and glared at his orange furred friend.

"Tempest, are you calling me fat?" he asked. Tempest shook his head.

"No, of course not, but while we're on the subject you're getting a bit of a bulge. Seriously, cut down on the apple tarts," he nodded down at the snacks on Ray's plate. Ray looked down at his stomach and rolled his eyes.

"Off topic," he snapped at Tempest before sighing. "Okay, I'll ask her out," he said. "Then will you please shut up about it?"

Soarin was currently in a state of complete shock at this new revelation. He hadn't known that some other stallion liked Rainbow Dash, too! Okay, this was just getting out of hoof now. First he struggles with telling Rainbow how he feels, then he's threatened to be kept from training her if he didn't get all this off his chest and if that wasn't bad enough he had an opponent for her affections! How could this get any more complicated?!

"Hey, Soarin!"

"GYAH!" Soarin recognized Rainbow Dash's cheerful voice and zoomed over to the table, grabbing the list of ideas they made and tossing it in the trash. Braeburn then kicked the trash can under the table, while the red mare sat at the table facing away from Rainbow Dash, munching on some toast.

"What's going on?" Rainbow Dash asked. The red mare swallowed her bite of toast before answering.

"We're workshopping because he likes Ra-"

"RARITY!" Soarin jumped in front of the red mare, and Braeburn jumped in front of Soarin. "Rarity… Rarity's singing. I like Rarity's singing," he lied. Braeburn decided to join in.

"Ah like Fluttershy's singin'," he added. Soarin faced the red mare and pulled her out of her seat.

"That's Rainbow Dash!" he hissed at her.

"This is a nightmare!" the mare cringed. Soarin patted Braeburn's shoulder.

"He likes Fluttershy's singing," the pegasus stallion said again.

"I like Big Macintosh's singing," the red mare said. Soarin nodded back at her.

"She likes Big Mac's singing. I like Rarity's singing," he rambled, while Rainbow Dash stared at the three of them as if they all belonged in a nutcase asylum.

"We're forming a Ponytones tribute band," the red mare lied. The three of them paused for a few seconds before bursting into song.

"_Find you've got the music_

_Got the music in you_

_Find you've got the music_

_Got the music in you!"_

Soarin and Braeburn stopped singing but the red mare kept going.

"_Bum, bum, bum-ba-da, ba-da_

_Bum, bum, bum-ba-da ah!"_

"That's too much," Soarin got her to stop by smacking her lightly on the shoulder. Rainbow Dash cleared her throat to get their attention again. "Oh, um, what is it, Dashie?" he asked her, getting a little nervous. Okay, maybe Spitfire was right about the distraction thing.

"I just wanted to check when it was okay for you to help me out with the take-off problem of mine," she told him, still looking utterly humiliated about the whole matter.

"Would in an hour's time be okay?" Soarin asked. "I'm a little busy right now but I think we're almost finished."

Rainbow let out a loud 'phew' sound. "Thanks, you have no idea how grateful I am," she moved forward and gave him a quick hug. It only lasted a second but it was long enough to make Soarin turned almost completely red. "See ya in an hour," she started walking to the door. Soarin, suddenly getting a boost of confidence, decided that he just _had_ to give his confession another attempt. He just _had_ to!

"Um, Dashie…?" he followed after her. The blue mare stopped by the door and turned back around.

"Yeah?" she asked him. Soarin gulped and prepared himself for his speech.

"I just wanted to say that… I know that this might be too sudden but I think I need to spee… bree…yes. I need to breed dogs. Dogs- no, dragons. I'm gonna breed dragon dogs. Dragons that you can teach to fetch things. Fire breathing dogs. ROAR-woof!" Soarin sputtered out. How in Luna's name had he managed to screw this all up again?! And with something so ridiculous. Rainbow Dash stared at him as if he'd completely lost his mind.

"You okay?" she asked, seeming a tad uncomfortable.

"Yes, of course I'm fine," Soarin lied. "Sorry… I'm just all over the place like soap in a shower," he started jumping up and down and flailing his arms around. "Where is it? Where's the soap?" he asked, beginning to sweat. Why him? Finally he decided to do what he'd planned. "Hold on…" he quickly went over to the table where Braeburn and the red mare were watching him. He ignored Braeburn's negative expression as he picked up the envelope he had put down there and went back over to Rainbow Dash. "It says it all there," he said as he passed the letter to her.

"Okay…" Rainbow Dash muttered as she opened up the letter, giving Soarin an odd look. Soarin swallowed hard as she started reading what was on the letter. After a few seconds, each of which felt like a bowling ball falling on Soarin's head, Rainbow Dash looked up from the paper at him. "Are ya sure?" she asked. "Because… it's fine by me," she smiled. Soarin lit up like a matchstick. She… she liked him, too?!

"You really mean it?" he breathed, grinning like the fool he was. Rainbow Dash gave him a nod before passing the letter back to him.

"Yeah, if you want to change gas suppliers it's your call," she then turned and headed out the door.

"Wrong letter!" Soarin yelled once she was out of earshot. Braeburn and the red mare started chanting with him.

"Wrong letter! Wrong letter!" they repeated. Braeburn started waving at the door.

"Quick, follow her! Emergency walk!" he ordered. Soarin did as he was told and speed-walked through the mess hall after Rainbow Dash. He finally caught up to her in the hallway outside the mess hall.

"Soarin, what're you doing?" she asked him as he stood in front of her, blocking her path. The blue stallion regained his self-control again before looking her right in the eye.

"Look, Rainbow Dash, I know I've been acting a little weird but I have a good reason to… for once," he added, purely just to make her laugh. It worked, of course. "Ya see, the thing is I-"

"Hey, Rainbow Dash!" somepony called from the mess hall. Rainbow turned around to see Sugar Swoop poking his head through the door.

"What is it?" she asked her fellow cadet.

"Spring Song thinks that she can do more somersaults than you before getting nauseous. Wanna help us prove her wrong?" the peach coloured stallion asked. Rainbow Dash nodded enthusiastically.

"Hey, yeah!" she agreed, turning to face Soarin. "Sorry, Soarin, can we talk later?" she didn't even let him reply before she headed back into the mess hall to assist her friends. Soarin threw his head up and let out a loud groan.

"Why is this so hard?" he asked himself.

* * *

"Today was supposed to be a good day," Soarin sighed as he, Braeburn and the red mare sat in their chairs, in a row by the table, sipping at some apple juice. "It had this great feeling about it," he flopped over the back of the chair. "I was about to say it! I was ready to explode like an emotional balloon!" for the past half an hour or so Soarin had been grumbling about this subject.

Braeburn got up to put his mug in the sink and the mare followed after him. "I should go," she mumbled. "I don't even know why I'm still here."

"Hey," Braeburn said to her once she reached the sink. "Would ya mind washin' these up while Ah talk t' Soarin?" he asked. The red mare looked a little grumpy.

"I don't really-"

"Wash!" Braeburn pointed sternly at the sink and the mare rolled her eyes before grabbing a cloth and scrubbing at the mugs. Braeburn made his way back over to the table to sit next to Soarin. "Ya feelin' okay?" he asked his friend, who was still silently sipping his juice. He nodded slowly.

"Yeah, there have just been so many problems today. First I get a warning from Spitfire and then I find out that some other guy likes Rainbow Dash," he sighed miserably. Braeburn tipped his head to the side.

"What? You never told me about that," he said. Soarin sat up straight, feeling like a complete moron for forgetting such an important detail.

"Oh, yeah! I was eavesdropping on a conversation- don't judge me," he said as Braeburn gave him an irritated look. "And I found out that one of the cadets, Ray, wants to ask her on a date."

Braeburn stood up and poked Soarin in the ribs. "Well this is all the more reason fer you t' stallion up and tell Rainbow Dash before this Ray does!" he told his winged friend. The red mare had come back over by then.

"Who's Ray?" she asked, but the two stallions ignored her.

"If Ray gets there first then Ah don't know what'll happen," Braeburn fretted. "D'ya know if she likes him? Has she talked about him at all?" he listed some questions.

"Who's Ray?" the mare asked again.

"No, she hasn't brought his name up. I've seen him with her a couple of times but I only just found out his name," Soarin explained.

"I DEMAND TO KNOW WHO RAY IS!" the red mare finally got their attention by raising her voice. Soarin was the first to reply.

"Another one of the cadets that train here," he explained. "He likes Rainbow Dash, too, and there is no way I'm gonna let him get to her first," he punched his clenched left hoof into his open right one to prove that he meant business.

"Right, we just need to come up with a plan that even you can't muck up," Braeburn decided, settling lower into his chair.

"I don't mess up everything," Soarin insisted. "There was that time that… that…"

"Hey!" Braeburn snapped his attention back to the current situation. "Focus on somethin' apart from yer hopelessness. Love is at stake!"

"THIS IS SERIOUS NOW!" the red mare declared, slamming her front hooves on the table and glaring at Soarin. The two stallions leaned away from her a little, surprised at her sudden outburst. At that moment the door opened and a familiar white maned Wonderbolt entered, looking around.

"Fleetfoot, you okay over there?" Soarin asked, walking past Braeburn and the mare. Fleetfoot looked right at them and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm great," she lowered her voice a little so that only Soarin could hear her. "I actually came here looking for Thpitfire, but she's not here and that maketh me happy."

"So, I'm guessing you want me to wash your mug, too," the red mare suddenly moved to stand next to Soarin. The blue stallion shrugged and nodded, and the mare turned to leave, but was stopped by Fleetfoot, who spoke to Soarin.

"Who'th this?" she asked.

"I don't know," Soarin replied. Fleetfoot then smirked up at the brown maned mare whose shoulder she was currently stroking.

"Well whoever she ith, she's cute," she gave the mare a wink, making her give Soarin a weird look that was halfway between 'help me' and 'what's happening?' Fleetfoot sidled closer to the mare and examined her. "Name's Fleetfoot: Thenior Wonderbolt, voted Equestria's Prettiest Athlete five years running and recently featured in _Wet Mane Weekly_," she slurred seductively. Soarin rolled his eyes; this was the light blue mare's signature pick up line. Fleetfoot's magenta gaze moved down to the mares cutie mark. "Oh, a light bulb, eh?" she started walking past the red mare and paused behind her. "Jutht come find me if you ever need thomepony to turn that on for ya," she quickly whipped the mare's flank with her white tail, getting a squeak out of her before chuckling and moving over to the table. Yes, Fleetfoot had a thing for mares as well as stallions; a wider choice of ponies to fool around with, probably. Soarin couldn't tell whether this strange mare was blushing or not because she was already red, but judging by the look on her face she was just a little freaked out.

"Howdy, Fleetfoot," Braeburn greeted her as she sat on the table and crossed one hind leg over the other.

"What'th up, Cowboy?" she leaned back a little. Soarin raised an eyebrow… was Fleetfoot trying to mimic… nah, Fleetfoot wasn't that needy, although only one pony had ever called Braeburn 'Cowboy' before.

"Just helpin' Soarin out," the earth pony replied, not noticing Fleetfoot's behaviour. The flirty pegasus wasn't backing down yet.

"Well, you look like you could use a break," she commented. "Starbucks is open late today. Wanna thwing by there later and get some Frappuccino's?" the blue mare batted her eyelashes at him, but of course since Braeburn was the most oblivious pony in Equestria, he didn't acknowledge her advances on him.

"Nah, thanks fer the offer, but this is a pretty important matter," he declined. Fleetfoot rocked back and forth, looking intrigued.

"What is thith 'important matter' anyway?" she asked curiously. Braeburn looked over at Soarin, who shook his head as if to say 'Don't tell her!' which was wise since Fleetfoot was terrible when it came to keeping secrets. If Fleetfoot found any gossip ponies would be talking about in in Las Pegasus by the evening. Braeburn got the hint and shook his head.

"Can't say; it's top secret," Braeburn saluted Soarin, who saluted back, pulling a funny face just for kicks.

"Okay…" Fleetfoot looked suspicious. "You three aren't up to anything are ya?" she folded her arms sternly. "If you are I'll have to report to the captain that you're not to be truthted," from the look in her eyes she was probably considering that 'Plan B'.

"Nope," said Braeburn.

"Nope," said Soarin. "Everything around here is perfectly normal."

"Really?" said the red mare. Soarin looked over at her. "You're calling this normal?" she sounded like she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Braeburn sighed and propped his head up on his elbow.

"Trust me; compared t' some o' the other stuff that's gone on in here, this is one o' the more normal things," he told her. The red mare still didn't look convinced. "You don't believe a word Ah'm sayin' do ya?" he sighed.

"No, but to be fair I don't really understand the world I've walked into," she absentmindedly fiddled with a lock of her brown mane. Fleetfoot headed back to the door.

"Alright, I've gotta get back to work," she said as she pulled it open. She briefly glanced back at Braeburn. "And if you change your mind about getting coffee ya know where to find me," she added. When Braeburn looked away she winked at the red mare one more time before leaving. Soarin found himself rolling his eyes again. Fleetfoot worked a little strangely, he had learned over the years. Fleetfoot had nine categories when it came to potential suitors: 'Main Target', 'Backup', 'Eye Candy', 'Average', 'Nice', 'Average but Nice', 'Hot Mare', 'Guilty Pleasure' and 'Easy Prey'. Soarin had been told that he fell into the 'Eye Candy' category and he'd actually felt quite proud of it.

"Okay, what now?" the red mare made her way back to the table after several seconds of quiet between the three ponies in the kitchen. Braeburn and Soarin took their seats and put on their thinking faces again. At that exact moment somepony else walked into the kitchen.

"Is everything alright?" Rainbow Dash asked. The red mare didn't look up from the table, still distracted with her thinking.

"He's an emotional balloon because he has a thing for Ra-"

"Rarity's singing, remember?!" Soarin jumped in front of the mare and Braeburn moved to stand in front of Soarin. Braeburn nodded back at Soarin.

"He likes Rarity's singin', Ah like Fluttershy's singin'," he rambled. Soarin twisted round and pulled the mare off her chair.

"It's Rainbow Dash again!" he hissed.

"Why does it keep happening?" the red mare cringed. Soarin patted Braeburn's shoulder.

"He likes Fluttershy's singing," he repeated. The red mare piped up from the back.

"I like Big Macintosh's singing and we're working on gigs for the Ponytones Tribute Band," she said. After a moment of glancing at eachother the three ponies burst into song again.

"_There's music in the treetops _

_And there's music in the vale _

_And all around the music fills the sky!"_

The red mare kept on singing as the two stallions finished.

"_There's music by the river _

_And there's music in the grass-"_

Soarin and Braeburn got her to stop by each putting a hoof on her head. Rainbow Dash, looking a little annoyed, just groaned. "Great," she mumbled. "Soarin can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Of course," Soarin happily trotted a few feet forward to speak with the rainbow maned pegasus. "So, what is it?" he asked her. Rainbow Dash gave him her most ticked look.

"I thought you said you were gonna help me out!" she snapped. Soarin didn't understand what she was getting at with this.

"What do ya mean?" he asked. Rainbow Dash nodded up at the clock and Soarin followed her line of vision. He almost gasped out loud when he saw that it was ten minutes to four O'clock, a good twenty minutes after he'd said he'd help out Rainbow Dash.

"I was sitting out there in the training grounds like an idiot waiting for you to show up!" she scolded him. "So, ya know what, don't bother helping me out; Ray said he'd give me a hoof."

"GAH!" Soarin, Braeburn and the red mare shrieked. Rainbow Dash flapped a metre or two into the air and looked around.

"What, what, what?!" she yelped, wondering what they were screaming about. When she saw that there was nothing she just gave the three ponies dirty looks before flying over the counter into the mess hall. Soarin heard the mess hall doors click shut, signalling that she had left. He rubbed his forehead with a forehoof.

"I couldn't like her more! Stupid Ray!" he headed back over to the table and sat on the left side of it, next to the red mare, and put his chin on the smooth wooden surface, his ears drooping to maximise how pathetic he looked at that moment.

"Well ya hafta tell 'er now. Ray can't get there first; ya can't miss yer chance with the pony that makes ya happiest in the world," Braeburn said. Soarin gave him an irritated look.

"Ya don't say, Captain Obvious," he mocked his earth pony friend. At that point he could care less about how he made Braeburn feel. Then each of them slapped the mare on the shoulder.

"Think," they both said to her. The mare sat up straight and hummed as she thought. She then looked at each of the stallions as she came up with an idea.

"You've got to out-Ray Ray," she declared. Soarin and Braeburn gave her approving nods and made consecutive sounds of agreement.

"Good plan," Braeburn praised her. "Okay, Ah'm thinkin' that you should get 'er alone. Here's what we'll do. Ah'll say Ah wanna meet 'er in the training grounds an' then you'll corner 'er. Not it the crazy way, mind you," he told Soarin just so he didn't get any ideas. "Then that's when you'll tell 'er. An' Ah can get some doves, too!"

"Doves?" Soarin and the red mare said simultaneously. Braeburn nodded.

"Doves set the mood, right?" he shrugged. Soarin couldn't really argue with him there. The red mare leaned forward on the table.

"And if you really wanna win Rainbow Dash over you need to woo her with every sense," she said. Soarin raised a brow at her, giving her the signal to explain. "The smell of your mane, the feel of your fur, the sight of your feathers," she flexed out her wings to show him what she meant. Soarin knew nothing about this but he did have an inkling of an idea that this was just the mare's way of flirting.

"Listen, I'm the woo-er here," Soarin gave her a shove. Braeburn folded his arms on the table.

"Well Ah thought you were desperate fer our help but do go on," he invited, leaning against the back of the chair. Soarin stood up and walked around to the other side of the table.

"Yeah, I will; I can do this. I can woo with every sense, the feel of my fur the- what was it- the smell of my tail, the sound of my wings… okay that's wrong, you do it," he slumped his shoulder and huffily looked at his two companions. Braeburn got up and headed to the kitchen door.

"Meet Rainbow Dash in the training grounds in ten minutes," he commanded before exiting. The red mare followed after him.

"This is the best day of my life," she commented as the door swung closed. Soarin was the last to leave, staring after the mare.

"Bit weird," he thought out loud as the kitchen became desolate.

* * *

Soarin paced back and front by the mess hall doors in the training grounds, trying to get a grip. She was going to come out of that door any second now and when she did he'd have to be ready. He just had to trust that Braeburn could pull this all off… and that _he_ could pull this off, too. He started to take a deep breath to calm his nerves but stopped himself once his lungs had been filled. Was this really the best idea? Maybe he should postpone this until later… or next week… or-

'_No! You have to do this now!' _he mentally shouted at himself. He then remembered that he needed to exhale and let out his large gulp of air, feeling a little, but not a lot, of his tension melting away. He'd had enough of this, and there was no way he could put up with it any longer, especially after enduring it for almost two months!

"Soarin?"

The pale blue stallion found himself face to face with Rainbow Dash, and he felt his entire body seize up. "Hi," he said to her as casually as he could manage. He was even more nervous now that Braeburn and… whoever that mare was weren't there with him.

"What's going on? I was supposed to meet Braeburn here," she looked around, seeing neither hide nor hair of the light gold earth pony. Soarin shook his head.

"No, _I_ wanted to meet you here. Not Braeburn," he moved forward a little, swallowing some of his nerves. This was just like any other time he'd hung around with Rainbow Dash, he reminded himself. Only with a lot more pressure. Rainbow Dash just gave him a disapproving glare.

"Well that's good, but I need to do some stretches before Ray gets here," she began to turn around but Soarin swiftly stopped her.

"No, Dashie, wait," he rambled. "I just… I thought you deserved a break after all the drills and the worrying and I… I wanted to say that I'm so, so sorry for not helping you earlier."

Rainbow Dash sighed and hesitated a few seconds, glaring down at the clouds below before rolling her eyes. "Fine, okay, thank you," she smiled at him. "And I'm sorry for getting so mad. I was just a little on edge," she apologized in return. Soarin began grinning, too, relieved that the tension between them was mostly gone now. Just then Soarin heard a romantic tune playing in the background and his ears stood straight up. Rainbow Dash started looking around.

"Do you hear music?" she asked him. Soarin looked directly up and almost had a stroke when he saw the red mare perched on a cloud above them, playing a tune from a stereo. She gave him a 'well done' nod and Soarin turned to face Rainbow Dash again. The blue mare started to look upwards and Soarin quickly swooped in, forcing her head down.

"No!" he lied. "No, um- look down!" he made a slicing motion across his throat at the red mare whilst feeling his heart beating in his skull, mostly out of fear. "Um, look at these clouds," he pushed Rainbow's face into the white fluffy ground despite her protests. Getting the hint, the red mare switched the music off and Soarin allowed Rainbow Dash to lift her head back up. "Heh… sorry," he said to her, worried that he'd made matters worse. She didn't look amused. But Soarin did.

"What's so funny?" she asked, her ears flattening against her head as the stallion began chortling. Soarin flicked some cloud off her nose.

"That." he chuckled and, despite the situation, Rainbow Dash laughed as well. Eventually Soarin found himself gazing into Rainbow's magenta eyes while she looked back at him. They slowly stopped laughing and just stared at one another, not saying anything and suddenly feeling as if the world was vanishing around them. Blushing furiously, Soarin started to lean in a little, and he couldn't be positive but he could have sworn that Rainbow Dash was doing the same. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash got a freaked out look on her face.

"Where did the geese come from?" she asked suddenly. Soarin became confused. Why would she ask such a random question at a time like this? He noticed that she was staring at something behind him and swivelled round. He let out a squeal as a flock of white geese approached them, honking and flapping. Braeburn was running behind them, yelling at the huge group of feathered fiends and looking a little panicked.

"Quick!" Soarin began running along the clouds, Rainbow at his side. Braeburn caught up to them as the birds continued to pursue them. "What did you do?" Soarin asked him.

"I couldn't… get… doves," Braeburn answered between pants, beginning to sweat a little. Rainbow Dash butted in from Soarin's other side.

"Is this some kind of a joke?" she asked with her eyes narrowed as the geese closed in. Soarin looked into the red eyes of one that had suddenly appeared flying next to him.

"They're actually pretty scary," he realised with a gulp, his blood chilling.

"It's the hissing," Braeburn piped up, and Soarin admitted that he was correct. The three of them managed to outrun them and raced round to the front of the Academy, ducking behind a cloud bush by the entrance doors. The honking of the demon birds faded into the distance after a while and the terrified equines emerged from their hiding place.

"I think they're gone," Soarin sighed.

HONK!

"Nope," Soarin and his two friends started running again. "Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, so much nope!" Hold on…with a burst of embarrassment, he suddenly remembered that he was a pegasus. Taking off, he grabbed Braeburn around his waist, earning a few shouts of surprise from the earth pony and zoomed off into the sky. Following his lead, Rainbow Dash flew after them. But, because Soarin hadn't exactly thought things through he had completely forgotten the small but important detail of the geese being able to fly, too.

"OH COME ON!" Soarin yelled as the geese flew after them.

* * *

After a lot of flying, chasing, screaming, honking, biting, hissing, running, and (surprisingly) cloud-throwing to try and knock them out of the air (it just made them angry), the three friends made it back to the mess hall. A little frazzled and covered in white feathers maybe, but they were still in one piece and that was what mattered. Rainbow Dash sat at one of the tables and tried to get her breath back while Soarin and Braeburn stood up, Soarin slumping against his earth pony friend because he was too exhausted to stand by himself. The red mare came in after them, balancing the stereo on her back and heading over to the serving counter to place it next to the tray of mashed potatoes.

"I was trying to tell you something," Soarin said to Rainbow Dash once he was able to use his legs again. They felt a little wobbly at first, but he was feeling them again, so that was one good thing about today. He'd been humiliated, forced into a fake tribute band, he'd discovered that somepony else liked _his_ mare, and he'd been chased by wild birds. But so far that last one was the highlight of his day!

"Oh, Soarin, only you," Rainbow Dash wiped some sweat from her brow and shook some goose feathers out of her mane. "Just tell me."

Soarin gulped and looked behind him at Braeburn and the mare, who were silently egging him on. Confidently smiling at them, he faced Rainbow Dash, taking a breath and preparing himself. But he still felt weak at the knees, and he felt as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders, forcing him down to the ground and squeezing every last ounce of bravery from him.

"Oh, I can't look at you," he let his head drop so he was looking at the light blue floor below. He heard Rainbow Dash sigh.

"This is important, isn't it?" she asked him, getting to her hooves. Soarin gave a few small nods, which were barely even noticeable. Rainbow suddenly headed off to the right. "Okay, hold on a sec. Lemme just get these feathers outta my ears," she excused herself. Soarin sat on his haunches and groaned. This was just so hard. But at least he had a few more seconds to come up with a plan. No sooner had he thought this than his eyes were suddenly covered by a pair of hooves. Soarin gave in; this was the moment he could tell her. Rainbow Dash was probably covering his eyes so he couldn't see her or be distracted. It was actually working pretty well.

"Hi," he started lamely, chuckling at himself. "Alright, here's the thing, and I'm sorry I've been going about it in such a messed up way. But that's all just because I've never been so certain of anything in my life," he took one final breath before saying it. "I really, really, _really_… _like_ you," he felt weight lifting from his back as he got the words out.

"Say what?!"

Soarin jumped with shock and spun around.

SERIOUSLY?!

"I was only gonna say 'surprise!'" the mare of the same name told him, looking confused… more confused than usual, anyway. Soarin prodded the white Wonderbolt in the chest.

"Why are you here? I thought- ugh!" Soarin collapsed to the ground, his legs spread apart in a surrendering position. Surprise shrugged and made a 'meh' sound.

"I was just coming down to take a couple of those muffins in the kitchen," she pulled some of them out of her yellow puffy mane. "I think I might be addicted to them," she added before taking a bite. Braeburn raised his chest threateningly.

"Stay outta muh kitchen!" he snapped. Surprise rolled her eyes.

"Somepony woke up on the wrong side of the bed," she commented before flying out the mess hall doors. "See ya later," she waved at them as she left. Just then, Rainbow Dash came back, completely feather-free.

"Okay, so what is it?" she asked, sitting back down.

"Moment's gone," Soarin moved to stand next to Braeburn, who began patting his shoulder. Suddenly, Braeburn tensed.

"Oh no…" he murmured, and Soarin looked up, seeing Ray coming through the mess hall doors.

"'Sup, Ray?" Rainbow Dash spun round on her chair to face him.

"Hi, Rainbow Dash," the yellow stallion greeted, giving the pegasus mare a large and admittedly rather charming smile.

"Do something!" Soarin turned to Braeburn and the red mare, not really seeing any other options. He started looking around for a possible distraction. Suddenly, Braeburn decided to be the hero and rushed forward. Soarin could only stand with his jaw agape and eyes wide as the light gold earth pony spun Rainbow Dash around in her chair, grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her hard, making her give out muffled sounds of confusion. Soarin looked over at Ray, whose expression mirrored his precisely, and then spoke to the red mare.

"How does that help?" he asked her, getting a shrug from her. Soarin knew that Braeburn was only doing this to assist him but seeing him doing this made his blood boil hotter than the sun. Braeburn finally pulled away from her, looking at Soarin with slightly disgusted features. Ray shuffled his hooves from his spot at the other end of the table.

"Oh, I didn't know you two were-"

"Yeah, so bye!" Braeburn interrupted him, playing along for Soarin's sake. Soarin knew that he should be grateful for having such a loyal friend, but he was still so flaming mad! Rainbow Dash pushed Braeburn away and stood up, facing Ray.

"Hold up, I don't even know why he kissed me!" Rainbow Dash wiped her mouth after she'd spoken. Ray looked a little disappointed.

"Well it looked pretty passionate to me," he argued. "You lingered."

"Yes!" Soarin spoke up, making everypony in the room stare at him. "There was lingering," he agreed.

"I thought there was lingering," the red mare spoke up. Ray squinted over at her.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I don't know," the red mare replied.

Ray and Soarin spoke together: "You both lingered!"

"We did not linger!" Rainbow Dash and Braeburn argued. Soarin flew over to stand next to Ray and the two stallions turned tail and started heading out the mess hall doors, both clearly upset.

"Ray!" yelled Rainbow Dash.

"Soarin!" yelled Braeburn.

"Leaving!" Soarin called back as they left the room.

* * *

"You kissed my mare," Soarin grumbled to Braeburn as the two of them and the red mare sat back at the table in the kitchen an hour after the afternoon's events. Soarin was on the right side of the table, staring intently downwards, with Braeburn sitting on the left, and the mare in the middle, looking awkward beyond imagination. Each of them had another mug of apple juice in their hooves.

"How would you like it if I kissed yours?" Soarin asked, looking over at the earth pony. "I'm gonna get my own back and kiss Spitfire. Oh, who am I kidding, that's _never_ gonna happen," he changed his mind instantly. Braeburn slammed his mug on the table and looked across at Soarin.

"Ah was tryin' t' get rid o' Ray!" he said for what felt like the hundredth time. Soarin slammed his mug down, too, giving Braeburn a death glare.

"Well you shouldn't have interfered!" he countered. The red mare slouched lower in her seat as the tension rose from either side of her, shifting her eyes to each of the stallions as they yelled at each other. Braeburn folded his hooves and narrowed his eyes at his winged friend.

"Didn't want to but 'Braeburn, I can't cope! We're a sofa and a little stool'!" he quoted Soarin's phrase from earlier that day. Soarin, steam practically coming out of his ears, then started speaking gibberish.

"Je me suis frederais yostiglais hastagliere c'est diblieux j'ai dibeleain hagtilieuf FOU!" he snapped. Braeburn gasped and swivelled round in his chair, huffily crossing his legs and raising his nose to the air, making a 'humph' sound.

Translated, Soarin had said: _'Oh, I'm so mad I'm speaking in fake French, but he won't know it's fake French and to save face he'll gasp when it sounds like I'm being offensive!'_

Soarin tapped the red mare and she hesitantly returned his gaze. "Right, you, whatever your name is, I bequeath you the status of my new best friend," he said to her. Grinning, the mare put a hoof on each of her cheeks.

"Oh, it's too much," she nearly wept. Braeburn got up from his chair, knocking it over in the process and stormed over to the serving counter.

"Well you and yer new best friend need t' get outta here. It's almost dinner an' only _my _friends are allowed! So leave!" he pointed sternly at the door. Soarin got up and started making his way out, the red mare following behind like a loyal dog.

"We shall!" he declared in a mock-Canterlot accent. "Let's go down to the staff room where all the cool ponies go," he told the mare whilst sneering at Braeburn. Soarin realised that he got into arguments with his friend more times than the average pony did.

"Awesome!" the red mare squealed, excited at the notion of hanging out in the Wonderbolt's hub.

"You're an ass!" Braeburn called after him. Soarin smugly shouted back over his shoulder as he and his 'new best friend' departed.

"Not listening!"

* * *

"Worst day ever," Soarin grumbled, his chin resting on the Wonderbolt's table in the mess hall. After he'd taken the red mare to the staff room the 'Bolts had all left for dinner. Everypony was present and accounted for apart from Spitfire and Surprise who were dealing with some important paperwork. Why Surprise was needed for that Soarin didn't quite know.

"So that's what happened today?" Silver Lining pitifully sighed at Soarin. "You must be having a pretty hard time right now."

"You're telling me," Soarin stared down at the food on his plate, feeling both full and empty at the same time. "I don't know how I'm gonna fix this mess," he lazily licked up a little mashed potato but couldn't find it in himself to enjoy it. Braeburn sat on his other side. The two of them had made up twenty minutes after their argument because neither of them could stay mad at each other. Soarin would have usually thought it sweet, but he wasn't feeling it right then.

"Hey, there's Rainbow Dash now," Silver Lining nodded over at the serving counter, where Rainbow Dash was talking to Lullaby. Soarin felt his chest swell up at seeing her. She didn't look very happy and Lullaby looked like she was giving her some kind of pep-talk that wasn't going very well.

"So," Soarin shrugged, staring straight at her but not finding enough strength to do anything else. Silver Lining rolled his eyes and returned to eating. Everypony knew that on the rare occasion that Soarin was depressed it was darn near impossible to snap him out of this mood. Ponies who had tried had either given up or become depressed themselves after hearing is sob-stories. Luckily, this hardly ever happened.

Soarin watched as Rainbow Dash and Lullaby walked past his table. Lullaby gave him a sorrowful glance, which only made him feel worse. Now even Lullaby knew that he'd messed up.

"Rainbow Dash!" Soarin suddenly blurted out, wanting her attention. Rainbow and Lullaby stopped in their tracks and looked over at him.

"What is it?" Rainbow Dash seethed. Soarin felt the colour leave his face. She was mad… was this a bad time… yeah it was. But he couldn't just tell her to leave now. Stupid big mouth!

"I need to talk to you!" he replied, trying to bring out the professional Wonderbolt in him. Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash didn't listen.

"This again? Soarin just leave me alone," she started to walk away but, to both Rainbow Dash and Soarin's surprise, Lullaby stopped her. Rainbow looked like she wanted to ask Lullaby what the big deal was, but Soarin spoke before she could get any words out.

"Why are you so angry with me?" he asked the question on his mind. He hadn't exactly done anything wrong, and anything bad that had happened had been for the sake of something important that she didn't know about. Rainbow Dash turned tail to face him and gave him a dark stare.

"Well you completely messed up my training sessions, with you _and_ with Ray!" she replied, placing her plate of food on Lullaby's back so she could straighten herself up.

"I don't care about Ray; he ruined my day," Soarin gave the yellow stallion a quick glare from where he was sitting with the other stallion cadets, ignoring the usually funny detail that what he had just said rhymed. Rainbow Dash stepped closer to him and poked him in the shoulder. Holy Celestia, she was strong, and Soarin had to strain from clutched the spot she'd prodded him.

"And _you_ ruined _mine_!" she argued. The Wonderbolts at the table were starting to stare now, some looking interested, other looking awkward. Soarin felt like his heart was being stabbed as she said this. "The one time I urgently needed your help!" she added to rub salt in the wound. Soarin sat up taller and looked Rainbow Dash right in the eye, a part of him wanting to make her feel as bad as she had just made him feel.

"Well maybe I had important things to do," he suggested to her, hoping she'd get the hint. She didn't.

"What? Rehearse a Ponytones Tribute Band?" Rainbow mocked him. She started walking away again and Soarin was going to let her. He'd officially had enough. But apparently, Rainbow Dash hadn't. She turned back to him and started ranting again, as if she wanted to make him feel a world of guilt.

"Ya know," she started. "There's always something with you. On the one day _I_ was struggling and needed your help, just like you need mine sometimes, your issues are still more important although they very rarely are!" she was almost shouting now. Finally, losing his temper, Soarin slammed a hoof on the table and stood up, ignoring Braeburn's protests.

"They _were_ more important!" he yelled, seeing red. Every single pair of eyes in the room were on him and Rainbow Dash now, but neither of them cared.

"What? _What _was more important?!" Rainbow shrilled.

"GETTING OVER ALL MY FEARS AND TELLING YOU THAT I HAVE A MASSIVE FRIGGIN' CRUSH ON YOU **I LIKE YOU RAINBOW DASH!**"

The silence in the room was so thick you could slice through it with a machete. Rainbow Dash stood there with her mouth agape, unable to say a word. The Wonderbolts and cadets sat in their chairs, eyes glued to the two previously shouting ponies as if they were on a movie screen, and Soarin was slowly beginning to come back to reality, noticing for the first time that he'd just confessed his feelings at the top of his lungs in a room with darn near everypony at the Academy in there.

Meep.

Braeburn was the first to break the quietness… and it didn't help.

"Oh that's embarrassin'," he commented, putting his head in his hoof. He looked up at Soarin with some advice. "Say somethin' more embarrassin' so that won't seem so embarrassin'."

Soarin thought for a moment before breaking into a little song:

"_I'm a little coconut,_

_Ugly and hairy but,_

_When you split me open_

_I ooze milk, and nut."_

Soarin suddenly felt even more awkward than before.

"Nope, that's worse," Braeburn got up and left. "Ah don't know this guy!" he called out as he vanished into the hallway, not caring that everypony knew that wasn't true.

Still, Rainbow Dash didn't say anything. Nopony did. Everyone just sat there in the most intense silence that could be imagined as if they had been frozen in time. Soarin looked out the corner of his eye and immediately wished he could just turn invisible. Everyone was staring at him and boy did it make him feel uncomfortable. He looked at the other Wonderbolts, hoping that one of them would back him up (or at least knock him out) but none of them got up to help him. Finally he decided to just get the heck out of there.

"Right…" he started inching to the right. "I'm just gonna go and flush myself down a toilet," he excused himself before taking off from the ground and zooming out the door faster than he would go if he were in a Wonderbolt's derby, leaving Rainbow Dash standing there speechless.

* * *

"BRAE!" Soarin yelled as he caught up with his earth pony pal. His sudden appearance sent Braeburn jumping at least four feet into the air before he thudded back down on the ground. Braeburn glared irritably up at Soarin.

"Holy tap dancin' apples, Soarin, ya shouldn't make me jump like that!" he scolded his friend, standing back up on all fours. Soarin was way too miserable and embarrassed to care about Braeburn's mini heart attack.

"Sorry, I'm just a little down, no wonder," Soarin sighed, starting to walk alongside his buddy. He had no idea where they were walking, but anywhere without Rainbow Dash would be great… she could have said it back… but she didn't.

"Ah'm sorry, too," Braeburn shared the same depressed look as him. "Ah should've been more supportive."

Soarin gave his friend a playful bonk over the head with one of his wings. It was probably a little harder than he had intended, since Braeburn yelped as Soarin's wing made contact with the back of his head.

"Heh… oops," Soarin folded his wing back up and let his shoulders sag. "I can't stop messing up," he muttered, wishing once again that he could give himself a good thrashing for being such a dim-witted moron. "I'm such a screw up," he wanted to call himself every bad name in existence. Braeburn sighed and stopped walking, putting a hoof on Soarin's back to get him to halt, too.

"Listen Soarin, you ain't no screw up," he told the pegasus. Soarin thought over the stuff that had happened today.

"Seriously? After everything that we've been through you still don't think that I'm deranged? I've made a complete idiot out of myself in front of everyone, I'm not able to focus on my work, I couldn't even tell Rainbow Dash how I felt without making myself look like the hugest pea brain ever!" he let his ears flop down against his face. If they were longer he could cover his eyes with them and pretend he didn't exist… oh, to not exist.

"Soar, ya know what muh grandpappy always used t' say?" Braeburn sat down next to the stallion and looked him in the eye, which was hard since Soarin was staring at the floor. "_A pony who never made a mistake never made anythin'_,"he quoted. "Soarin, Ah've known ya fer years now an' if there's one thing Ah've learned about you it's that ya don't give up. Even when those dumb colts back in school were holdin' ya back ya still broke free from yer bonds and pursued your Wonderbolt dream. And look at ya now!" he tugged on Soarin's tie. "Yer a good pony, Soar, an' you'll figure this out, Ah bet muh cutie mark," he finished his little pep-talk. Soarin had never taken Braeburn for the type of guy who was good at making spur of the moment speeches, but he was sure that if he wasn't an apple farmer, that would be his special talent. Soarin got up and gave Braeburn a small shove.

"Thanks," he gave a small chuckle. "You're still an ass, though," he teased him. Braeburn laughed and heaved himself up.

"Right back at ya," he returned the insult. Then more voices echoed down the hall.

"I really think this is a good idea!"

"Surprise, you're never gonna make money off of that!"

Soarin saw Spitfire and Surprise coming down the hall, bickering about something.

"No, can't you just imagine an entire store selling nothing but cakesadilla's?" Surprise smacked her lips at the thought. Spitfire shook her head at her white furred friend.

"Surprise, no matter how creative the name is, Marexican food mixed with candy will _never_ sound good," she put a lot of emphasis on the word 'never'. Well she could speak for herself because Soarin thought it sounded delicious!

"Hi, guys," Surprise greeted the two stallions in a sprightly fashion. "Whatcha doin'?" she sing-songed. Braeburn shrugged.

"Just cheerin' Soarin up," he replied. Surprise and Spitfire both gave Soarin baffled looks.

"How come?" both of them said in unison. Soarin decided it was best that at least two of his colleagues didn't know about the whole kerfuffle.

"It's a long story. But on the bright side I learned that I might actually form a Ponytones Tribute Band," he decided to say. Braeburn rolled his eyes.

"_That's_ what you've learnt from all o' this?" he grumbled. "Fillies and gentlecolts, we are witnessing the return o' Soarin the Stupid," Braeburn only meant it as a joke, but Soarin wasn't laughing.

Hang on…

Soarin felt something click in his brain as he remembered that he had to pay Braeburn back for the little incident that had taken place earlier. And this was a good opportunity if ever there was one. Braeburn was gonna pay for all the insults he had given him today. Sure, he had just managed to cheer Soarin up, but they weren't quite even yet.

"Hey, Spitfire?" Soarin strolled over to the golden mare.

"What?" the captain asked him. Giving Braeburn a quick (and slightly evil) smirk, he reached down and kissed Spitfire as hard as he could. He felt the pegasus mare tense up and then next thing he knew he was being punched across the face… very… _very_… hard!

And then he was on the floor, seeing stars. Celestia's mercy, that mare could pack one hell of a wallop. He looked up at the three ponies. Surprise's jaw was slack; Spitfire looked like she was in some kind of battle stance; and Braeburn stood there staring at him, mortified. The look on his face was worth all the pain, even though he felt a tiny bit guilty. Getting up, and getting a head rush in the process, he slunk over to Braeburn, booping him on the nose.

"I lingered!" he cackled. Braeburn looked like he wanted to give Soarin a second punch, or if he was really unlucky a kick to the face. But the earth pony did neither; he breathed in and then out, then glared up at Soarin with his eyes ablaze like green fire.

"You have three seconds t' live!" he almost growled. Soarin, feeling the room grow colder, started to back away.

"Brae…" he squeaked out, but his friend just arched his back as if preparing to run.

"One…" Braeburn started counting. But no more numbers came. Instead he just lurched forward, giving chase to the annoying blue stallion.

"What happened to two and three?!" Soarin screeched as Braeburn chased him down the hall, planning to put his powerful back hooves to good use when he finally caught the pegasus. Spitfire and Surprise were left alone in the hallway, clueless as to what had just happened.

"What was that about?" Spitfire asked Surprise, who sat rigidly on the floor.

"I have no idea…" Surprise scratched her head thoughtfully. Then again, Surprise hardly ever had any ideas. Well, never any good ones, anyway. Spitfire just rolled her orange eyes and exhaled.

"I swear this place gets crazier every day. Especially when it comes to Soarin," she clarified.

"He's not so bad."

Spitfire and Surprise looked to their right, seeing the red mare standing there, munching on a muffin. She spoke directly to Surprise.

"You're right; these things_ are _addictive," she agreed, taking another bite. Spitfire gave her a barren stare.

"Ya know you _will_ have to leave at some point?" she said to her. The red mare swallowed her mouthful of muffin and nodded.

"Yeah, of course," she agreed. Deciding to end the chapter with a fourth wall break, the mare turns and winks at you through the screen.

* * *

**Endnote: And cue the end credits!**


	30. The P-Word

**Author's Note: Chapter 30! YAY!**

**ATTENTION EVERYONE! Okay I've probably got you all now, so here I go on another rant. I've had a couple of people asking me whether the story was over because of the endnote on the last chapter, and as you probably know since you are now reading this it is NOT finished! When a writer finishes a story there is a button on the 'manage stories' section of the website that lets you put in a little addition to the description that reads 'complete'. Look above and you'll see that there isn't a 'complete' up there, meaning that this tale must continue! If you must know there are still like twenty chapters left, and why on earth would I leave the story at such a crucial point? What kind of author would I be if I left you guys hanging like that? A dead one, probably. The 'end credits' thingy was to signal the end of the chapter, not the whole story! So now that that's covered I should move on to the replies, since these rants of mine can get annoying and boring very quickly.**

**But first, another announcement! Guess whose OC's were featured in one of the most epic MLP stories of all time: FALLEN EAGLE! Seriously, this story is one of the best I've ever read, so go check out Captain Alaska and this awesome story right now if you haven't already! You have no idea what you're missing!**

**Captain Alaska: New best punch! Besides fruit punch of course; that stuff is good!**

**Dj Storm: Extra emphasis on 'weirdness' there, I suppose. **

**Hudsoda: Whoa, maybe you should see a doctor about that. And that reaction is exactly what I was going for; Soarin is great and all, but he's also Equestria's number one goofball! **

**Litestardt- Wowzers, I had no idea Rainbow Dash liked being petted so much. If ponies could purr, that's what she would be doing. And you'll see Rainbow Dash's reaction in about… well, however long it takes to get through these replies.**

**Spiralwish: THANKS! And that's happened to me before, the odd mom-look thing… more than once, to be honest. And that last song, probably one of the funniest moments in the whole story I'd reckon, not to toot my own horn or anything. Anyway, the wait is now over and you can proceed to find out how things will turn out.**

**YoungBlood23- Try **_**writing**_** all the jokes without laughing… it's hard, I'll tell ya that. And I'm sure Soarin would appreciate a hug right about now.**

**Sparkling-nexis137- Stunned to silence… I've never done that to anyone before; I don't know what to feel right now! And you don't have to slink around me, so stand straight, Nexis! **

**RosaSilvermist- *calls up to rocket* THANKS! And don't worry about Spitfire, I gave her some chocolate and now she's sulking somewhere. Surprise just tried to turn her frown upside down by literally dangling her upside down… yeah, it wasn't pretty. I don't know if she was angrier at Surprise because she was swinging her by her back hooves or because she was wearing one of those SpitBurn T-shirts... and I would love to see your SpitBurn shrine! :D**

Surprise: OOOH! I never thought about forming a club before! That sounds like fun! We could come up with a cool name for ourselves and then bake eachother cupcakes, and make our own Tumblr! But seriously, we need a cool name! Hmm…

**Tycser- Well the chapter was supposed to be a little different. I like to call it The Farce Chapter (if you don't know what a farce is, look it up), and I just really wanted to try out a serious comedy… well, it was anything but serious. And this random mare was just for that chapter because I loved the idea of Soarin and Braeburn forcing some poor unfortunate soul to help them out against their will. Seriously, the idea of somepony simply going to the bathroom and winding up helping some lunatic stallions is funny! But if I find a way to get her back into the story, I will, because I think she's become one of my favourite characters!**

**Psychopathic Potato- Thanks for reading. And I love your avatar by the way; Foxy is the best animatronic!**

**The Super Saiyan 3- I am absolutely flattered that you love this story so much. I'm smiling so much I'm getting a jaw cramp. ^^**

**MidnightBlaze16- HA! Oh my gosh that is totally what she would write! Wonder what the response would be?**

Twilight: _Dear Rainbow Dash,_

_Is there something you aren't tell- "_RARITY! Give me back the quill!"

Rarity: _TELL ME EVERYTHING NOW!_

**Luna'snight65- Yeah, I had a feeling that some people would get hyped up because of the chapter name… aw, now I feel like a huge jerk.**

**Guest: I bloody hope not! Surprise is the last thing I want inside of me… except the Ebola virus, of course, and bubonic plague.**

**And here we go! What's happening now…?**

* * *

"Rainbow Dash, _please_ get up," Lullaby weakly grumbled as she shook her rainbow maned friend, who had her face buried in her pillow. "You can't stay in bed forever. It's been a week since you've left the room; that's probably an Academy Record," the purple mare sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed her eyes, still struggling to get the sleep out of them. Rainbow Dash refused to budge from the position she was in.

"I'm not getting up," she groaned in the exact same way a filly would when her mother would force her to get up for school. Lullaby face hoofed and slowly slid her hoof down her face, letting out a long, low moan. Rainbow Dash wasn't exactly comfortable with her face pressed into the pillow, since it kinda stopped her from breathing a little, but she balanced out her options. Suffocating and suffering a fluffy death… or going out and facing all the gossip, and most possibly Soarin… nope, pillow= good.

"Well you're going to have to leave at some point; you just have to!" Lullaby looked over at the door. Rainbow stubbornly shook her head; if her arms weren't spread out to her side and her chest wasn't against the mattress she would have folded her hooves for extra effect. "Rainbow Dash, if you don't get out of bed right now I'll drag you out myself, and there is nothing you can do to stop me!" Lullaby declared, raising herself to her full height and using her most threatening voice. In silent protest, Rainbow Dash rolled over, wrapping the blanket around her like a cocoon so Lullaby wouldn't be able to get to her. She heard the purple pegasus growling. "Why do you have to be so difficult?" she seethed, stomping her hooves with intense frustration. The only answer Lullaby got was a shrug. Rainbow heard Lullaby give out a lengthy sigh, and the noises that followed after suggested that Lullaby was getting changed into her cadet's uniform.

"I hope you're happy!" she snapped at Rainbow Dash. "All week Spitfire's been nagging me about when you're gonna get back out there, and she'll be at my throat for sure today! Just get over yourself and drag your sorry butt out into the training grounds!" she was almost ordering Rainbow Dash now.

"No." Rainbow replied.

"GRRRRRRR!" Lullaby stormed out of the room and slammed the door, making the walls shake and causing one of Lullaby's Harry Trotter posters to fall off the wall. As soon as Rainbow Dash couldn't hear her hoofsteps anymore, she rolled herself out of the blanket, which was getting kinda warm, and sat up straight, getting a small head rush in the process. Oh well, she might as well have a walk around the room. For the past week she had either slept, read or paced back and forth trying to get a grip on what was happening; in short she had barely got out of the bed for seven days. She hopped off the mattress onto the blue carpeted floor and slunk over to the full length mirror by the door, her hooves scraping against the soft ground. When she caught sight of her reflection for the first time in days her eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

She was a wreck!

Her eyes had dark patches around them, her feathers were ruffled in directions she didn't know feathers could point in from where she hadn't preened them in forever, and her mane looked like there was a family of birds roosting in it. Maybe she did need a groom after all. Grabbing her hair brush she lazily ran it through her tangled, multi-coloured mane, wincing a couple of times as the brush snagged and pulled at her mane. Why did she have to be so distracted? Once her mane was presentable (well more presentable than it had been for the past week anyway) she moved onto her wings, straightening out her feathers and trying not to get too distracted and swallow one. Any pegasus could tell you that swallowing a feather was _not_ a pleasant experience.

After she had finished preening, not exactly putting much effort into it since she was emotionally traumatized, she dragged herself back over to the bed… mostly. She didn't even make it to the bed before she let her legs buckle underneath her and she fell to the floor, only her head coming to a rest on the mattress. Man, she really needed to make the bed. She tried getting up but found that her limbs were pretty heavy, kinda like there were four lead pipes attached to her torso instead of legs. Finally she just sighed and gave in, staring straight ahead at the wall. For what felt like the quadrillionth time she found herself rerunning the events of last week in her head.

First she discovers that she has some freaky thingamabobs for Soarin, then she tries her best to get used to them, and then Soarin goes ahead and says that he likes her, too! In front of everypony! It was very rare that Rainbow Dash found herself embarrassed, but that probably topped her list of most humiliating moments. After Soarin had yelled out his confession she had just froze. She knew the moment would eventually have to come where she confronted Soarin with these kinds of things, but not in even her wildest imaginings had she thought it would have to be in front of almost everypony at the Academy.

When he had said it she completely forgot how to speak; she had rehearsed what she was going to say in her head quite a few times but suddenly her brain stopped working. She didn't know if it was from the sudden loss of her dignity or the fact that she knew that Soarin actually liked her, too, but either way she was mortified that she was standing in the mess hall with literally everypony staring right at her. At that moment she totally understood how Fluttershy had felt that time in flight camp when she had been bullied by those fillies and colts for her inability to fly, and when she had been afraid of participating in making the hurricane when they had to funnel water up to Cloudsdale. Her heart had sped up and she had begun to hear it pounding in her head, and since it was the only sound being made it just made everything all the more petrifying.

She should have said something, she knew that perfectly well, but with everything happening all at once she couldn't bring herself to. In truth she had just felt pressurised by all of this. She had just now realised that she had a thing for Soarin, and suddenly out of the blue he was not only just telling her, but also telling everypony in the friggin' room, too! She just couldn't take all of it at once; she was the fastest, coolest and bravest pony in all of Equestria, but suddenly every ounce of her courage had been sapped right out of her.

When he had left she had felt overwhelmingly guilty about everything. And then she had been the sole thing that everyone was looking at. Then, still not saying anything, she had bolted out into the training grounds and went the long way round to her dorm room. She had shut herself in there and hadn't left since. Lullaby brought her breakfast, lunch and dinner, along with occasional messages from the other cadets saying they wanted her back out there with them. Well she would be quite content with never leaving this room again if she had the option, and wished she could say that to the others' faces… but that would mean _facing_ them. She wasn't sure what she was afraid of; maybe it was her crush on Soarin damaging her ego, or maybe it was because she was afraid of being reminded of the awkwardness of the incident.

Everything was so confusing now!

Rainbow Dash grabbed a pillow and slammed it over her head, screaming into the mattress so it would be muffled. If life had a reverse button she would go back in time and make sure none of this ever happened.

UGH! Why had everything just gone so wrong?!

* * *

"Soarin totally dropped the ball on this one," Spitfire grumbled as she followed the cadets into the mess hall with Surprise bouncing next to her, seeming cheerful despite the situation.

"I don't remember any balls being involved," the white mare put a hoof to her chin. Spitfire gritted her teeth and growled at her friend's idiocy.

"No, you complete halfwit; it means that he messed up!" she explained. Surprise let out a long 'ooooooooooohhhhh' and hopped over to sit at the Wonderbolt's table, which was isolated right now; a pretty rare occurrence. Spitfire sat next to Surprise and absentmindedly twirled her tie around her hoof. It had been a long, confusing week for her; she was dealing with a cadet who refused to train no matter how many times she tried to get Lullaby to drag her out of their room, and a co-captain that wouldn't come to work!

"We need a plan," Spitfire finally sighed. Oh, how she hated the P-word. She looked over at her companion and it took her about half a second to figure out that she needed somepony with more intelligence to help her out with this. Maybe a few of the cadets could help her out? Angling her ears towards a group of cadets, she saw four of them talking, Lullaby, Spring Song, Paradise, and…why could she never remember the blue one's name?!

"She's still not coming out?" the small blue one in question asked Lullaby, who nodded slowly.

"I'm getting a little worried about her," the purple mare admitted. "She's worried about Soarin, I can tell, but she won't admit she likes him too because of her stupid ego. If you ask me it's already too big," Lullaby huffed. Spring Song stuck her nose in the air.

"Finally, somepony agrees with me!" she smirked. The blue cadet cleared her throat.

"Well… um… you're not much better, Spring Song," she said quickly, before taking a few steps back and dipping her head, looking like she wished she could take that back. Spring Song glowered down at her.

"Stay out of this, um…" the pink cadet trailed off.

"Cinder," the blue mare groaned. Spitfire felt relieved that she wasn't the only pony who forgot Cinder's name on occasion. She didn't speak up as much as the other cadets, so she wasn't all that recognisable… which should be recognisable in itself, come to think of it.

"Whatever," Spring Song turned her attention back to Lullaby. "What's the point of forcing her to come out anyway?" she asked. "If she doesn't want to leave the room we should just leave her in there, right?"

"Spring Song, don't help," Lullaby flattened her ears and snarled at the pink pegasus. Spitfire decided to butt in to get those four to help out.

"Could you four come over here a sec?" she called over to them. The cadets obediently trailed over to the Wonderbolt's table and sat down, Paradise looking the most honoured to be sitting in the same seat that her heroes had sat in before her. She was practically buzzing with happiness. Surprise straightened herself up, just like she always did when she got the feeling something important was about to happen.

"What is it ma'am?" Lullaby asked, though judging by the look on her face she already knew what the question would be.

"Are you or are you not any closer to getting Rainbow Dash outta that room?" the captain asked, folding her hooves. Lullaby gave a small eye roll since she was tired of being asked this before answering.

"No. She won't even get out of bed."

This was just getting out of hoof now! She had warned Soarin about this but since then things had only gotten worse. Misty Fly had told her about what happened in the mess hall that had caused all of this and she had actually felt sorry for both of them, not being able to imagine how embarrassed both of them must have been. But she had to stop feeling sorry for them now because if Rainbow Dash didn't start training again it could take a serious toll on her final result, which could put a damper on her dream to become a Wonderbolt. And if Soarin didn't come back to work there would be problems with paperwork, airshow's, and- okay, stop thinking about it! Since he had been absent Silver Lining had been stepping in as co-captain, even though he had been reluctant at first since he had originally declined the position of co-captain many years ago since he hated the idea of filling in the high positions, not that Spitfire had a problem with that because Silver Lining was brilliant when it came to the cadets' combat training.

"Uuuuuggggggghhh," she moaned, rubbing her temples roughly. "Okay, as much as I hate to say it, you need to come up with some way to get her out of there. Use brute force for all I care but if she stays in there any longer it's gonna hurt her Academy performance," she wanted the others to be aware of how dire this was. They seemed to get the message. Spring Song stood up from the table.

"Okay well Lullaby and Tinder-"

"_Cinder_," the blue cadet groaned, putting her chin on the table and letting her ears droop.

"That's what I said!" Spring Song snapped. "Those two can get down to that but I'm gonna go to the spa. Coming, Paradise?" she asked her green friend, making her way towards the training ground doors. Paradise leapt up from her seat and followed suit, looking perkier than ever.

"Yes, O awesomest one," she held the door open for her pink friend, who walked outside without even saying thank you- not that Paradise even cared. Spitfire did _not_ like Spring Song at all; she was a dumb, mean, slightly bitchy cadet that liked to show off and belittle everypony else. Plus, she had antagonised Rainbow Dash on more than one occasion, which just added to how much the captain despised the blonde devil-mare. Spring Song was lucky that Spitfire hadn't tied her up and kicked her off the edge of Cloudsdale… not that she'd planned that while she was bored during drills…

Suddenly, Spitfire realised something. "Hey, I haven't checked up on Soarin's state for a while. Cinder, would ya mind getting Cowboy outta that kitchen for a minute?"

"Yes, ma'am," Cinder saluted before hopping down from the chair in that cute little way of hers and making her way over to the serving counter. Lullaby, clearly confused, looked over at Surprise.

"Cowboy?" she asked with one raised eyebrow. Surprise nodded.

"Yep-a-rooni," she then put an arm around Spitfire's shoulder and hugged her, much to the captain's displeasure. "It's Spitfire's pet name for her _hubbie_," Surprise teased, slitting her eyes and giving her golden friend a troll-like smirk. Spitfire felt alarms go off in her head and she pushed Surprise off her, making the white Wonderbolt topple off her seat.

"Shut up, Surprise, I don't like him!" she snarled down at her friend, who was still giggling even though she'd just face-planted the floor. Lullaby had her lips pressed tightly together and the corners of her mouth were pointed up as if she was trying her best not to laugh. Spitfire couldn't understand why these ponies didn't seem to process what she was saying. Did they have some sort of brain disorder that made them hear the opposite of what she was telling them or something? She glanced over at Cinder, who had flapped a few feet into the air so she could look over the serving counter.

"Braeburn, could you come out here a second?" she called into the kitchen.

"Not right now Cindy, Ah'm busy," came the accented reply.

"You really need to-"

"In a minute!" Braeburn interrupted her. Cinder growled lowly.

"But Captain Spitfire wants to talk to you!" she yelled. That was when the earth pony emerged through the kitchen door quickly, darn near knocking it off its hinges at the speed he was moving at, and moved to stand next to Cinder.

"Present!" the light gold stallion announced, saluting and accidentally knocking his stetson off his head, much to his obvious embarrassment.

"Pfft."

Spitfire slanted her eyes to the side to see a giggling Lullaby, who quickly shut up when she noticed the death glare the captain was giving her, putting her arms behind her back and looking at some invisible thing to her right. Once she was sure that everypony was focused again, she addressed the flustered looking earth pony.

"So, what's the deal with Soarin now?" she asked him as Cinder fluttered up to put his hat back on his head, playfully pulling it over his eyes in the process.

"He still won't leave his house," Braeburn replied, straightening his stetson. "When Ah call 'im he don't reply an' it goes t' a recorded message," he cleared his throat. "You've reached Soarin's place but I'm not here right now… _or am I_?" he quoted. "If you're that pie delivery place then I'll pay you back when I can, and if you're calling about the mini-fridge it's already been sold."

"Soarin is all kinds of messed up," Spitfire commented, her ears drooping. She took off her shades and spoke out to the four other ponies. "Okay, since those two aren't going to come out of there by themselves we're gonna have to interfere," she declared. Surprise bounced up and down, having just got up from the floor at last.

"Oooh, I love messing with other ponies' lives!" she cheered.

'_That explains a lot,"_ the pony in Spitfire's head muttered.

"Okay, if we plan this right we'll be able to get them the heck outta their 'hideaways'." Then came the bad part. "But they're gonna have to come to terms that they live in the same world as eachother, so we need to deal with that, too. All we need is a good idea," she looked at Lullaby and Braeburn in particular since they seemed to be pretty… normal. Unfortunately, Surprise was the one who spoke up.

"Pick me, pick me, pick me!" she hopped up and down, stretching one of her forehooves as far as it would go.

"_Someone else, someone else," _Spitfire's conscience prayed. But since nopony else seemed to have come up with something there was only one real option.

"Go ahead, Surprise," Spitfire knew that she was going to regret it.

"We're gonna tie Soarin up and fire him out of a cannon so he crashes right into Rainbow's room, and then when he hits Dash he'll break all four of her legs and her wings so she won't be able to escape and then we'll force the two of them to get on good terms again and then they'll live happily ever after!" she plotted before pulling something out of her mane and putting it on her head. "I'll wear this bowler hat." She chuckled in a shady manner whilst rubbing her front hooves together and putting on her most evil smirk, which just looked silly.

Why…?

'_This is exactly why you should never listen to Surprise!'_

"No, that's not it," Spitfire frantically looked at all the other ponies, practically begging them to come up with something.

"I've got another idea," Surprise raised her hoof. "I can get a gospel group to sing something that'll inspire Soarin to make things right with Dash again," she suggested before Spitfire could tell her to shut it. The golden mare just stared at her nutty friend for a few seconds, briefly wondering how it was possible for someone to be so dumb before putting her head on the table and mumbling to herself.

"One good idea, just _one_ good idea…" she sighed.

"Wait, how were you gonna get a gospel group?" Lullaby asked. Surprise just shrugged and grinned.

"Feather Duster knows a guy," she revealed, and Lullaby nodded as if it were a typical thing.

"We could just persuade them politely?" Cinder piped up quietly, putting her front hooves on the table and hoisting herself up to sit on the surface; she naturally had to do this so she was able to see everyone properly. She even had to sit on the table to eat due to her diminutive size. Spitfire tried her best to remain calm.

"Still rolling out all the bad ideas, that's okay," she was telling herself that as much as anypony else. "But we need a _good _one!" she raised her voice a little. "And it needs to be something normal enough that I don't lose my mind, and so far out there that it's within their boundaries… well, Soarin's anyway," she knew how stupid the blue stallion could act, especially when he was in a state of misery, which thankfully wasn't often.

"But I've always wanted to fire Soarin out of a cannon," Surprise stuck out her bottom lip. Spitfire took a few deep breaths and patted Surprise on the shoulder.

"Okay, still going through the bad ideas, that's all good," she clenched her hooves, feeling an anger management themed issue arising.

"Um… Ah've got an idea," Braeburn raised his hoof slightly from his spot next to Cinder, who was looking a little disappointed that her idea had been a bust. Not even looking over at him, Spitfire groaned and replied.

"Well, what is it then?" she asked. It couldn't possibly be worse than all the other ideas, especially Surprise's first one. The earth pony patted Cinder on the shoulder to perk her up before revealing his plan.

"If there's anythin' Ah've learned 'bout Soarin it's that he'll do pretty much anythin' fer Rainbow Dash. So if he hears that she's all sad an' won't leave 'er room he'd be over 'ere in a flash. Ah'm pretty sure the same routine would work fer Rainbow, too, so when they each hear how muddled up the other is, they'll meet halfway an' reconcile," he explained. Spitfire straightened herself up, her negative response already scripted out in her head.

"That's the most stupid…" she realised what he'd said. "Actually, that's not a bad idea," she corrected herself. She refrained from adding '_Finally, someone normal_' at the end since she figured that would insult Lullaby and Cinder.

'_So what?_' her little pony quipped.

"Spitz?" Surprise tapped the captain's shoulder.

"What is it?" Spitfire sighed, limply tipping her head to the side.

"Can I still wear the bowler hat?" Surprise asked. Grunting with irritation, Spitfire slapped the hat off Surprise's head and the white pegasus let out a disappointed 'aw man.'

"Okay, like I said before, you two-" she looked from Cinder to Lullaby. "-are gonna deal with Rainbow Dash. Tell her how Soarin's doing and if Cowboy's analysis is correct she'll get out of that room at last. The three of us-" she said to Surprise and Braeburn. "-are heading over to Soarin's to make sure he gets the message, too," Spitfire gave the ponies their orders. "Move it," she said to the two cadets. Lullaby and Cinder saluted before making their way out of the mess hall. Spitfire signalled for Surprise and Braeburn to follow her out into the training grounds.

"So what are we actually gonna say to him?" Surprise asked as she closed the double doors behind her, flexing her wings in and out again a couple of times to stretch them.

"Not sure." Spitfire replied honestly. "I'll figure something out while we're flying to Soarin's."

"Um, Spitz, I'm not sure if you've noticed but…" she put a hoof around Braeburn's shoulders. "One of us can't fly."

Within moments Spitfire had a solution.

"Well, you have wings. Carry him," she said to the white Wonderbolt, who rolled her eyes.

"Don't you-"

"Let's go!" Spitfire cut her off since she was pretty sure she knew what Surprise was going to say. And the answer was NO! She flew slowly until Surprise caught up to her with Braeburn seated on her back. Braeburn was quite a bit bigger than Surprise, but thankfully, pegasi were built for carrying a lot of weight.

"All set, Cap-a-rooni!" Surprise chirped, flying in a loop-the-loop and getting a squeal out of the earth pony on her back. When Surprise started flying straight again, Braeburn was clinging to her back as tightly as he could, visibly shaking.

"Please don't do that again," he pleaded, adjusting his stetson, which was hanging off one of his ears.

"Heh… sorry," Surprise apologised, looking a little sheepish. Spitfire cleared her throat to get their attention.

"Will you stop goofing around; I've had enough crazy for one day!" she said to them. "Now let's move 'em out!" She picked up speed and whizzed through the sky with Surprise at her side. Well, she figured that today couldn't get any crazier than it already had…

Boy was she wrong.

* * *

**Endnote: Sorry that this took so long, especially since it was a short chapter, but I did suffer a little writer's block with this. Anyway, the next chapter is a pretty long one, so that's my excuse if that one's late, too. But I'm sure that most, if not all, of you will like what I have planned.**

**BUT FOR NOW YOU MUST WAIT! *evil laughter***


	31. Confrontation: Soarin

**Dj Storm- You bet you are! This is a predictable but unpredictable chapter… did that make sense? No? GOOD! Because what fun is there in making sense? **

**YoungBlood23- Well, stories with long pacing tend to be my favourites, and you're supposed to write what you like, so that's why it's taking 30+ chapters for something to happen. But then again, I know from experience that you appreciate things better when you wait longer for them, and hopefully it'll be the same with the SoarinDash in this tale.**

**RosaSilvermist- I bet it is! I also know of a certain earth pony stallion who'd love to see your shrine and give you a HUGE hug!**

Surprise: I'm thinking along the lines of… um… The Crazy Crew! Though that depends… are you crazy enough?

**Captain Alaska- At least Jeff's gonna be an analyst now! WOOHOO! And yes, I do imagine that Rainbow Dash is the pony Spitfire respects most of all. I'm also beginning to think that Soarin is even more random than Pinkie Pie… okay, no, that's just plain impossible!**

**Litestardt- Yeah, there's a 48% chance that Surprise is secretly an evil mastermind planning to take over Equestria with an army of balloon minions… **_**but you didn't hear that from me**_**!**

**Luna'snight65- Only time (and reading) will tell.**

**Authors Note: Just to let you guys know there's a little alcohol in this chapter but nothing major… also, I really need to count how many times I've made Soarin sing in this story.**

**And, once again, a special thank you to Captain Alaska for coming up with a lot of Soarin jokes for this chapter; the songs were all his idea, people, so give him some thanks, too.**

**Now let's get this show on the road! Prepare for a lot of nuttiness, fluff, and duck sauce. Yes, you read that right: Duck sauce.**

**I AM INSANE! (') (,) **

* * *

"_GOODNESS GRACIOUS GREAT BALLS OF FIIIRRRREEE_!"

"Holy Celestia, what the hay is that?" Spitfire cringed as she and her two companions touched down on the street that Soarin's house was in. Braeburn got down from Surprise's back and covered his ears.

"That's Soarin's singin'. He wakes me up by singin' every mornin' an' it's almost as bad as this," he replied. Spitfire instantly felt sorry for the gold earth pony; no living thing should have to hear this awful racket.

"It's like somepony's strangling a cat!" she commented, making her way down the street to Soarin's house (which was quite a way down, so Soarin's singing had probably caused most ponies to evacuate by now) with the others in tow.

"That's an insult to strangled cats everywhere," Surprise said, flattening her ears to her skull to drown some of the noise out. "Poor kitties."

Once they had reached Soarin's place, Spitfire knocked on the door as hard as she could to make sure the pegasus stallion inside could hear her over the sound of his obnoxious 'melody'. Thankfully, the singing stopped and the golden pegasus breathed a sigh of relief; she wasn't sure she'd ever recover from hearing something like that. The door opened and Soarin peered out. It only took him a second to examine the three ponies at his doorstep before he slammed the door on them so hard that it shook on its hinges. Rolling her eyes, Spitfire knocked on the door again, and once again, Soarin opened the door and peeked out at them.

"Hey Soarin, we were just wondering if you were doing okay?" Spitfire said to him.

*SLAM*

Spitfire slumped her shoulders and groaned loudly. Yeah, this was gonna be _way_ more difficult than it had to be. A little angrier this time, she banged on the door harder. Soarin opened it another time, his green eyes the only thing visible through the tiny gap he had made between the door and the wall of the house.

"Soarin, don't you dare slam the door on my face!"

*SLAM*

"Okay…" Spitfire looked from Surprise to Braeburn. "Looks like we're gonna have to do this the hard way. Surprise, initiate Plan B," she smirked at the white pegasus.

"Gotcha," Surprise reached into her mane and pulled out a stick of dynamite. Fishing into her mane again she grabbed a matchstick and struck it against the doorstep before preparing to light it.

"WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, STOP!" Spitfire slapped the dynamite out of Surprise's hoof. "That's 'Plan Boom'! The Plan B I'm talking about here is 'Plan Break-in'!" she explained. Surprise dropped the matchstick and dynamite to the ground and put her hooves on her hips.

"Well, you _could_ have made it a little clearer!" she argued. Spitfire made strangling motions with her front hooves before letting them drop promptly back down to the ground.

"I didn't think I'd _have_ to tell you not to blow up Soarin's house!" she snapped. Surprise tutted and flapped into the air.

"Yeesh, calm down won't ya. I'll go in through the window," she flew up to the second storey of Soarin's house and pushed the window, making it open with a squeaking noise. "Well, that was easier than I thought," she muttered before clambering through, closing the window after her. For a few seconds it was quiet.

"Um… how do ya think she's…?" Braeburn stared up at the space Surprise went through, not finishing his sentence.

"Oh, yeah… fine…" Spitfire replied, staring up, too. Okay, things were getting too silent for her liking… _awkwardly_ silent, she found.

"So… what do ya think's takin' so long?" Braeburn scuffed his front hooves on the clouds below. Spitfire shrugged, still avoiding eye contact.

"Well, either she's got lost or… maybe Soarin caught her and… shoved her in the freezer?" she came up with a possible solution. She had definitely smelt the distinct aroma of alcohol on Soarin when he opened the door, so maybe he was loopy enough to do something like that? Braeburn looked a little freaked out at the idea and looked down at the floor. Great, she'd made things even more uncomfortable.

'_So?'_ Spitfire's conscience told her that she shouldn't care.

"Um…" she tugged at her tie. "So, if she _does_ get stuck in there, would you like to be the one to tell her family about it?" she asked. Braeburn glanced over at her, looking terrified at the proposal.

'_Ta-da! Another terrible idea from Captain Kook!'_

"Or not…" she looked away from him, wishing that Surprise would hurry up and open the door for them.

"No, Ah'll tell 'em she's dead if it'll make ya happy," Braeburn got her attention back. Okay, Spitfire had no idea how a sentence as messed up as that could make her _blush_!

"Of course it wouldn't make me happy, my friend would be dead!" she replied. Braeburn sheepishly looked away again.

'_Hurry up, Surprise!'_

"If she dies…" Braeburn looked back up at the window. "…how're we gonna get 'er outta there?"

Good question.

"Well, I'll probably hire a team of armed pegasi to get her corpse out," Spitfire replied. Wait a sec…

'_Oh for Luna's sake, everypony's craziness is rubbing off on you! Stop talking!'_

"Surprise!" Spitfire called out, wanting to stop this madness before it got out of control. "If you're alive, say something!" she immediately face-hoofed at what she said.

"Okay…" Braeburn stood up when there was no response and yelled up to the window. "Surprise, if yer alive, don't say anythin'!" he frowned at what he said, sitting back down. "Yeah, that ain't gonna work."

"Hehe," Spitfire giggled at him.

Wait…

'_You… giggled? You giggled! And now you're blushing. Snap outta it! SURPRISE!'_

"SQUEEEEEEEE!" a loud squealing came from inside Soarin's house.

"Surprise?" Spitfire put her ear to the door. "You're finally down! Open the door!" she commanded.

"Why?" Surprise asked. Spitfire could imagine her pouting.

"Because I said so!" the captain kicked the door. "Wait… how long have you been there?" she asked suspiciously.

"Um… five minutes," Surprise replied. Spitfire felt a bomb ticking in her head, about to go boom!

"And you didn't think to let us in?!" she bellowed, infuriated.

"Well, I was hoping if I waited long enough-"

The bomb went off.

"**OPEN THE DOOR, DAMMIT**!" Spitfire bucked the door with her back hooves hard enough to get her point across but not so hard that she busted the door down. Besides, she already knew what Surprise was going to say and she didn't like it! With a click, the door swung open and Surprise grumpily stood aside to let the two ponies in.

"Meanie-Pants," the white mare muttered as Spitfire walked past. The golden Wonderbolt gave Surprise a quick death glare before noticing Soarin on his couch, tossing an empty cider bottle up into the air and catching it again.

"Soarin?" she asked, wrinkling her nose at the strong smell of alcohol. "You okay there?" Obviously the answer was no, but she couldn't think of anything else to say. Soarin made a groggy grumbling noise.

"Yeah…" he slurred. The silence that followed was darn near unbearable, only broken by the sound of the door closing as Braeburn walked in. Suddenly, the level of weirdness was cranked up a notch.

"Did you guys know that duck sauce has nothing to do with duck?" Soarin randomly asked his three visitors . Spitfire shifted her eyes from side to side, the awkwardness so thick that it was almost suffocating.

"W-what?" Spitfire backed away a little. Soarin fiddled with the bottle in his hooves.

"It's true. Duck sauce doesn't require an actual duck." The stallion told the others. Unfortunately, Surprise had to go ahead and get involved.

"Then why is it called duck sauce?" she asked. Spitfire looked over at Surprise and mouthed 'shut up', but either the white mare didn't see it or she was just too stupid to understand.

"The Chineighse used to serve the sauce with Peking Duck and that's why the name stuck." Soarin replied. Spitfire rolled her eyes and decided to just sit down on Soarin's other couch and wait this little scene out. She was still trying to get over the fact that Soarin was smarter when he was drunk.

"So, does the Peking Duck have anything to do with a duck?" Surprise asked, sitting on the arm of the chair Soarin was lounged on and looking down at him with interested eyes.

'_So she can pay attention to this but she can't listen when I tell her not to leave her JoyBoy on the floor?' _Spitfire thought to herself.

"Yes, apparently." Soarin replied, holding the bottle of cider upside down to see if there were any drops left.

"So either way the poor little ducky dies?" Surprise folded her hooves, looking sorry for the poor animal. Ponies in Chineigh were omnivores due to poor harvests. Their diets had adapted hundreds of years ago to get used to meat and things had stayed that way ever since. Still, the thought of eating meat disgusted most ponies.

"Yes." Soarin answered. After that they finally shut up. Just as Spitfire was about to make another attempt to get Soarin off his chair, but the pale blue stallion cut her off. "Why don't they use chicken instead of duck to make Peking Duck?" he asked.

"Soarin, please stop." Braeburn sighed, leaning against the wall.

"Because then it would be Peking Chicken, and that wouldn't be good for the chicken." Surprise stuck out her bottom lip, clearly sorry for the bird.

"But it _would_ be good for the duck." Soarin threw his bottle of cider into the trash can on the other side of the room (with a worrying amount of skill).

"What does it matter if it's a chicken or a duck?" Surprise folded one hind hoof over the other and put her front hooves behind her head, leaning her back against the wall.

"It makes a lot of difference to the chicken or the duck. You're selfish, Surprise! You only think about yourself!" Soarin suddenly started yelling. Spitfire glanced over at the door. Should she escape?

"Why can't they make Peking Tofu?" Surprise then decided to say. "Then it would save the chicken_ and_ the duck."

"I don't like tofu!" was Soarin's response. "I would not pay any amount of money for tofu!"

"What is the tofu was free?" Surprise suggested.

"I still wouldn't eat it." Soarin reached over to the coffee table in the middle of the room and grabbed another bottle of cider; pulling the cork out with his teeth and spitting it into the trash can (again- way too skilfully to be considered normal).

"Why?" Surprise asked, clearly confused- but not as confused as the sober ponies.

"Because I don't like the name," Soarin flicked his bottle up, spraying some cider across the room, narrowly missing Braeburn.

"Soarin, Ah will lasso you if ya don't shut up!" the earth pony threatened as he side-stepped out of the way to avoid getting splashed.

"What does the name have to do with how it tastes?" Surprise was so immersed in this ridiculous conversation that she didn't notice Spitfire doing the 'I'm pretending my hoof is your head so I can punch it' thing. Soarin folded his arms and scrunched his face up.

"As Welshiam Shakesmare said: "_Call a tofu by any name and it is still a tofu_."

"Shakesmare never said that." Surprise looked off to the side, as if she were trying to confirm whether or not the famous playwright ever said something that deranged.

"Chineighse Shakesmare did!" Soarin argued, taking another gulp of cider.

"I didn't know there was a Shakesmare in Chineigh!" Surprise looked bewildered at the revelation.

"There wasn't," Spitfire sighed, though she was just ignored.

"Chineigh can replicate anything, so they can replicate Shakesmare." Soarin insisted. Surprise put a hoof to her chin.

"So does this mean that Chineigh can replicate ducks, too?" she asked.

"Um… yeah," Soarin replied.

"So why can't we eat duck? If they can clone a duck then one can be spared for us." Surprise came to (what was hopefully) a conclusion.

"Yes we can, but if we do the poor duck is dead." Soarin countered. (Nope, not a conclusion).

"I got your point," Surprise told Soarin. "But if they can clone a duck then technically it's not dead."

"Yes, but ducks have feelings, too!" Soarin quarrelled.

"Okay fine, ducks have feelings, so I won't eat them," Surprise nodded. Spitfire sighed, thinking that this was finally over. Of course, it wasn't.

"But you _can_ eat duck sauce because it doesn't have feelings." Soarin added.

"Why doesn't it have feelings?" Surprise snapped down at Soarin.

"Because it doesn't have any duck in it!" Soarin rolled his eyes.

"Are you sure?" Surprise asked.

"Yeah, duck sauce has nothing to do with duck." Soarin said to the white Wonderbolt, who looked down at Soarin with interest.

"Then why is it called duck sauce?"

"OKAY THAT'S ENOUGH!" Spitfire got up and clamped a hoof over Surprise's mouth. "You two have been going on and on about duck sauce for the past 964 words, so cut it out for Celestia's sake!"

Surprise pushed Spitfire hoof away and squealed. "Oh my gosh, I've witnessed Spitfire's first fourth wall break!" she buzzed in her seat. The captain cleared her throat to get Surprise's attention back.

"May I remind you that we aren't here to talk about Chineighse sauces; we're here to discuss why Soarin has been making a drunk ass of himself for the past week instead of showing up for work," she moved her glower from Surprise to Soarin as she spoke. Soarin blinked a couple of times, his groggy mind processing what was happening. Finally he spoke… actually he sang.

"_I'm a little teacup short and stout!"_

"Soarin, get a grip!" Braeburn grabbed his friend by his shoulders and shook him so hard that the pegasus pony's head flopped back and forth.

"Get your paws off me, Easter Bunny!" Soarin shoved Braeburn away, holding up his clenched hooves, ready for a fight.

"Soarin, we need to talk to you!" Surprise jumped off the arm of the couch and stood next to Spitfire. Soarin stood up straight and started speaking in a stereotypical Canterlot accent.

"No I shan't march in the pudding parade!" he announced, raising his cider bottle in the air. Braeburn quickly grabbed the bottle and dropped it in the trash, giving Soarin the most intimidating glare he could muster.

"Soarin, yer gonna sit yer sorry rump down an' let us talk t' you or so help me Ah will take a mop an' Ah will shove it so far down yer throat that ya choke on it! SO SIT DOWN **NOW**!" he ordered. Soarin, looking a little scared, immediately sat down on the couch again, curling his tail around his hooves, shaking.

'_Wow…'_ Spitfire thought as Braeburn continued staring Soarin down.

"Focus!" she snapped at herself out loud by accident. Surprise looked over at her, confused.

"We _are_ focusing!" She gestured to Soarin. Still partially wishing that she would just disappear, Spitfire shook everything off and spoke to Soarin.

"Soarin, I told you that if you didn't sort out this issue with Rainbow Dash there would be consequences; but instead of resolving the problem you just made things worse. I literally don't think that matters could get any worse than they are right now," she ranted. Surprise gripped one of her shoulders and gasped.

"Don't jinx it!" she hissed. Spitfire usually wouldn't believe in the concept of jinxing… but with everything that had been happening recently she might just change her views.

"I'm sorry…" was all Soarin said, curling up on the couch and burying his face in his hooves. Surprise sat next to him and started stroking his back to comfort him, which must have succeeded a little bit because he lifted his head and placed it on the white mare's lap in a manner similar to the way a cat would sit on its owner. Spitfire didn't have time to sympathise Soarin… well, she did but… oh, who was she kidding? She moved to sit on Soarin's other side, patting him on the shoulder to show her own form of support.

"Soarin, I don't wanna sound cruel or anything, but just saying sorry isn't gonna fix things with Rainbow Dash. There's no point in being ashamed of this or anything since everypony knows that you… like her," Spitfire had been noticing Soarin's particular affection for the cyan mare for quite some time but had never really cared much about it. She hadn't been at all surprised when Misty Fly had told her about Soarin's outburst in the Mess Hall; probably a little sorry for him to say the least because she could imagine the embarrassment he had been feeling. "But sitting around here and drinking yourself senseless is going to do exactly zero help, and I bet that you'll be making a complete fool of yourself within a day or two if somepony doesn't intercede, so we're gonna make you go over to the Academy and make things right with Dash no matter what you do to try and convince us otherwise. Now get up, and go!" Spitfire pointed towards the door with a hoof. Soarin just glanced up at her and shook his head before nuzzling into Surprise's lap a little more. Surprise stroked Soarin's head and gave Spitfire a look that said _'We need a new plan.'_

"Dashie…" the pale stallion mumbled, before bursting into another song.

"_She's my cherry pie,_

_Cool drink of water such a sweet surprise,_

_Tastes so good, makes a stallion cry,_

_Sweet Cherry Pie!"_

He then proceeded to flop his face back down on Surprise's lap, knocking the breath out of her. From the look on her face you would have thought that somepony had dropped a bowling ball on her lap.

"I can't fix things…" Soarin grumbled. Braeburn sat on the last remaining seat on the couch and folded his hooves.

"Why can't ya?" he asked. Soarin finally got up and slumped over to the door. For a moment Spitfire thought that he might actually be leaving to go to the Academy… but instead he just placed his forehead against the door and let out a long, low groan.

"Because I can't leave my house without being ridiculed," he replied. Spitfire had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.

"What do you mean 'you can't leave your house'?" she asked him. Soarin looked over at the three ponies on the couch before opening the door and stepping out. Once he was out of view, somepony could be heard yelling.

"Hey, look, it's the idiot from the magazine!"

Soarin then came back inside with an expressionless look on his face and closed the door, moving over to the coffee table and flopping across it, knocking over a dozen or so cider bottles in the process. Surprise was the first to speak.

"What magazine?" she asked. Soarin let one hoof hang over the coffee table and he fumbled around for something on the floor. He then lifted up an issue of Bridle Gossip magazine and tossed it to Surprise. The three sober ponies checked out the cover. Soarin was on the front page in his flight suit, grinning like a goofball as usual, with some text at the bottom of the page.

**WONDERBOLT CO-CAPTAIN IS A FOOL FOR RAINBOW DASH**

_**And we all thought this stallion only had an eye for pie**_

"Wait, this doesn't make any sense…" Surprise put a hoof to her chin and looked off to the side. Spitfire nodded.

"Yeah, who the in the hay sent this story in?" she pondered. "The only ponies who saw what was happening were the cadets and most of the Wonderbolts, so…"

"No, I meant that it doesn't make sense that somepony would still be in this street after hearing Soarin's terrible singing," Surprise cut her off. Spitfire rolled the magazine up and bonked Surprise over the head with it before finishing her sentence.

"As I was saying- whoever sent the story in is at the Academy… great," she rolled her eyes. "First somepony puts a horseshoe in the storm cloud cluster and now we've got a pony sending in stupid gossip, too. There are too many mysteries going on; nowhere in my job description does it say 'Private Investigator'!"

"Surely you can get over this magazine issue fer the sake o' Rainbow Dash?" Braeburn prompted the pegasus stallion, who didn't move an inch from the slumped position he was in on the coffee table. Braeburn bent down to look Soarin in the eye. "Soarin, get up!" he snapped. Soarin jolted with shock and sat up straight.

"For the love of apple pie, Brae!" he gasped. "You just popped up two inches from my face and I am _drunk_!" Soarin slurred. Spitfire rolled her eyes, refraining from making a 'you don't say' comment. "I had about three different emotions just then, and my brain hasn't even caught up to what they _are_ yet!"

"Probably fear, 'cause Ah could've given ya a heart attack," Braeburn replied. "Excitement- because Ah'm here t' help an' ya clearly look up t' me," the earth pony was obviously trying to play with Soarin's groggy brain. "An' Ah don't know the third one…" he trailed off.

"Maybe nausea?" Surprise suggested. Spitfire was about to point out to her puffy maned friend that nausea wasn't exactly an emotion when Soarin spoke instead.

"Well isn't that just a delusion of grandeur," Soarin placed his chin back on the table, having to roll his eyes all the way up to be able to maintain eye contact with his earth pony friend. Hold on… did Soarin seriously understand bigger words when he was drunk? "I don't look up to you at all! You are a sad bag of poop, Brae!" he shook a clenched hoof at the light gold stallion in front of him.

"Ouch," Braeburn replied bluntly.

"Wow… he really _is_ super drunk," Surprise rubbed her forehead.

"Actually, Ah can't be sure if he's, like, _really_ drunk. He treats me like this when he's sober, too," the earth pony rolled his eyes. Surprise let out a sympathetic 'awwww' and moved to hug the stallion.

"Shame on you, Soarin," she looked down at the pegasus on the table. She then moved back to the couch and leaned over to whisper to Spitfire. "So, do you think he's drunk enough that he'd forget this conversation happened within an hour?" she asked. Spitfire shrugged.

"I dunno. Soarin practically gets drunk on living, judging by the way he acts at work. Slacker," she mumbled. "I think he's sober enough that he'd understand what we're trying to say. He seems to get that ponies think he's an idiot and that he has a painful inability to get on good terms with Rainbow Dash again, so he has all the basics covered."

"Well let's be careful about what we say. I think he might be drunk enough that he could take something the wrong way and destroy the whole city," Surprise argued.

"What the hay have you been watching on TV?" Spitfire asked dryly while slitting her eyes at the white Wonderbolt.

"Focus!" Surprise booped the captain's nose, much to her annoyance. "I think we can rule out Soarin being sober!"

"And_ I_ think we should rule out the possibility of there not being something neurologically wrong with you," Spitfire remarked sarcastically. "Besides, you shouldn't just throw the possibility of Soarin being sober enough out the window- remember that time I didn't think you had a stomach ache and then you threw up all over the floor?"

"That was different," Surprise told the golden pegasus. "_I _told _you_ I had a tummy ache and you said that I was wrong! You told me to suck it up, but I just puked instead!"

"I was so _mad_ at you," Spitfire sneered at Surprise. "If you were sick you should have said so!"

"But that's exactly what I did!" Surprise threw her hooves in the air. Spitfire shook her head.

"No, you were whinging to get out of work!"

"Except I wasn't, because I was really sick!"

"Um… ladies?" Braeburn interrupted them formally. "Ah hate t' break this up, but… Soarin, remember?" he nodded at the stallion, who was puffing his cheeks out and then releasing the air in a manner that it made a fart sound. Spitfire sighed and gave Surprise a glare for distracting her before placing her head in one hoof and speaking to Soarin again.

"Soarin, Cowboy's right, ya know. Could you just bust outta your state for a second and listen?" she asked. Soarin hesitantly looked over at her. "What you don't understand is that Rainbow Dash is in the same boat as you right now; she won't leave her room and it's gonna stay that way until something changes. Now you have two choices, soldier, you can either sit around here all day drowning your sorrows in alcoholic apple juice, or you can fly over to the Academy and help get Dash out of her slump. And trust me, all of us- me, Surprise, Cowboy, all the other 'Bolts, and the cadets, would appreciate it if you chose the latter option. So what's your decision? If you're not gonna do it for yourself, then do it for Rainbow Dash. She kinda needs you right now."

Soarin sighed and let his ears droop, looking as if he were considering the possible solutions. After what felt like ten long, agonizing minutes (probably because it was _actually_ ten long, agonizing minutes) Soarin grumbled and got up from the table. He ran a hoof through his mane and shook out his wings since they were pretty ruffled and looked over at the captain, still not all that enthusiastic.

"Fine…" he sighed.

"YAY!" Surprise hopped over to Soarin and hugged him tightly, gripping him around his neck and ruffling his mane. "I knew you'd come through in the end you knucklehead, you!" Surprise squealed.

"Wow… if we ever need t' strangle somepony we could just make Surprise do it," Braeburn suggested to Spitfire, who shook her head.

"She sure does have an iron grip, but she's harmless," she replied. Braeburn pointed a hoof towards Soarin and Surprise.

"Then why isn't Soarin breathin'?" he asked. Spitfire took a closer look at the pale blue Wonderbolt and realised that he had seized up and was turning a little purple. Oh…

"Surprise, release!" Spitfire ordered, and the white mare obeyed in an instant. Soarin took a huge gulp of air and fumbled to stay balanced as the word slowly grew less fuzzy around him.

"Now can we go?" Surprise hopped from hoof to hoof. Spitfire didn't even get to finish her word-

"Yea-"

"WOOHOO!" Surprise burst out the door and into the sky, racing towards the Academy, doing a few flips in the air to celebrate whilst whooping at the top of her lungs. Soarin walked out after her, looking a little more confident that he had been a few seconds previously.

Suddenly-

"Look! It's the magazine dude again!" that same pony from before laughed. Soarin came back inside the house and stared down at the floor for a few seconds.

"Ya know…" he looked up at the two remaining ponies. "Maybe I should wear a disguise just to be on the safe side."

* * *

**Endnote: Okay, Soarin's been persuaded to fix things. Now PurpleSmart (Lullaby) and BlueShy (Cinder) need to do the same with CyanFast (Do I even need to put a name in here?)**


	32. Confrontation: Rainbow Dash

**Authors Note: My (apparently) inspirational writing has been spread to FiMFiction by a reader! All I did was search for my profile page because I couldn't be bothered to do the whole, homepage, click, click, clickety stuff and I discovered a story on FiMFiction that gave a shout out to me! Naturally, I bounced up and down like I was on a sugar buzz for about fifteen minutes before regaining my sanity (at least whatever I have left of it, anyway). So, if you're reading this: **

**MOXIEE STARR, YOU'RE AWESOME! **

**AND I've got another special shout of here for Ripstickmario! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, my friend; you can consider this chapter (and the next, if you want) my gift to you, as late as it may be. YOU ROCK! **

Now, onto the replies!

**Captain Alaska- Me AND Surprise both think that Plan Boom could reeeeeaaally be put to good use if Brae is ever- ***_Spitfire holds a frying pan above my head_*** I mean… it would come in handy if the Wonderbolts ever want to epically walk away from an explosion… heh…**

**Dj Storm- Probably the second cutest thing next to baby Applejack. ^^**

**RosaSilvermist- Then go and hug him, he really wants to show his appreciation. WHOA- ***Braeburn launches himself at you and hugs you*

Surprise: Easy there, girl! Now, I've been taking notes on your craziness. *_Shows you her notepad_* Look! I drew a picture of me skiing down a mountain that's made entirely out of cake! Oh, and you're SO in the Crazy Crew now!

**YoungBlood23- That is exactly what I said, too! There were originally a whole lot more drunk Soarin jokes but I cut them out to stay focused. I think he was funny enough without 'em anyway. xD**

**Litestardt: First, I just did that for fun and no other reason. Second, getting a hug from Surprise is probably not the way to go if you want to live your whole life with a properly functioning ribcage. And third, I have never known someone get hurt so much from reading my story. I'll have a word with Spitz about that later but she didn't take her stress meds today so she's being a jerk. **

**The Super Saiyan 3- Soarin just doesn't seem like the aggressive sort of drunk. That's all. Besides, I've never been drunk so I have no idea what it's meant to be like, and I don't really want to find out. And I'm so pleased that this story means so much to you. Damn, I wanna hug you through the screen!**

**Luna'snight625- Yep… veeeeeerrrrrryyyy slooooowwwwlllly. God, I'm starting to annoy **_**myself **_**with my slow pacing. And combining Rainbow Dash's situation with my writing… expect weirdness and humor. ^^**

**PinkUnicornLover190- I'm so ecstatic that you like my story… and I'm incredibly flattered by your compliments. And there's no harm in saying that chapter 29 is my favourite too; not to toot my own horn but that's the funniest thing I've ever written. And I think you'll know what chapter the little SoarinDash confession will be in by its title *wink, wink, nudge, nudge* as for Spitz and Brae… well, you'll just have to wait. *trollface***

**Okay, get ready for some Cinder and Lullaby silliness. I'm in a super good mood because Fallout 4 was finally announced, so we'd better fix up our favourite cyan pegasus so she feels happy again, too. Now let's see how she's doing…**

* * *

"UrrrrUUurrrUurrrggh…" Rainbow Dash groaned something that certainly wasn't a part of any language into the bed sheets. For the past few hours she had been doing the exact same stuff she'd been doing all week. Her routine consisted of laying on her front on the bed, waiting a half hour or so before flipping onto her back. Then when she got restless she would take a circular walk around the room to get her legs to wake up, then she'd stare out of the window for a little while at the clouds, trying to make shapes out of them just like she used to do when she was a little filly, then she'd submerge herself in a Daring Do book, hanging onto every word as if her sanity depended on it; then she would close her novel when she found a suitable place to take a break (i.e. the end of a chapter), and then she'd lay on her front on the bed and repeat the routine.

The navy blue bed sheets remained fairly in proportion on the mattress, maybe a little crinkled in certain places from where the cyan pegasus had rolled over a few times, one pillow was half-hanging over the edge of the bed, and it would certainly fall off in Rainbow Dash lifted her head, not that she would care anyway. The mattress itself was a little crooked, one corner of it partially jutting over the side of the bed- in short, the perfect place for a distressed, emotionally confused mare to wallow in… whatever it is that ponies wallow in.

But now she was buried so deep in the mattress that it seemed she was almost _part_ of it! She wouldn't be at all surprised if there was a Rainbow Dash shaped dent in the mattress when she finally found the strength to change the sheets. As uncomfortable as it was to sleep in a bed littered with fur and feathers that had fallen off her, she would prefer it to exposing herself to the public.

She took another moment (and by 'another' I mean the _millionth)_ to reflect on her current situation. She was certainly too embarrassed to leave the room because of her ego possibly being damaged. She looked at the pros and cons of the issue. The bad part was that she could possibly be humiliated because of Soarin's outburst at her… surely nopony would want to be told that somepony fancied them in front of everyone in a room- especially if the pony in question was yelling it at the top of their lungs for that matter. But, then again, she might gain some major coolness points for having a Wonderbolt crushing on her… now, that was a thought that perked Rainbow Dash up- though she did feel a little guilty for thinking that immediately after. She liked Soarin too, but not for his fame.

Her deep thoughts were interrupted by somepony banging on the door.

"Dash, are you still in there?" Lullaby called. Rainbow Dash couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes.

"Lullaby, I've been in here all week; why would I suddenly decide to get off my rump in the few hours you've been gone?" Rainbow realised that the sentence had sounded a lot more natural in her head; out loud it just sounded retarded.

"I think those bed sheets might have finally got tangled up in your brain," Lullaby commented, giving Rainbow an unpleasant image of that actually happening. Ouch. "We're here to get you out of there… captains orders," she added after a while. Rainbow knew that sooner or later it would come to this. Dignity… academic results… dang, this was like choosing between becoming Daring Do's personal sidekick and getting knighted by Celestia. Brain-achingly difficult.

"Not listening," Rainbow Dash buried her face in the mattress again, humming to herself to try and tune out Lullaby's lecturing. A loud groan from the other side of the door signalled that the purple cadet had given up her attempts to pry Rainbow out of the room.

"Please, Rainbow Dash!" a different voice spoke this time. Wait… what was Cinder doing here? Had Lullaby seriously dragged poor, innocent, little Cinder into the midst of this? "You need to come out of there. Drills aren't the same without you, and Soarin won't come into work!"

Huh? Rainbow Dash hadn't really taken the time (despite the fact that she had plenty of that now- time, that is) to consider what had happened to Soarin after he'd left the Mess Hall. She supposed that she had just assumed that he had got over it and carried on as usual- but Rainbow Dash wasn't much of a thinker, so she just let the details go over her head.

"Well…" she tried to think of something to say. "Why are you telling me this? I-I don't- I mean, why should I care? I don't care. What did you have for lunch today?" she desperately tried to change the subject. Of course, that plan went down in flames.

"Rainbow, I know as well as you that you _do _care. There's no reason to be ashamed of this, ya hear?" Lullaby argued. Oh dear, sweet Celestia, Lullaby had that tone of voice she usually got when she was about to break into a long lecture. "I understand that you're probably confused, a little embarrassed, frightened, nervous, and probably a whole bunch of other emotions that I can't get in tact with since they're all part of the bizarre Depressed-Dash-Land you are currently residing in…" Lullaby stopped to giggle a little at that, and Rainbow heard Cinder join in, her high pitched laugh clashing with Lullaby's and making the noise sound a little like a band with one instrument that had gone completely out of tune.

"…But sitting around and being sad isn't going to change your situation. I don't actually know what it is that you plan to accomplish by lounging on that bed for the rest of your days, refusing to come out, and acting like a big baby, but I tell you now that whatever it is, it will _not_ work.

"I'd ask you what the real problem is, but knowing you you'll probably just say something completely obnoxious and make me want to shove your head into a wall. So, to save you from that fate, I'll just tell you what's wrong with you myself since that's what you've obviously wanted from the start: somepony to tell you what's going on in your head.

"You're experiencing baffling emotions that naturally get anypony's mind whirring with a bunch of horseapples, be they positive or negative. Dash, it doesn't take a genius to know that you have a thing for Soarin, and the two parts of you: the hotshot athlete with enough charisma to oppose Whinnyston Churchill, and the emotion-conscious pony who sees a stallion as more than just a friend, are at war with eachother and screwing up your mind.

"So will you please, please, _please_ with a cherry on top let us in so we can properly talk this out mare to mare… to mare," she remembered that Cinder was here to help and quickly corrected her mistake so as not to upset the quiet little pegasus. Rainbow Dash, who had sat up during Lullaby's speech, sighed and hung her head, her back still facing the door; it sure would be nice to talk this over with somepony who had a bigger brain than her. She had no idea if Lullaby had any experience with this, but she was better than nopony. Preferably, Rarity would be the one to go to with these sort of issues, but that unicorn couldn't keep any gossip to herself if her life depended on it, and before long Fluttershy would know, then Applejack, then Twilight, then Pinkie, and then the pink earth pony would go yapping it to everypony in town since the only time she could keep her mouth closed was when there was a large cupcake in it (sometimes not even then). Yeah, this was the wisest decision. Heck, maybe Cinder knew a thing or two on the subject as well. Rainbow Dash half rolled, half crawled, half fell off the bed and gave herself a vigorous shake.

"Coming," she grunted, slowly shuffling over to the door and stopping near it to prepare herself for the questions and advice she was about to be bombarded with. Would it ever end? Trying not to think too much about it for fear that it might make her change her mind; she pulled the door open quickly and allowed Lullaby and Cinder to come in. Cinder looked up at Rainbow Dash and her eyes bulged at the sight of how frazzled she looked. Like _she_ would look any better if she'd been sulking for a week. Nopony could look better than Rainbow Dash after being a messed up wreck!

"So what are ya gonna do?" Rainbow Dash asked, closing the door as soon as Cinder's tail wasn't in danger of being shut into it. "Make me lie down while you take down notes on a pad of paper?" the idea of Lullaby being a psychiatrist was surprisingly easy to imagine. She definitely had the patience for it, and the knowledge; if she wasn't so caught up in becoming a Wonderbolt then being a therapist was probably something she should consider. Rainbow decided that she would recommend it to Lullaby sometime.

"Yes… minus the pad of paper," Lullaby replied, looking over at Rainbow and then gesturing toward the bed. Oh well, the cyan pegasus wasn't about to decline an excuse to get back into her bed. She had grown so used to having the soft mattress underneath her that standing felt strangely… alien. Okay, that wasn't healthy; she had to do more walking! Or better- flying! Rainbow Dash flapped into the air and then touched back down on the bed, tucking all four of her legs underneath her and wrapping her tail around her like a rainbow coloured blanket.

"Let's just get this over with," she sighed, already beginning to wonder whether letting these two into the room had been a good idea after all. Then again, she would have had to face Lullaby at some point of the day since she had to sleep in the bed opposite hers, so it was better now than never.

"Okay, Rainbow Dash, I want you to explain to me in as much detail as you can manage how you feel about Soarin," Lullaby commanded. Rainbow Dash was tempted to just say no and kick them out of the room… but she was also desperate to get help, so… aw heck, just do it, Dash!

"Well, I guess I like hanging out with him…" she started to explain before pausing. She looked over at Lullaby, hoping to get a follow up on what she had said. Instead, Lullaby just motioned for her to go on, much to Rainbow's agony. "And... he's fun and nice…" she couldn't think of anything else to say after that.

"Yes, but how does he make you _feel_?" Cinder hopped up on the bed, having to flail her hind legs a little to hoist herself all the way up, and sat beside Rainbow Dash. The cyan mare thought it over. She couldn't really think of how to word it all…

"Like…" she suddenly got an idea and lit up as if a light bulb had suddenly appeared over her head. "Like I can do a million Sonic Rainbooms in a row, and still have enough energy to do a triple front flip and a Buccaneer Blaze!" she stood up and bounced off the bed to demonstrate. Lullaby gave her a nod of approval.

"Keep talking," the purple cadet egged her roommate on. Rainbow Dash happily did so, getting totally caught up in her athletic explanation.

"Like I can overtake _all_ the Wonderbolts in a derby… _TWICE_!" she exaggerated, waving her hooves in the air, forgetting all about her discomfort as she rambled on and on.

"Yes, yes, yes?" Cinder hovered into the air with anticipation as Rainbow Dash became livelier than she had been in days. Rainbow flapped her wings and did a loop-the-loop.

"Like I'm on a crazy rollercoaster! It's exciting, scary and dizzy, and in the end you just wanna throw up!" she finished by landing on Lullaby's bed and spreading her wings out to her sides. She was met with a slightly negative response from Lullaby.

"Wow… you've really _never_ liked a stallion before," she shook her head at Rainbow Dash and ran a hoof through her orange and blue mane. Rainbow shrugged and sheepishly gave her head a single shake.

"No…" she replied, but perked up a second later, grinning widely. "But I _have_ thrown up a lot!"

"That's… charming?" Cinder rubbed the back of her head with a hoof, looking a little disgruntled at the notion. Rainbow admitted that it probably wasn't the best way of putting it to the ponies who had more experience than her at this.

"Oh, Cinder, it's perfectly normal for Dash to be confused. There's nothing like that first crush after all," Lullaby told the little dark blue mare. Cinder looked up at Lullaby with questioning brown eyes.

"Have _you_ ever had a crush, Lullaby?" she asked curiously. The purple pegasus turned a fierce red colour and put a hoof to one of her cheeks to see how warm she had become.

"Well… yeah. I guess you could say I have," she admitted. "I… didn't get to act on it though. The situation just didn't work out."

"Aw…" Cinder reached up and wrapped her arms around Lullaby's neck, giving her a comforting nuzzle. "Sorry about that, Lullaby," the blue cadet commiserated. Lullaby just shook it off casually.

"Aw, never mind that. This is about Rainbow Dash, not me," she returned all the attention to the rainbow maned pegasus. Seeing as the cyan cadet practically thrived on attention, this didn't bother her in the slightest.

"Yeah… I think I feel better about all this now," Rainbow admitted, both to her friends, and to herself. Now that she'd thought about it, the opinions of other ponies shouldn't matter as long as _she_ was happy. And the thing that would make her happy right now was if she could fix all of this stuff with Soarin and possibly… start something with him. Gosh, that thought had been bouncing around in her skull like Pinkie Pie in the midst of a major sugar buzz for days, and all of a sudden it was as if a thick fog had been swept away and now everything was clear. She had asked herself over and over again how she would feel about becoming more than just the Wonderbolt co-captain's friend and student, and now she knew the answer. Her answer was so obvious in her mind that she wanted to jump up and down, raising her hoof and waving it around like an excited filly in a classroom, eager to shout her answer out.

Yes!

She _did_ like Soarin like that,

She _did_ want to get out of the friend zone with him,

And she _did_ want to tell him how she felt!

Rainbow stood in between her two friends and put an arm around Lullaby's shoulder. "Well, I promise you here and now, that your most awesome buddy Rainbow Dash will go where you couldn't, and do something about _her_ crush!" she declared, putting on a determined face, pretty similar to the one she always had when she was about to compete in a race.

Lullaby laughed softly. "That's great to hear, Dash," she sounded a little relieved, truthfully. Cinder gave out a shrill squeal and hopped onto Rainbow Dash's back. The cyan mare was honestly quite surprised to feel how light she was.

"This is so great! When you two get together I'll be the happiest pony here… besides, you two of course," she added after a few seconds. Rainbow admitted that she would be _very_ happy- probably as happy as Soarin, if not even more… maybe? She didn't actually know how long he'd liked her or how much, so she couldn't be one-hundred percent sure. Oh well, that just added to her list of stuff to find out… actually, it _started_ her list of things she needed to find out because the list hadn't existed four seconds ago.

"Well I'm gonna make sure it happens, Cinder, and then you can smile away," Rainbow bent down and let Cinder hop off her back before playfully tugging on one of the tiny mare's pigtails. Now that she was looking at Cinder properly, Rainbow Dash noticed that she really wasn't that much bigger than Scootaloo… wow. Rainbow wondered how many passers-by mistook her for a young filly; it must be pretty embarrassing to be a twenty year old mare that looked like she was aged twelve.

"Well can you do it sooner rather than later?" Cinder asked bashfully. "I mean, you can take your time if you want, but the sooner you two start dating-"

"-The more relieved _I'll_ be," Lullaby interrupted the blue mare. Rainbow rolled her eyes, expecting another ALR (code for Annoying Lullaby Rant); and that's exactly what she got. "With you acting so obnoxious around Soarin for the past few weeks it's been driving me out of my mind; so seeing you two finally get somewhere with all of this madness will be like a _huge_ weight lifting from my shoulders. Seriously, _I_ might even be more pleased than _you_ _two_ when all of this is over and done with."

"Well, Lullaby, I don't know if you've considered this, but the longer you talk the longer it will take for me to actually see him and do my thing," Rainbow tapped Lullaby's noggin, at which the purple pegasus shoved her away gently. She looked a little sheepish at the fact that Rainbow Dash actually had a point, and looked off to the side.

"Fair enough," she rolled her eyes. "Don't let me keep you; let's light this… pop stand, or whatever that saying is," she sighed and tipped her head back so that she was looking straight up at the blue painted ceiling. "I must be getting old, or at least losing my brain cells, if I can't understand 'youth speak'," she muttered. Rainbow flicked Lullaby's nose to get her attention.

"Hello? Can you stop complaining about becoming an old grey mare for a minute so we can go find Soarin?" Rainbow reminded her. Lullaby face hoofed; obviously appalled that she had been side-tracked _twice _in the past minute. She grabbed Cinder, who was about to walk out the door, by her tail, making the small cadet trip over and land on her front. Rainbow's roommate locked gazes with her.

"Isn't this something you should do by yourself?" Lullaby asked. "Cinder and I don't wanna get in the way of anything."

"Actually I-"

Lullaby sharply slapped Cinder's right hind leg with her tail.

"-OUCH!" Cinder yelped, raising her back leg and examining it, giving Lullaby an irritated glower. Lullaby just shifted her gaze to the side and innocently hummed to avoid an argument with the small cadet. Rainbow chuckled softly at her friends' behaviour and thought it over for a second.

"Yeah, you're right; this is something I should do by myself," she agreed. Lullaby pushed Rainbow Dash the remainder of the way out the door.

"Now for the love of Celestia, Dash, go get your stallion!" Lullaby declared, raising a hoof. Cinder, not knowing what else to do, copied the pose. With determination sparking in her magenta eyes, Rainbow Dash gave the two mares a salute before taking off down the hall, leaving her usual rainbow trail behind her.

* * *

**SQUEEE! Be patient guys, the next chapter is the one you've been waiting for! **

**Yes- THAT chapter! You may now commence the excitement.**

**So, I apologize for the long wait, especially since this is only a short chapter, but I've had so many distractions over the last few days (including family health problems, other work, and various other things that if I put down this list would keep going on and on and on until your eyes would bleed from all the boring. So, I'm gonna try and get the next chapter out as soon as I can so you won't have to wait long for… well, I'm hoping that you all know. **

**Now, as Porky Pig would say:**

**THAT'S ALL FOLKS! **


	33. Confrontation: SoarinDash

**200 REVIEWS!**

Oh my gosh, thank you all for helping me reach this achievement! I remember when I first started this I didn't think in my wildest dreams that this would even reach the 100 reviews, but for once I'm glad to have been wrong. I really couldn't do this without you all; hearing from each of you and knowing that you like what I do fuels me up to keep going, so thank you from the bottom of my heart. *cyberhugs for everyone!*

And congratulations, YoungBlood23 for being the 200th reviewer!

**AND 40+ FAVOURITES, TOO?!**

You guys are literally the best! I wanna hug you all right now! (And thanks, Luna'snight65 for being the 40th favourit-er!

**IT'S TIME GUYS!**

After 33 chapters of randomness, fluff, drills, OC's, muffins, obstacle courses, races, the flu, horseshoes, surprises, parties, pie, plans, and a whole lot of thingamabobs, it's finally gonna happen in this very chapter!

If you don't get what I mean get your head out of the clouds!

Actually no, put your head back_ in_ the clouds, because that's where this story is set!

Now let's move onto the replies and let the feels begin! :D

**Captain Alaska- Great, now I have to draw Lullaby looking like a therapist. Five checkered flags, eh… AWESOME! Hmm… I wonder if Rainbow Dash would know what reverse psychology was if somepony said it to her… I bet she'd just say bless you in response.**

**Kihu- Now as awesome as it would be to have this made into a movie it's just not that good… we all know that. **

**Dj Storm- Oh my gosh, happy (late) one-year-iversary! Also, hopefully by the name of the chapter you know what's gonna happen by now. **

**Psychopathic Potato- Yeah, I see what you mean. With all the murder theories, crude fanart, confusion, and repetitive fanfics I can understand how things can get annoying. I still enjoy playing the games, though.**

**RosaSilvermist- There. Brae's always been a good hugger. **

Surprise: Thanks. Now, who wants ice cream?! :P

**Yeah, I don't know about you but seeing Rainbow in a slump has to be one of the most depressing things to imagine, if **_**Tanks for the Memories**_** was any indication.**

**Luna'snight65- Wow, someone's sure excited. And I guess it makes all the difference since Dashie was sober and Soarin wasn't. **

**SummerGrace190- As Fluttershy would say: "You rock! Woohoo!"… and thanks for the second review, too. I had no idea this story was **_**that**_** good. Whenever I receive a review like that it really makes my day; so thank you very much for that. ^^**

**YoungBlood23- There's my 200****th**** reviewer! And I think that was my favourite part of the chapter… who'd have thought learning about Rainbow Dash's bowel troubles would be so entertaining? xD**

**Litestardt- Great to meet ya, Lightning. And you guys aren't the only one's celebrating Fallout 4! I know that this is gonna be the best game yet and it was totally worth the looooonnnng wait! And I talked to Spitz about her behaviour… now if you'll excuse me, I need to go and get another steak for my black eye.**

**The Super Saiyan 3- Happier than Pinkie Pie, huh? Wow, I really wanna see that. If this is gonna make you happier than The Pink… ie Pie, then I guess I'd better make it happen, right? ;)**

**MidnightBlaze16- Yeah, I actually left out a name for Lullaby's crush on purpose so you and the other readers could just make something up for yourselves, but I see what you mean by her having a crush on Dashie. She doesn't, but if she did it could work… imagine what you will. :3 And I also understand why TwiDash is your OTP; it's a pretty sweet little pairing- The Egghead and the Racer… that could make for a good movie. And for my thoughts on episode 100 just go down the page a little bit.**

**Amelia Rose- I promise I'll keep it up. Thanks for reading and I hope the rest is good as well.**

**Snow Hurricane Blue- I'm so glad you think that. It's one of the more strange pairs, but I think it's unbearably adorable!**

NOW FOR MY THOUGHTS ON EPISODE 100!

**(SPOILERS AHEAD- YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!)**

I'm not much of a pony critic so this is probably gonna suck, but I'll try my best to put my messed up thoughts down on… oh wait, that's what I've been doing with this story since October. Maybe I _won't_ suck at this after all!

Okay, firstly, I thought it was incredible to see what all of the background ponies do while the Mane Six go about their crazy adventures; I quote Dr Wolf when I say that the episode was kinda like a love letter to the fandom what with all the references it made to fanon stuff, like Dr Whooves being… Dr Whooves, and Derpy (Muffins… she'll always be Derpy to me) loving, what else, muffins. It just goes to show how much the fandom can make a difference, and I don't think any show has done something like this before; that just proves how amazing a fandom this is!

I think that all the ponies bustling about to plan a wedding was a brilliant plotline; kinda like a funnier version of _A Canterlot Wedding_ with fewer changelings. The first sign I got that this was going to be a good episode was when I saw that DERPY was a mailmare! And then she goes ahead and offers MUFFINS to Cranky Doodle and that puts the icing on the cake… or the chocolate chips on the muffin in this case. And then you see her hanging out with Dr Whooves, too, and that made me smile like Pinkie Pie in a candy store! Yeah I'm a DoctorDerpy person… but that's beside the point. But they kinda made Doctor Whooves both _like_ Doctor Who and _not _like Dr Who at the same time; and the accent was brilliant, me being a Brit myself- it wasn't stereotypical at all, which is something I can't stand.

Okay, now my new headcanon with Vinyl Scratch is that she's mute (can't speak), and I'm gonna portray her like that if I ever do write her- she was still an enjoyable character even with the absence of a voice and the idea of her and Octavia sharing a house that's designed to suit the two of them is _genius_! Now, about Octavia- my first thoughts when she spoke were "Oh God, they're gonna make her an English stereotype" (see- pet peeve of mine) but they _didn't_! Thank you Hasbro, for not irritating me! And the scene where Tavi and Vinyl play their song for the wedding was one of my favourites- I've re-watched that part the second most at least (aside from one other part which would probably be obvious).

As weird as this may seem, there was one part of the episode that made me feel a little sad. Amethyst Star has always been one of my favourite background ponies, don't ask me why, I just took a liking to her, and the part when she says "_But nopony's asked me to organize anything since Twilight came to town_," made me feel so sorry for her. And then they don't show what she did at all in the episode; that was the only thing I disliked.

And the flower ponies! HA! Their scene was based on their personalities from Applebuck Season aaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllll the way back in season one, and to see them act like that after all this time was just great! THE HORROR! THE HORROR! xD

Okay, now we move on to Lyra and Bon Bon- one of my favourite pony couples of all time. As nice as it would have been to see those two as more than friends, this is a kid's show and Hasbro aren't planning to pull a Legend of Korra on us. …I admit that when Bon Bon said "best friends" I mentally added "with benefits"… I regret nothing. And then something totally unexpected happens! I'm very sure- no 100% POSITIVELY SURE- that nobody saw this coming! Bon Bon is really a special agent called Sweetie Drops who came to Ponyville to escape the Bug-Bear! Wowzers, that was weird! I admit, through the whole scene I was laughing my head off at the randomness, but I have to say that I think it was _too_ random. Yes, I must face that there is such a thing as _too_ random… still, I think that Agent Sweetie Drops/Bon Bon is the most popular thing that's come out in fan creations since the episode aired, judging by the amount of stuff that's popped up on the Brony website Equestria Daily and I can see why. Still, it was a really stupid idea on the writers part and she'll never be 'Special Agent Sweetie Drops' to me. However, this could make for some interesting stories. "The name's Bon… Bon Bon!" xD

And then there's my favourite part: the 'Jumping the Shark scene' named not only for the fact that it's a scene used to get the viewer's full attention, but also because of the fact that Vinyl and Octavia literally JUMP OVER A SHARK! There are so many cameos in that scene, to name a few, Berry Punch, Button Mash, Featherweight, Truffle Shuffle, Colgate, Filthy Rich, Pipsqueak, Thunderlane, Pokey Pierce, and the _Twilicane_!

Surely it couldn't get any more random…

WRONG!

I couldn't stop laughing (and for that reason I had to watch the scene three times to hear the whole thing) when we were able to hear GUMMY'S THOUGHTS, keeping in mind that this is the same little alligator who didn't move an inch in the Griffinstone episode! I found that absolutely hilarious!

And then there were the alicorn sisters actually acting like sisters instead of princesses, and Shining Armor weeping… that was actually kinda weird, but I could imagine him crying at his own wedding, too.

When, you ask?

WHEN THE BILL CAME! *ba-dum-tiss!*

But Mayor Mare's speech… did you guys all listen to it and think that this was kinda like the creators of the show speaking to the fandom? Now that was clever of the writers to put in! So, see how we as a community can affect the show in this way? All the things that we have done over the last five years has shaped the show into what it is, with all the references, character names, certain quirks that each pony has, that's all us!

So, in a way, we're the writers of the show, too.

**(SPOILERS END HERE)**

**Now let's get this debacle in motion! There are two super-fast pegasi that need to kiss and make up… maybe even literally if ya get what I mean. *trollface***

* * *

Soarin flew through the rings of the air obstacle course, trying to clear his mind. Well, since he'd left his house his head had cleared enough that he was no longer drunk or groggy. But to calm his nerves he did what he always did when he was stressed, and went for a long, complicated flight.

He was trying to come up with some kind of speech that he could say to Rainbow Dash; one that would make him sound both apologetic and sweet, but not one that would make him look like a huge sap. This is what he'd come up with so far:

"Dashie…"

That was it.

Yeah, he was clueless as to what he'd say to her; in fact the thought of facing her made his wings turn into jelly- WAIT! He went off balance and lurched to the side, having to give his wings a couple of strong flaps to get back on course, almost clipping his wing on the side of one of the suspended rings. If this kept up he'd cause himself an injury… he had a feeling that the other Wonderbolts would be pretty peeved with him if that ever happened.

So for now he would keep on flying until he came up with a solution to his predicament. Oh if he were a smarter pony he'd probably know exactly what to say… okay, problem solved; he just needed to grow a dozen or so brain cells within the next hour, since that was probably the time he had left before he had a nervous breakdown and bailed.

Was this a bad idea?

Yep! This was too soon, not gonna happen, there was no way he could do this, no way, no how, no-

"Hey, slowpoke!"

Forgetting all about berating himself in his head, Soarin looked to his left to see a familiar pegasus mare flying alongside him. The sudden appearance of her darn near made him fly off-track and crash into the ground… and it made a deep blush appear on his face, which was to be expected by now.

"Hey… slow_er_ poke," Soarin would have face-hoofed if he hadn't been so flustered. Thankfully Rainbow Dash excused his idiocy, turning her own shade of red. The remained quiet whilst they flew around a few of the clouds that were scattered across the sky.

"Um… we- um, I mean- I need to talk to you," Rainbow shifted her abruptly shy magenta eyes in his direction. Soarin swallowed softly, knowing by both the look on her face and the tension hovering around them what she was going to say to him. Oh, Celestia were they gonna do this here? Now? While they were nearing the storm generator?

There was a funny story behind the storm generator, while we're on the subject. The Wonderbolts from a few generations back had commissioned a section of the obstacle course to be built that would enable the pegasi to practice flying through extreme weather conditions without having to use the storm cloud cluster- not too dangerous but tough enough that it would test the ponies' wing strength and durability. The inventor they had hired to build the storm generator managed to come up with a system that when installed underneath a section of the sky and filled with water could use the science of condensation to form clouds that could not be destroyed unless the machine was turned off. When the Wonderbolts tried it out it worked perfectly and they were thrilled with the results. But no system is without its kinks. The problem was that the inventor has been so focused on impressing the Wonderbolts that he had forgotten one little detail; there was no way to turn the machine off. So ever since then the storm generator had been stuck in place- oh well, as long as it functioned properly there was no point in complaining about it.

"And… I need to talk to you, too," Soarin couldn't look her in the eye. Man, this was harder than he'd thought. Why did things have to be so intense? He was surprised when Rainbow Dash perked up a little.

"Hey, how about a race first?" she offered. Soarin was taken aback by her offer at first, but figured it would be a good way to clear the air between them. After all, racing was what both of them did best. Soarin gave her a competitive smirk.

"You're on!" he cried. Looking straight ahead with narrowed eyes, Soarin gave his wings a powerful flap and he was zooming off, the rainbow streak beside him indicating that Rainbow Dash was flanking him. Holy Celestia, she was fast!

The two of them entered the storm generator at the same time, and Soarin immediately felt the strong with slam into his face, making him flinch. He lowered his eyelids to the point that he was squinting so he could focus on the sky ahead. It was a little blurred, but he knew the course like the back of his front right hoof, so that was no trouble to him. He was fairly certain that he had flown through the obstacle course hundreds of times in the past, and even though he hadn't tried it he was almost 100% sure that he could fly through the entire course blindfolded. Okay, the thought of accidentally crashing into one of the rings or being flung away in the confusion of the storm generator made him feel sick to the pit of his stomach. Maybe he'd fly the course a few more times before he got enough confidence to do that. Though seriously, if there ever was a time he needed a barrel full of confidence it was _now_!

Soarin looked to his side and noticed that Rainbow Dash was struggling a little against the wind, her mane being blown back and even into her face. To be honest the sight of her mane buffeting in the wind just made him realise how beautiful she was. His sudden distraction took its toll on him and suddenly he was flipped over. Remembering his Dizzitron training he tried to pinpoint where the exit of the generator was and focused his sight on the light ahead. Then, making sure he never broke eye contact with that particular spot, he flapped his wings as hard as he could until he was flying straight. He then wound up flying upside down; no trouble at all. Calculating the amount of power it would take for him to turn right side up, he pushed down on the air with his right wing and he twisted around, finally flying with his hooves facing downwards instead of up. He found that Rainbow Dash was giggling at his screw up and he cringed with embarrassment, though he forgot all about his humiliation when Dash gave him a playful shove from the side. Chuckling softly, Soarin leaned to his left and shoved her back. Before she could retaliate they emerged from the storm generator and were headed towards the next obstacle.

The fog machines were on full power, streaming out strong jets of jog so fast that if a pony were to get caught in it they would be flung right off the course. Soarin decided to go under the first one while Rainbow Dash went over; this resulted in a sort of synchronised routine where each time Soarin went up, Dash would go down, and vice versa, and then they would always meet halfway. Boy, Soarin wished that the two of them could just keep doing this all day; because at that moment, when they were dashing and soaring their way through all these obstacles, he felt more alive that he had felt in his entire life. If this was a preview to what he'd feel like if he was in a relationship with this gorgeous rainbow maned pegasus, then he wanted it more than anything.

They began descending towards the landing strip, each of them glancing at the other to see how far ahead they were. Locking eyes and seeing that they were both fighting for the lead, they shared a competitive smirk before looking straight ahead and pouring the last of their power into the final stretch of their race. As the ground got nearer, the tension got thicker, and Soarin felt like if he flapped his wings any harder he'd tear a bicep or something. But before he could, he had touched down on the ground, Rainbow Dash beside him.

"I won!" he proclaimed, sticking his nose in the air and striking a victorious pose. Rainbow Dash poked him in the chest.

"No, _I_ won!" she argued. Soarin just rolled his eyes, not really wanting to get into a petty argument with her at this point.

"Fine, we tied. Happy now?" he asked her. Rainbow slanted her eyes to the side.

"Not really…" she pouted. Soarin knew how much she liked to win, so he understood why a draw didn't make the cut for her. But then she just shrugged and gave him a nod. "Okay, yes, we tied. We both won together."

'_The way it should be'_ Soarin found himself thinking, and he felt the blood rush to his face. Before Rainbow Dash could question his sudden blush he drove the conversation away from it.

"So… I guess we need to talk," he gulped, the blush being replaced by beads of sweat trickling down his face; though whether this was from the pressure he was feeling or the fact that he'd just taken part in a race he wasn't sure. Rainbow Dash practically mirrored his look.

"Y-yeah… we do," she agreed, looking down at the floor. Soarin, however, decided to look up instead. Celestia's sun was setting by now, turning the sky a light pink colour. The clouds rippled across the sky, the light filtering through them casting threads of thin, golden beams down across Equestria; Soarin likened it to a painting in an art gallery; one that people would look at and wonder _'Wow, what I wouldn't give to see something like that."_

"It's nice, right?"

Soarin looked over at Rainbow Dash, who was moving towards the edge of the clouds, staring up at the red setting sun. The reflection of it in her eyes made her seem like she was in some kind of trance.

"Hmm… yeah," Soarin knew that it was a little pathetic, but he couldn't really think of anything else to say. He moved along with her until the two of them were sitting right near the end of the cloud, where they had the perfect view of the land below them. If Soarin had thought the sun looked magical before it was nothing compared to the way they were looking at it here. The lower valley was covered with mist, and sometimes little pieces of it broke off and drifted away in small clouds. The sky was darker in the east, and the horizon was a thin golden line. As the sun got lower in the sky, the clouds began to turn from pink to grey and the mist was touched with gold.

"Rarity and Fluttershy talk about how pretty sunsets are sometimes," Rainbow mused, not taking her gaze of the heavenly sight. "I never really understood what they meant, but now that I'm really looking, I think I realise what they're getting at."

Soarin couldn't remember ever seeing her so transfixed on anything before. Was it just because she needed a distraction from all the awkwardness? Probably.

"I guess it's the mist that makes it pretty…" Rainbow carried on, almost as if she were talking to herself. "All gold and silver."

"Yeah, you're right," Soarin returned his gaze to the setting sun; Celestia was making it _extra_ pretty this evening. For a second he found himself wishing that he had the know-how to just paint all this himself; this was a moment that he would need to remember. He returned his attention to the cyan mare at his side as she let out a deep sigh.

"Why can't it stay like this forever?" she thought out loud. Soarin understood what she meant; the sky like this had to be one of the most beautiful things Equestria could offer sight-wise.

'_Second most beautiful…'_ Soarin blushed as he caught sight of the golden tint of sunlight reflecting off Rainbow Dash's mane of many colours. Each colour of her mane glowed a different shade as the sunlight washed over it, and for a second, Soarin was almost certain that he was sitting beside some sort of angel descended from above. Feeling the blushes return to him, he tore his gaze away from her and fixed it instead on the horizon.

"Nothing gold can stay," said he.

Rainbow Dash gave him a baffled look. "What?" she asked him, looking at him as if he had just spoken to her in some sort of made up language.

"It's a poem I read once," Soarin was a little embarrassed to admit that he liked poetry. Almost automatically he began reciting it.

"_Nature's first green is gold,_

_Her hardest hue to hold,_

_Her early leaf's a flower,_

_But only so an hour, _

_Then leaf subsides to leaf,_

_So Eden sank to grief,_

_So dawn goes down to day,_

_Nothing gold can stay._"

Rainbow Dash was staring at Soarin with her jaw slack. "Wow. Where did you learn that?" she asked.

"Robert Trots wrote it. I always remembered it because I never quite got what he meant by it," Soarin revealed. It had taken him forever to finally realise what the poet had been trying to say with the little rhyme. It kind of served as a reminder that things with the most potential can be easily contaminated, or that something extraordinary or beautiful cannot stay that way forever. Rainbow made an interested humming noise before looking back at the sun.

"It's funny… I never really noticed the colours until now. It's almost as if they weren't there before," she said softly. Soarin felt brave. He couldn't withhold this anymore, and frankly he didn't care whether he looked like the most macho stallion in the world, or Equestria's biggest dork. He just wanted her to know that he cared. So he reached out with his left wing and wrapped it around her; she seemed surprised at first, but became less tense in a matter of seconds, though she never took her eyes off the sunset. The blush on her face was enough to tell Soarin that she was okay with it. Thank Celestia.

"I… I like you, Rainbow Dash," Soarin gulped. He looked down at the clouds below, not wanting to know whether or not Rainbow had turned to face him. "I had to say it and not… yell it," he felt embarrassed at the memory. He heard the blue pegasus fumble over a few words before spitting something out.

"H-how long have you… ya know?" she asked him. Soarin didn't budge, knowing that if he moved even an inch he would break out into a huge blush; and that would kinda kill the moment.

"A couple of months," he admitted. "Remember back when we went out around Cloudsdale after you got struck?" he heard her wince at that thought, and he instantly wished he could take back what he said. "Sorry… well, that's when I first felt things for you," it felt weird. A week ago he was struggling to tell her, having to resort to crazy tactics in order to have a _shot_ at telling her. Now here he was seven days later, spilling everything that he'd felt for her out. It felt… good. Like a huge weight being lifted from his shoulders.

"Really?" she seemed astounded. "That long?"

"Yeah…" Soarin wasn't usually shy; most of the time he would happily jump on a table in a public place and dance the cha-cha-slide, but now he felt as timid as Fluttershy. "I wanted to tell you, I tried so hard. I was chased by geese for you, Dashie!"

He heard her chuckle at that. Now, while being chased around by vicious birds wasn't all that fun, it sure must have looked funny to anypony passing by. Okay, yes it was hilarious; Soarin was laughing about it too by then.

"You're the biggest doof in Equestria," she commented. Soarin whipped round to face her, putting an offended look on his face even though he totally agreed with her. He then forgot the reason why he was supposed to be offended when the rainbow maned mare placed both her front hooves on his shoulders. "But I… _like_ you for it," she said almost shyly. And there went the blushing.

Holy Celestia this was happening…

Deciding that there was no time like the present, Soarin wrapped his hooves around her waist and looked into those big magenta eyes of hers, blocking out the rest of the world. Who needed the rest of the world?

And then they were kissing. As Rainbow Dash's parted lips met Soarin's he started to feel breathless in this crazy, fascinating way. The space around the two of them seemed to melt away like snow and for a moment Soarin felt like everything was just perfect, like everything that had happened in his life, both good and bad, was worth the struggle. It was worth all the pressure he had received from other ponies, worth all the agony of training at the Academy. If this was his reward then he wouldn't have cared if he'd been through all of that _twice_!

Soarin had no idea how long the kiss lasted after that, but when they finally pulled apart, Soarin realised that his eyes were closed and opened them. Rainbow Dash was staring at him, her eyes closer to him than they'd ever been before. Immediately, the first thing the two of them did was blush intensely… and that kept up for a minute or two before they finally got their sense back. Rainbow Dash tucked her legs under her and looked out over at the setting sun once again, and Soarin rested himself beside her, wrapping his wing around her once again. They turned their heads and smiled at each other, neither of them saying anything…

…but both of them thinking the exact same thing.

* * *

**IT HAPPENED! **

**I can't begin to tell you how good it feels to get this off my chest. It took thirty three chapters but SoarinDash has FINALLY happened. I also discovered that I suffer from ISS. I know that sounds like some really bad disease but I actually just made it up- it stands for Intense Squeeing Syndrome. It's what happens when you're writing something insanely fluffy and you can't stop squealing long enough to type. I love to hate that feeling!**

**Now, I'm gonna go all Dr Wolf on you guys here. I wanna hear from each of you. What did all of you think of the 100****th**** episode, first of all; I would love to hear your opinions. And I also wanna hear how you felt at the end of this chapter. Did I do a good job? DID I?! :P**

**I'm Sassymouse and I look forward to hearing from you. ;)**

**(The poem Nothing Gold Can Stay is Robert Frost's work- though I wish it was mine...)**


	34. Shadows

**Authors Note: **Wowzers, that last chapter was a blast… it was hell to write, but it got done and that's what really counts, right? …Right? Anyway, I got round to realising that the last five chapters (including this one) have all taken place on the same day… am I stretching this too far? Heck, I take everything this far, but either way this is the last chapter that happens on… whatever day of the week this is set on, and we're going out with a bang! This time we're gonna see how the other half of this story is going, so grab a snack and a drink if you want, and in certain cases, shrines. Yes, I'm talking to you, Rosa! ;)

**And thanks for 40 follows, guys! We're on a roll with this!**

**Captain Alaska: Yeah, finally knowing that I've been saying Lyra's name right for the past two years was a HUGE relief! But I will never call Derpy 'Muffins'! And you have no idea how much I was praying Vinyl would speak! Oh well, we still have the fan animations for that, I guess.**

**Amellia Rose: I LOVE DESPICABLE ME! Oops, sorry for my little outburst then… and I think I'm gonna keep Rainbow Dash in the dark about SpitBurn for a little while longer. I think it's amusing how she has no idea Braeburn has a thing for the captain. xD**

**Litestardt: Whoops. Sorry for making you think I had some kind of brain disorder or something… I probably already have one. And you and Lightning seriously need to learn not to argue; even though it's hilarious! **

**RosaSilvermist: And it's about darn time, too! It took me about twenty minutes to write that paragraph 'cause I couldn't stop friggin' squeeing. AND I NEVER SQUEE! Also, I thought I was the only one who felt sorry for Amethyst Star, too! I'm so relived to find someone who feels the same way.**

Surprise: How can we not have vanilla? If I ever get caught without vanilla ice cream you have permission to kick me up my hiney!

**Dj Storm: Another Whovian! Quick question; who's your favourite doctor? I'm tied between David Tennant and Matt Smith.**

**SummerGrace190: I know exactly how you feel. Smiling's good and all, but just wait until you get a jaw cramp from grinning too much. Ouch. And yeah, there were a load of cliff-hangers in the episode, but with everything going on there probably wasn't enough time for their plotlines to be shown at once. It still worked for me though; it's probably in my top ten episodes now. **

**Spiralwish: I still laugh every time I watch that Gummy scene. Just when I thought the show couldn't get any more random. And I loved that Button Mash appeared, too! I love the Button Mash Adventures so so SO much! And you seriously have no idea how hard it is to try and keep Rainbow Dash in character while writing a scene like that! I went through literally every episode in my head trying to think of an instance where Dashie acts sentimental. The closest thing I could think of was when she took Scootaloo under her wing in **_**Sleepless in Ponyville**_**; most of the time she's just a self-centred, attention seeking narcissist. **

**Luna'snight625: it was good to see Steven Magnet after four seasons; I really didn't see him and Cranky being friends coming (who did?). I'm still looking for a story focusing on how the two of them met and became friends… dammit, one more thing for me to ponder writing. And you have my permission to squeal and be hyperactive and freak out as much as you want. Enjoy it while it lasts.**

**The Super Saiyan 3- I think you may have finally reached happier than Pinkie Pie status… nah, hold up, I seriously don't think that can happen. What does that live wire of a pony take to be so chipper and optimistic 24/7?**

**Guest: Yes, that something is a few thousand words a retarded author has written to please the people who read this. **

**Astrid Fireheart: Hell if I know. I'm also 100% sure that GTA doesn't even exist in Equestria.**

**YoungBlood23: Whoa, easy there! I'm happy that **_**you're**_** happy, but there's no need to throw stuff! xD**

**MidnightBlaze16: Then you're lucky. At least your syndrome doesn't make you tense up and prevent you from typing… so… annoying!**

**Rainbowdash4ever: Heck no this ain't the end (duh!) according to my calculations we have roughly… well, just under twenty left to go. So this story will keep going for quite some time still, and it's gonna be one hell of a random ride.**

**Sparkling-nexis137- Hey, it's great to have you back, Nexis! And I'm glad you liked the race scene; that was a throwback to chapter 28 where Lullaby compares Rainbow's problems with her feelings to racing. And you'd better strap that helmet on extra tight 'cause we're in for a wild ride which probably won't end for a long, long time. And don't worry about them being one of those stupid couples that you mentioned (they annoy me like you wouldn't believe) I'll do my very best to make their relationship a unique one that will not only bring out some 'aaaawwwws', but some laughs, too. Besides, I can't imagine Dashie and Soarin being one of those couples anyway. Soarin's too silly for any of that nonsense. **

_**(MY REVIEW FOR PRINCESS SPIKE!)**_

**!SPOILERS AHEAD!**

Oooh, another of my reviews… it will probably get completely out of hand, mind you so bear with me. So I'm gonna start by asking you all a question. Was I the only one who saw all those ponies wandering from stall to stall in the castle and immediately thought '_Oh my gosh, it's like BronyCon in Equestria!_'

Before I go into immense detail want to talk about the things in the episode I really appreciated. For one thing, Luna had the opening line! I love Luna so much that it hurts, people; heck I have a massive Luna Build-a-Bear plushie sitting on my desk right now… quick anecdote for you guys- do you have any idea how awkward it is to be in a big room full of squealing five year olds who are begging their moms to get them a £30.00 stuffed minion, standing on a stuffing pump while the twenty-something year old assistant uncomfortably shifts in his chair, trying to make small talk with you 'cause he's paid to talk to snot-nosed ragamuffins all day and he has no idea how to act around people older than ten, while you wait desperately for the pony to fill up with fluff, twitching as the kids all point at you, wondering why there's someone my age in there, and then when it finally happens you still have to go through the other crazy "ritual" rules because it encourages the kids, then you anxiously wait for them to scan your frickin' pony and THEN YOU CAN LEAVE! That's what I would do for a Luna, people, so show me some respect! …Okay, onto other things. I was pleased to see Fancy Pants again, and his line was by far my favourite in the episode. _"There's an angry mob here that __**DEMANDS**__ satisfaction!_

But, onto more negative stuff- from the moment I saw the gemstone statue I thought: '_Either Spike's gonna eat it or it's gonna be destroyed._' That's how predictable this episode was. If you must know, from the moment I first read the synopsis I knew precisely how the episode would go. Spike somehow gets to be in charge while Twilight's ill or something and gets super carried away and winds up ruining something (I was so close with that prediction). So, naturally I knew exactly what was going to happen. And poor Spike in that first scene; it was so damn jerkish of everypony to cut him off and start praising the princesses like that. I guess that was the first cliché of the episode. Don't worry, there's more to come.

Okay the first time I laughed in the episode was when Twilight curled up on a bed of BOOKS! Oh my gosh, that was just so like her; we all call her Book Horse for a reason, after all. And then we find out that Twilight hasn't slept for three straight days since she was organising the summit, which brings me to the next question. What the hay were Celestia, Luna, and Cadence doing that caused Twilight to have exactly zero sleep? Surely it couldn't be that hard to organise if you are a team of four all-powerful magic horses, right? But when Cadence gave Spike the responsibility of making sure Twilight wasn't disturbed I knew that things were gonna go downhill _really _fast. As in NASCAR race car covered in oil kind of fast! Another question: Why couldn't one of the royal guards stand by and ensure that Twilight wasn't woken up? Making sure the princesses are safe and comfortable is what they are paid to do! Nope, just choose Spike. But I guess if Cadence didn't tell Spike to do it then there wouldn't be an episode plot.

Anyway, seeing Spike deal with the distractions was pretty entertaining… and since I have to point this out every time for some inexplicable reason, I should say that I didn't appreciate the Canterlot ponies playing polo (basically croquet on horseback). I know it wasn't all that big of a deal but since Canterlot (Camelot) is a fictional British court of King Arthur the scene was pretty much a stereotype. If I keep bringing those up it's gonna get annoying, so I'll shut up. As funny as the dragon sneeze trees were, it was a little _too_ convenient that it was a plant that only dragons were allergic to. Another cliché! And that busted water pipe was just an accident waiting to happen, and I knew that eventually something bad would happen… I still would have thought that Spike was smart enough to just let the worker get on with his work. Also, if the leaking pipe was already uncovered why wasn't it at least temporarily repaired or shut off? And what the heck was the worker pony digging for with the jackhammer so far away from the hole?

And then even more predictable trouble occurs when two delegates come seeking advice from Twilight; Spike manages to fix the situation by pretending he spoke to Twilight. I guess it was a nice thought and all, him telling the two ponies that they had to share a room for a conference. And then even more ponies start coming to Twilight asking for advice, which Spike "solves" by pretending that the solutions were all Twilight's ideas. But… does it really require Twilight to solve such a trivial thing as the order of unimportant speeches; and why Twilight of all the princesses? And also, why does everypony think that they deserve an audience with a princess and an actual personal opinion from her to solve their petty problems? It's all just very confusing!

But then we move on to Cadence. Yes, the Princess of Love has been given an entire paragraph of my review. I think that the writers portrayed her a little off in this episode. All throughout the fandom I've been seeing a little Cadence hate, and that makes me feel really sad… I know a lot of people like Cadence and seeing her being viewed as the potential 'Villain of the Episode' breaks my heart. The thing is she was a little muddled up in the episode. Firstly, she lands Spike in this awkward, then later when she meets up with Spike in town she acts as an inquisitor, questioning his motives rather than worrying about how (ir)responsible he's being. Don't worry, I still like Cadence a lot, but the writers just seemed to use her as a prop to move Spike's cruddy adventure along (good grief, it's like Corey Powell wrote this episode or something).

This may be just a small issue, but I also found the fact that all the delegates forgave Spike just like that quite off-putting. Heck according to modern laws, Spike should have been charged with high treason for betraying obligations of loyalty to the princess and usurping the power. But he was forgiven after simple apology. And all the damage he caused didn't matter as well? That could have been a good opportunity for the writers to throw in a 'correct your mistakes' moral.

But my overall problem with the episode was just the treatment of Spike in general. The writers seem to treat Spike like a pile of dog doo-doo all the time and that just isn't fair! In this episode they seem to just portray him as a punching bag (again), making him feel useless and having the delegates ignore him. I would have preferred the episode to have a different plot; even just a few tweaks could have improved it, and given us a Spike episode with a story line that hasn't been used over and over again. Is it just me that feels sorry for Spike in every episode where he has a big part?

Anyway… it wasn't the worst thing ever but it still felt underwhelming and inconsequential, and there was a lot of room for improvement. It's still not as bad as _Dragon Quest_… hold on, that's a Spike episode, too! The writers had better start treating Spike right or so help me I'll slap them all across the head with a` complete physical collection of Fallout: Equestria!

**(!SPOILERS END HERE!)**

**So before we embark on the 34****th**** chapter of this long, messed up story, I have three things to say! **

**Firstly, who's heard the good news? Same-sex marriage is now legal in the USA! For once the world has done something right, and when I heard I was over the moon! So I'm in a good mood this week, and I'm gonna throw in some High Winds and Blaze sweetness in this chapter to celebrate. Those two need more attention in this story.**

**The second reason that I'm happy is that Top Gun 2 has been announced! WOOHOO! The first movie is one of the greatest of all time, so this sequel had better live up to my expectations. Heck, with a movie this great I don't see how it couldn't! :D**

**Also, I would like to apologize if I disappoint anyone with the lack of SoarinDash in this chapter and the next. But to put your mind at ease I would like to reveal to you all that chapter 36 will be their first date! So go ahead and freak out and be happy! WOOHOO!**

* * *

"Welp, that went well," Surprise chirped as she and Spitfire headed down to the exit doors… which were also the entrance doors, but that's just pointless information. Spitfire gave her friend a blank stare.

"Was watching them from my office really necessary?" she asked. "I couldn't focus on my work with you squealing in my ear!"

"Oh lighten up, it's sweet," she then gave the captain a devilish smirk. "And I caught you watching 'em a couple of times, too."

Spitfire felt a cringe coming on. "Mention that to anypony then I'll rip your tail off and shove it down your throat," she threatened the white Wonderbolt. Surprise 'zipped' her lip closed, then locked it closed, then dug a hole, then buried the key, then built a house on top of the hole and moved into it. Man, she was insane.

As much as the golden Wonderbolt loved her job, she always felt a strange rush of relief when seven O'clock came and she could leave the Academy in the hooves of Whiplash, Fast Clip, and the other security ponies. Sure, it wasn't like anything waited for her at home, but even somepony as serious as her needed to unwind after a long, stressful day of paperwork, drills, and on occasion even crazier stuff, as proved by the day's events. Still, she was happy for Soarin and Rainbow Dash- the two of them deserved their happy ending… but of course this wasn't the end. Doubtless, there would be even nuttier goings on with those two before things calmed down. Just another day at the Academy.

Suddenly-

"GYAH!" Surprise yelped as she was tackled to the ground. Instinctively, Spitfire spun round to face her friend's attacker, her wings spread wide in case she had to dodge a punch or something.

"Gotcha!" the yellow mare on Surprise's back tittered. Spitfire groaned and let her wings fall to her sides as she realised that the pony that had jumped Surprise was only Blaze. Surprise rolled over and knocked Blaze off her back, getting up off the freshly polished floor (yes, Feather Duster had actually done her job for once) and stretching.

"Yep, you got me," the white mare chuckled. "You won't next time," she vowed. Blaze scoffed and leaned against the wall.

"That's what you say every time, and every time I grind your face into the ground," she leaned on Surprise's shoulder and whispered in that deep voice of hers. "No offense, but it's getting a little boring," she yawned for extra effect. Yeah, Blaze was one of the livelier Wonderbolts, and while she loved goofing around and making a joke out of everything she was still dedicated to her job. Blaze was actually one of the few Wonderbolts Spitfire had given a nickname. Call that unimportant, but when the captain calls somepony the Princess of the Pervs…

From the moment Blaze had joined the ranks of the 'Bolts Spitfire had kept a cautious eye on her, since she was always eying up some filly or another. Seriously, over the years Spitfire had caught Blaze flirting with the other female Wonderbolts, cadets, and even random fans. Blaze just didn't care that most mare's weren't into _that_, and Spitfire had lost count of how many times she'd been forced to give Blaze latrine duty due to her advances on the cadets (though that's how she met High Winds) and the golden captain had given Blaze the nickname she had today after she had attempted to bribe her out of punishing her by offering her an hour of '_Blaze Love'_. Though over the past year or two Blaze had been improving- no doubt High Wind's influence. Spitfire still couldn't understand how somepony as sweet and innocent as High Winds ended up with a mare like Blaze.

"Ha! Did she get you again, Surprise?"

Speak of the devil.

"Darn right I did, Windy," Blaze called her white furred marefriend by her pet name. "Nopony can escape Blaze!" the yellow Wonderbolt struck a triumphant pose and High Winds giggled, running a hoof through her curly dark and light blue mane.

'_Too much stupid…'_ Spitfire's conscience sighed. Spitfire's ears angled to the side and she felt some sanity return to the world when she saw a blue mare emerge from her office. _'There we go somepony normal.'_

"Hi Fleetfoot," Spitfire greeted her colleague. Fleetfoot was definitely one of her most respected 'Bolts. If Soarin or Surprise weren't available Fleetfoot would usually assist her with her problems. However, it seemed as of late that she hadn't been hanging around with the white maned pegasus as much as she had before. "How're you doing?"

"Ick," Fleetfoot spat. Instantly, Spitfire became increasingly confused. What was going on…?

"Fleetfoot?" the golden Wonderbolt frowned. Fleetfoot seemed to straighten herself out after that.

"Oh, hi Thpit," she smiled. Spitfire sagged her shoulders, gaining that familiar blank look she got whenever this situation came to pass.

"Don't call me Spit," she said.

"Fine then," Fleetfoot replied, smiling even wider and getting a sly look on her features. "Hi, _Thpitwad_!"

'_Knock her lights out!'_

"Spitwad?!" the captain's jaw dropped, her left eye beginning to twitch furiously. That… that was even worse than just plain Spit!

"Whoops," Fleetfoot shrugged, obviously not caring in the slightest. She just stood there leaning against the wall, chuckling to herself as she examined a forehoof. "Tho how have you been doing?" she cast a glance at her commanding officer, not losing that smirk of hers.

"Um… okay," Spitfire shrugged. Had she really spent so much time away from Fleetfoot that she'd suffered from some kind of personality change? "Same old, work, air shows. But you know that."

"Yeah, I totally get it. _Thame old_," Fleetfoot echoed. Spitfire looked away for a moment, suddenly uncomfortable. It seemed like Fleetfoot had some kind of problem with her. At Surprise's party a while back she couldn't help noticing how hostile the light blue mare was acting towards her. The whole time she kept giving her dark glares, but Spitfire couldn't figure out exactly why. She hadn't done anything to Fleetfoot… had she? Spitfire tried to think of something, but nothing came to mind. Maybe Fleetfoot just had issues; after all, everypony did, right?

"Okay, I've gotta get going. I need to get to work on my other job," Fleetfoot took a step towards the door. Spitfire stopped her in her tracks.

"You don't have another job," she stated. Fleetfoot scoffed and rolled her magenta eyes.

"Yeth, I do," she raised her chest and put a proud look on her face. "I'm a love doctor."

"That's not a job," Spitfire shook her head at her light blue colleague. Fleetfoot put a hoof to her chin and grinned.

"You're right. It'th more like a _calling_!" she smirked. She gave Spitfire one last look of displeasure. "Well, thee ya later, then," Fleetfoot took departed out the door, leaving Spitfire with her head fogged by questions and confusion. Why was Fleetfoot acting like this…?

"Yikes," Blaze commented, suddenly walking up to stand next to Spitfire. "Looks like somepony woke up on the wrong side on the bed."

"Hmm… man, when you two stand next to each other you look almost exactly alike," Surprise commented, coming up to join them with High Winds. Spitfire and Blaze each looked the other up and down. As much as Spitfire hated to admit it, this mare that shared next to no personality traits with her looked so similar to her that it was scary, though Blaze's mane and tail were a little messier and lacked the lighter orange colour that Spitfire had in hers. Heck, she'd lost count of how many times ponies had come up to her asking if she and Blaze were sist-

'_Oh, look at that interesting wall!'_ Spitfire spun to look at the wall, focusing on all the cracks in it. Yes, distractions were sometimes good. Distractions, distractions, distractions…

"We should get going," Spitfire began heading to the door after her mind had been put to rest. Thankfully the others followed her as if they had been given an order. Surprise held the door open for them as they all headed out and Spitfire calmed down even more as she felt the cool evening breeze whip her bare fur.

"We'll see you two tomorrow," High Winds nuzzled Surprise's cheek and moved over to Blaze.

"Hayburger?" the yellow pegasus asked her younger marefriend. High Winds turned a light shade of red and shyly blushed. Chuckling at the sweet little 'Bolt's behaviour, Blaze bent down and planted a soft kiss on High Winds' forehead, making the white mare turn even redder. Yep, High Winds had definitely had some sort of effect on Blaze.

"See ya," the two of them chorused before flapping their wings and flying off towards town. Spitfire shook her head at the two of them, though she was donning a small smile. They were basically an embodiment of the phrase _"Let love fly free."_

"So what's gonna happen now?" Surprise asked out of the blue. Spitfire looked over at her poofy maned friend, raising a brow.

"What do ya mean?" she asked. Surprise shrugged her shoulders.

"Well now that Soarin and Dash are together, does this mean that it's the end of all our wacky adventures? I mean, soon Soarin's gonna be all sophisticated for his mare-"

"Not possible," Spitfire spoke over her.

"-and I can't handle all of the humour by myself. So who-"

"DOOR!" somepony yelped, before a skidding sound was heard. A second later the door burst open and a light gold stallion tumbled out, landing on his face in the clouds with his stetson on his rump and his green saddlebags over his head. Spitfire supressed a chuckle at Braeburn's literal slip-up and stood back as Surprise helped him back to his hooves.

"So, Ah'm guessin' that Feather duster forgot t' put up the 'Caution, wet floor' signs?" the earth pony assumed, flushing red with embarrassment as he shook himself off. Spitfire swore that she'd chew Feather Duster out big time… again. Man, she was telling the little dusty mare off for her slacking so often that it was starting to become a part of her expected everyday life… and she wasn't sure how she felt about that.

"Shouldn't she have just paid for that busted window and left by now?" Surprise asked, clearly bothered by Feather Duster's laziness as well. Spitfire rolled her orange eyes at the thought of the smashed window that caused that annoying draught in the hallway that led down to the Main Hall.

"That's exactly what I keep telling her, but apparently she uses her wages to fund these dumb parties she throws every week instead. According to her they're a _big deal_," she explained, making quotation marks with her wings.

"Yeah, Feather's parties are off the hook!" Surprise pumped a hoof in the air. The white mare then became aware of the unamused stare she was getting from the captain. Slowly, Surprise lowered her hoof and spread her wings. "Well… I'd better get going before something happens, like… like a demotion. So, um, see ya later, you guys!" and then she was off like a bullet into the darkening sky.

"That mare…" Spitfire tutted. "I've known her since we were kids and I still can't figure out how she works."

"You've known 'er that long?" Braeburn asked in disbelief. He was no doubt wondering how two ponies so different could have been friends for so long, but that wasn't really important.

"Uh-huh, we went to the same school," she made her explanation as short as possible. Thankfully, the stallion didn't ask her any more questions about her foalhood.

"Well, Ah'd better get goin'. It's a half hour walk from here t' home," he stretched out his admittedly muscular legs (_'Stop looking at 'em!')_. Spitfire gave him a baffled stare.

"Hold on, I thought Soarin flew you- oh!" she remembered that Soarin was a little occupied with other things right now. Well, maybe she could-

'_No! No! Absolutely not! He isn't your priority, Spitfire, so just-'_

"Youwannalift?" she blurted out all of a sudden.

'_Oh. No. You. Didn't!'_

"Huh?" Braeburn locked his green gaze on her orange one. Spitfire was so close to taking it back and pretending she hadn't said anything, but… she just couldn't!

"I was just wondering if you… needed a lift home."

'_You idiot.'_

"Oh, uh…" Braeburn looked like he had no idea how to respond. "Ah don't wanna be a bother…" he insisted. Ignoring the voice in her head, Spitfire pressed on.

"No, really, I don't mind. I'd feel guilty if just let you walk," she replied. Whoa, since when was she this involved with somepony else's issues… well she had just kinda helped her co-captain and her best cadet get together, so this was nothing, right?

"Don't _you_ need t' get home?" Braeburn asked her. Spitfire hardly ever took the time to brag, but this time she wanted to make it clear that there were no issues with her helping him out.

"Have you forgotten that I'm one of the fastest fliers in Equestria? I can get you to your place in five minutes and then be off," she stood at her full height to show that she meant every word. Braeburn still clearly felt like he would be some kind of burden, so Spitfire just decided to do what she did best.

"Just get on," she ordered. Finally realising that he couldn't get himself out of this, he hesitantly, and a little stiffly, climbed onto the captain's back. As hard as she tried, Spitfire couldn't withhold the bright blush that was instantly slapped onto her face. In the couple of months that she had known this stallion she couldn't recall having any kind of physical contact with him at all… oh, wait, there was that one time at the Spring Celebration... man, Applejack had acted a little weird there, but she couldn't figure out why. "You okay up there?" she asked Braeburn, feeling like she had to say something, anything, to break this silence. It was just too… awkward.

"Wha- oh, um… Ah'm, uh… fine," he replied, sounding slightly flustered. "Ah'm not too heavy, right?" he asked. His voice was a little shaky, so there was obviously something wrong.

"Okay… well, I'm sorry if it's a bumpy ride, I'm not that used to carrying ponies around," she said.

"Nothin' Ah've not dealt with already, ma'am. Soarin sometimes doesn't look where he's goin' an' then he crashes into buildings… this'll be no sweat." Braeburn told her, shifting once again. Spitfire managed to banish her blush and took off into the air without another word, flying in the direction of Soarin's street for the second time that day. The captain had in fact carried ponies on her back before, but they were mostly just injured pegasi. Earth ponies were the largest race of pony, while pegasi were the smallest, so it was understandable that Braeburn weighed more than her previous passengers. She felt him shift on her back again and decided to say something before that damned blush returned to give her even more grief.

"You sure you're alright up there?" she asked. Maybe he just did this naturally, and it was okay of him to be cautious about his sitting position, after all he had no wings.

"Yeah… sorry 'bout all the fidgetin'; Ah'm just trying to fold muh hat into muh saddlebags."

Spitfire raised a brow. "Is that possible?" she didn't know how material like that could be folded.

"Well, this _is_ a cartoon," Braeburn shrugged. Then the sound of rustling was heard as he tried to stuff his stetson in his saddlebags and then he finally became still. "Again, really sorry 'bout movin' 'round so much; Ah'm just not used to sittin' on somethin' so-" he stopped mid-sentence, and Spitfire briefly wondered if the thing he was going to say was in any way offensive. He stammered for a few seconds before finally saying something coherent. "Ah mean that Ah'm more accustomed t' sittin' on chairs and not ponies…"

The golden Wonderbolt looked over her shoulder at him. "Fair enough. I do understand that a mare feels a lot different than a chair."

"Actually," Braeburn informed her. "Ya don't feel that bad at all. And yer a lot softer than chairs, too…" he paused, mortified at what he had just said. Spitfire watched with secret delight as his face turned several shades of pink before settling on a rosy red colour. He then attempted to say something, but all that came out was a rather pathetically high squeak. It was pretty comical, if you asked Spitfire, and after a few moments of enjoying his obvious embarrassment she decided to take pity on him.

"Well, it's good to know that I'm softer than most chairs, Cowboy," she turned her head away again so he wouldn't see her smirk. For about a minute, if that, the two of them flew on in silence, Spitfire making sure that she didn't go_ too_ fast and give him a fright before the earth pony on her back cleared his throat.

"Um… ma'am, please excuse muh forwardness…" Spitfire almost froze mid-flap as Braeburn wrapped his arms gently around her neck, making sure he didn't hold on too tight to her. Feeling that Celestia forsaken blush come back for thirds (or it could have been fourths for all she knew), she looked back at him, though he didn't make eye contact. "It's easier t' hold on like this," he said simply.

"Oh, okay then," the golden mare replied slowly. "If it helps you out then I have no obsession- _objection_!"

'_You're even more messed up than Surprise,' _her conscience mocked her.

"Thanks, ma'am" Braeburn said softly.

While there was some silence between the two of them Spitfire began to contemplate on what was going on… mostly with her head. A few months ago if a stallion even dared touch her (besides her masseur, of course) she would have given him the slap of his life, but now here she was on an early May night with one sitting on her back, flying him home of her own accord. And the strangest part was… she didn't mind. As said right near the start of this story, Spitfire never did favours for _anypony_, so why all of a sudden was she going out of her way for somepony else, especially an earth pony that had only been in her life for two months. But for a reason she couldn't explain, even though he was still a newbie to her, she felt safe around him, she knew that he was a kind, loyal, generous, and honest pony, and, Luna forbid it, she might even… _trust_ him.

"No problem," the captain responded. She hesitated a little after that; one more step forward couldn't hurt, right? "And… you don't have to call me 'ma'am'," she sounded surprised to hear her own voice. She didn't even have to look at the stallion to imagine the shocked expression on his face.

"Ya… ya mean it?" he asked in disbelief. Spitfire gave a single, curt nod.

"Of course… just 'Spitfire' will do," she got the rest of her sentence out. Braeburn began stuttering again, as if he had no idea what to do now.

"O-okay, If that's what ya want, ma'-

Spitfire looked back at him and gave him an amused smirk.

"Ah mean Spitfire…," he chuckled quietly at himself. "It's just that Ah was always taught t' address ladies like that."

Spitfire felt her face light on fire again and she looked straight ahead, though she couldn't stop grinning. Boy, she hadn't smiled this hard in years. Ya know another thing that she hadn't done in years? Something completely crazy! Spitfire felt totally out of her element as it was; she was a tough, take no crap captain and she had vowed that she would never succumb to any child's play. But for some reason none of that mattered to her now, and it wasn't like anypony would see it- as Surprise always said: '_There's no time like the present'_.

So without any warning, Spitfire began to fly faster, pumping her wings a lot harder. She heard the earth pony on her back yelp and jolt backward at her frightening increase in speed (or _horsepower_ if you like a pun) and held onto her tighter, burying his face in her mane in his surprise.

"What's goin' on?!" he whimpered. Spitfire snickered at his behaviour and rolled her eyes.

"I'll never understand how earth ponies can't enjoy this," she commented. She felt Braeburn lift his face from her buffeting mane and wince as he saw how fast they were going, which wasn't actually that fast to a Wonderbolt.

"Ah'll never understand how pegasi _can_!" he retaliated. Spitfire looked over her shoulder to ask him a question.

"Ya mean Soarin hasn't done this before?" she asked, surprised that her crazy co-captain hadn't tried some kind of stunt with Braeburn on his back.

"Well… he does sometimes do a flip or a barrel roll-"

"Like this?" Spitfire twisted in mid-air, completely losing her touch as she let out a bark of laughter at the stallion's terrified reaction. He was practically clinging to her back like a monkey's baby by now, and boy was it hilarious!

"Y-y-yes, _exactly_ like that," he jittered. "Um, Spitfire?"

"Hm?" the golden mare hummed.

"Building!"

Spitfire had seen that they were headed towards a cloud skyscraper already, and casually looked around at it. "Oh, yeah you're right," she said nonchalantly.

"Pull up!" Braeburn repeated over and over as they neared it.

"Meh…" Spitfire examined a forehoof, surprised to find that teasing the earth pony like this was quite enjoyable. Finally, when she thought they were close enough, she flapped her wings furiously and flew straight up. She felt Braeburn's hind legs disappear for a moment before reappearing wrapped around her middle. He seemed to be muttering some sort of prayer by now, and she caught the words 'Celestia, save me please!'

"What's the matter?" Spitfire called over her shoulder, smirking like never before. The only response she got was a high pitched 'meep' from the earth pony as he trembled on her back. Putting all her focus on her flight, she skimmed across the side of the skyscraper all the way up to the top and then perched on the brim of the building. "Whew," Spitfire breathed, letting her muscles relax after her quick little stunt. Well, at least _she_ thought it was a quick little stunt; other ponies found it to be a mortifying experience.

"Are we on the ground?" Braeburn asked, still wrapped around the Wonderbolt captain.

"Nope… not exactly," Spitfire arched her back to jolt him up. Braeburn lifted his head and let out a breath that he had probably been holding for quite a while.

"Heh… maybe that's enough tricks fer t'day," he looked the captain in the eye. It only took a second for him to turn red again.

"What's up with you; ya look like you're mutating into a tomato or something," Spitfire commented, noticing his flushed face. Instantly, Braeburn looked away, smiling a little larger though.

"Ah dunno… yer just really happy right now. An' that makes _me_ happy," he admitted. And then it was Spitfire's turn to start mutating into a tomato. Happy? Braeburn wasn't the first pony to have pointed that out; Surprise told her that her mood was improving _constantly_, Misty Fly had said not that long ago that she'd been a lot less intense as of late, and Lightning Streak had asked her if she'd finally got surgery to remove the stick from her butt. Her response had been a rough punch round his jaw.

"Sap," Spitfire scoffed, trying to convince herself that he was just lying to make sure she let her guard down.

'_Not gonna work.'_

"Ya… ya have a nice smile," Braeburn said, barely audible. Spitfire's ears pricked straight up and she swore to Celestia herself that she was just hearing things.

"Wh-what was that?" she asked him.

"Oh- um, nothin'," said Braeburn as he started shaking his head.

'_See; nothing, you idiot.'_

Still, she couldn't erase that blasted smile from her face… it had been so damn long since she'd enjoyed herself this much, though; and in truth she found it a little weird that she was finding _this_ of all things exhilarating. Heck, she'd even managed to make flying a pony home complicated.

But, still, she wasn't done yet!

She peered down over the side of the skyscraper, judging how high it was. 492 feet was the average size of a skyscraper, and this was perhaps a little taller; oh well, she was going down anyway. Not even taking a starting jump, she tipped herself forward until she tumbled off the building, making Braeburn freak out and grasp onto her again. Another thing was that she hadn't opened up her wings, so they were in free fall.

"What's up with you now?" she asked. Braeburn just kept whimpering, and Spitfire was pretty sure that she could feel his heart pounding against her back.

"Flap!" he managed to get out.

_Nah, I don't think I will._

"What was that?" she asked, pretending that she hadn't heard him. At that point Braeburn just shut up completely and hid his face in Spitfire's neck, pretty sure that he was doomed at this point. But the golden mare wouldn't be the captain of the 'Bolts if she couldn't pull off a dangerous stunt so she pulled up with less than a second to spare, so that her back hooves scraped against the ground. This caused a spark to light a trail of fire behind the mare as she soared over the cloud houses.

"Are we alive?" Braeburn squeaked.

"Of course we are; what do ya think I am, a rookie?" she asked him rhetorically. She heard the earth pony sigh in relief for what felt like the billionth time that evening and he tucked his tail underneath his body so that it wouldn't be accidentally set on fire or something.

"Wow… Cloudsdale looks pretty neat from up here," he told the mare he was riding on.

"You've just now noticed that?" Spitfire asked, launching herself up and completing a quick backflip, much to Braeburn's obvious displeasure.

"Um… Ah guess so," the earth pony admitted once he had recovered from his dizziness. "Ah'm startin' t' see why you pegasi folk like this so much, though."

'_About time,"_ Spitfire thought, relieved that he as finally seeing things from the view of a pegasus. She definitely felt the most at peace when she was in the air; gravity wasn't keeping her down and nopony could control her when she was airborne.

"When I fly up here I don't even feel the cold," she mused, breathing in the cool night air. "I just feel-"

"-free," Braeburn finished her sentence, giving the captain a pleasant surprise. Now that was the way a pegasus thought. She gave him a nod of approval before looking down below at the clouds.

"This is what it means to be a pegasus, Cowboy." It wasn't every day that she found herself explaining the pegasus way of life to somepony, and it actually felt pretty good; yeah, she could be wise when she wanted to be. She dipped a little lower to the ground, as to make the experience a little more earth pony friendly, and found herself gazing down at the shadow that she cast on the paths below as she flew. Hers merged with the one belonging to the earth pony, forming what was both a big dark grey, flickering blob, and a shape that could easily be made with the aid of a close inspecting mind into that of a pair of ponies.

Two ponies.

One shadow.

They were nearing their final destination now, and Spitfire was speeding along faster by the second as she weaved her way over and around the cloud houses that were lined up along one portion of Cloudsdale. There was a minute during their flight where Braeburn raised his hooves in the air and yelled 'WOOHOO!' really loudly. By now most of the street had probably got used to Soarin and Braeburn disturbing them at awkward times of the night, so he must have just stopped caring by now. Finally, Spitfire spotted the cloud house next to Soarin's and flapped her wings against the wind in order to slow down before dipping down and coming in for landing. She touched down right in front of the door and straightened herself out.

"All passengers off," Spitfire said formally. Instead of mentally snapping at herself as usual, she found it oddly amusing that she was enjoying herself so much. After a long time of being screwed in a little too tight, it was good to loosen up a little bit. Braeburn chuckled and slid off her back, stretching out all four of his legs. Spitfire stretched her wings, too. They were a little worn out from the flight, and she was sure that she would be feeling the burn in the morning.

"Thanks for that, ma'am-"

Pause.

"-Ah mean Spitfire. It's gonna take me a while t' get used t' that," he scuffed his forehooves on the ground. The Wonderbolt captain shook her head and rolled her eyes, knowing that she should be setting off about now for home.

"You're welcome," she said with a grin. She felt… giddy? No, she didn't like feeling that. It was weak, vulnerable, and immature. "I'm gonna get back to my place, so see ya at work tomorrow." She spread her wings, about to take off, when she heard the stallion speak her name. Deciding that she could delay her return a little longer, she looked to the side to face him.

"What's up?" she asked. Braeburn opened and closed his mouth a few times without anything coming out and… nervously? Yeah, he looked nervous. He nervously rubbed one of his front legs with the other.

"Ah just wanted t' say that Ah think yer a great pony," he confessed. With that, Spitfire's face turned from one shade of red to another and she had to strain to keep from smiling. "An' a huge inspiration," he continued. Okay, she couldn't hold in her smile anymore. Holy Luna's moonquakes, did her face burn or what?

"And… Ah think yer **the most amazing pegasus ever to take to the skies**."

Suddenly, her red face lost all colour it'd had previously. All her excitement was replaced with dread, and she was pretty sure that her blood had completely frozen. Somepony else had said that to her before… oh, Celestia, no! She needed a distraction…

But it was too late for that. She was reliving it; after so long the shadows were coming back to haunt her. She was burning alive again, and something was crushing her. She'd tried for years to forget, but she could still see the look on her face right before it happened; hear the sounds of screaming and a heart monitor bleeping; smell smoke, and death; taste the overwhelming blood.

Typhoon.

"Spitfire?"

The golden captain realised for the first time that she had at some point wound up on the clouds underhoof. As reality began rebuilding itself around her, so did her senses, and oh boy did she feel sick.

"_Get up you wuss," her conscience snapped at her._

She obeyed.

"You okay there?" Braeburn asked with concern. "Yer lookin' a l'il shaken up."

"What clued you in, Captain Obvious?" Spitfire almost snarled. Braeburn's ears drooped at her 180 degree turn in attitude.

"Wh-what's the matter?" he sounded a little nervous now.

"Nothing," the captain replied curtly.

"But-"

"I said _nothing's wrong_!" she'd raised her voice a little now. Oh Celestia, he looked so naïve and innocent… she needed to get a grip. She looked away and raised herself to her full height, trying her best to ignore the pounding pain in her skull.

"D'ya need a drink or somethin'?" Braeburn instantly looked wary. And he was right to be.

"No, I don't need anything." She said quickly, attempting to control her rapid breathing. She glanced at the light gold earth pony out of the corner of her eye. "Listen, you need to back off."

Braeburn gave her the same look that somepony would get if they had just taken a punch to the chest. "Huh…?"

"Back off, okay. It's safer- better that way," every word she said felt like one more bullet to the brain. For both of them.

"Wh-"

"That's an order!"

She took off not a moment later; going as fast was she would go in a Derby. Anypony who was outside at that time could see a bright, blazing trail of fire streaking across the dark blue sky; at the end of it, a pegasus in a pain greater than anyone would ever know…

* * *

**Endnote: Please don't hurt me!**

**Okay, I'm gonna start by saying that any questions you have right now will be answered in the next chapter. What gave Spitz PTSD? What's with the crazy personality twist? And who is Typhoon? As a hint to that last question, I've been leaving hints in a couple of chapters; nobody pointed them out, though. ^^**

**And I also want to end this chapter with a WARNING! You see that little T rating at the top of the page? Well I put that there with the next chapter in mind, so you can see how strongly a T it will be rated. To name a few elements of the next chapter we have: Death, suicide, alcohol, bloodshed, abuse, intense feels, hospitals, and a huge battle scene. But it's not all dark stuff.**

**You'll get to see filly Surprise! :3**

**References from How To Train Your Dragon 2 and Wreck-it Ralph found within.**


	35. Broken Mare

**Authors Note: THIS CHAPTER IS RATED T! For reasons why check the endnote of the last chapter. Sorry if you're not good around dark stuff, I promise I won't go into too much detail with the strong rated stuff, but this is an important chapter.**

**And ya know another thing I've just noticed? This story has surpassed 200,000 words! Wow, if my elementary school teacher could see this- bad at grammar indeed. **

**Also, my excuse for why this took so long to post comes with the length of this thing, and the fact that I had some computer problems that slowed me down! Also, I'm sorry if you're put off by the length (which I feel slightly proud to say is the length of a long chapter from Fallout: Equestria); I would have split it into two parts but this is something that wouldn't work unless it was all in one chapter. Sorry for the long wait. **

**Also, 50+ favorites! Thanks Silica Clair! :D**

**Captain Alaska- Imagine what you will but I don't think they… ya know. And I do imagine that to be Fleet's personality; don't worry she returns in a couple chapters time with some smart-ass comments. And a 40 foot pole sounds painful- why did I say that, now that's what I'm imagining. *cringe***

**SummerGrace190- I'm treading on ground that hasn't been trod on before… at least not in this way. And giddy l'il Spitty is so fun to write! It's like I'm putting away the ferocious tiger and bringing out the playful kitty cat- CUTE! Here's a weird little fact- I like to compare Spitfire to curry; she's awesome, but you'll always get burned in the end! And nice job referencing Feeling Pinkie Keen; I love that episode so much. Silly Pinkie. And Soarin and Dashie's date will be awesome, I promise- and just wait until you see the others preparing them for the date. And here's a little spoiler- Soarin's taste in clothing is absolutely ridiculous! And Amending Fences was my favourite season 5 episode, too. Read the full review below if you have time… I don't understand how I get so carried away with those. And as for your second review; of course Spring Song's coming back (in the next chapter) since it wouldn't be much of a story if she didn't. Also, there's gonna be a lot more horseshoe stuff in the chapters after this. There's gonna be a full blown investigation! Glad ya like my story so much, and thanks for reading. **

**Dj Storm- Yeah, the Daleks are great… and I do a good impression of them, but that's just random info. Though a little secret of mine is that I once had a nightmare about the weeping angels… heh…**

**MidnightBlaze16- YAY! You got both references. I'm pleased that you caught the Dragons reference (honestly, I would be disappointed if nobody did) and I think the moral of the entire story is that I should stop watching Wreck-it Ralph so much. And I listened to the song and was amazed at how well it fit- in fact I might use it as a title for a future chapter. Thanks, man. ;)**

**RosaSilvermist- Wowzers, I think I've found someone who loves those two as much as I do. And don't worry if you don't find the hints, they were subtle ones. Okay, here's a hint: Check chapters' 18, 24, and 34.**

**Luna'snight625- Yay, someone else caught the reference. I love putting nods towards movies in my stories and seeing how many people recognise them. Fun fact, I almost didn't put that quote in, but I had been watching How To Train Your Dragon 2 the morning I wrote the last part of the chapter and it worked so well that I'd have felt crappy I'd left it out.**

**Litestardt: Whoa, Lightning, you don't know who could be listening… nope, never mind, my earth pony tracker is blank. And YAY you got the clues; for a moment I thought I left them in there for nothing, but you proved me wrong! I've never been more thankful for that!**

**Sparkling-nexis137- Glad you enjoyed all the cute stuff! Oh, and I completely forgot about that detail with High Winds and Blaze, so I went back and edited chapter 23. It now says that she simply didn't know they were **_**dating.**_

**Amellia Rose- I almost choked on all the fluff, so I'm glad you enjoyed it. And let's see if you're right down below!**

**Dshk- It's one hell of a surprise (literally if you count Surprise) and I suddenly want to be called Sassy more often. It has a nice ring to it and it's short for my real name anyway. And it didn't get posted on FimFiction; I'm far too terrified to put it on there. My story just inspired a writer who is **_**on**_** Fim. That's all. ^^**

**Guest- The video game company. Yes.**

**Crickett5- Aw, I'm sure Cinder would be so happy to hear you say that; I honestly can't blame you for liking her so much. She's so frickin' adorable! And it's funny you bring this SoarinDash story subject up because I was reflecting on it just the other day. I notice those kinds of stories floating around all over the damn place, and I just don't understand why people keep writing them! Not only is it a subject that's written about over and over and over again, but it just doesn't make any sense. You're totally right that Spitz and Soarin's personalities don't match. We've got a serious badass and a fun-loving goofball; a terrible combination if ever there was one- opposites DO NOT attract. Unfortunately, people **_**love**_** the opposites attract notion when it comes to fiction, but truthfully they find that ideological opposites often have a very difficult time maintaining a relationship. Disagreeing all the time about the core things you deem good and bad is hard on a couple, so after the first few months when the glitter washes out of the eyes, things start to fall apart. Yes, that was indeed the psychologist in me speaking there. And ship SpitBurn as hard as you want, my friend, because it is something that deserves to be shipped! And thanks for the favourite and follow, too; we're at fifty, and then we'll be halfway to a hundred, and I've gone too far now, haven't I? Anyway, let's see if your guess on this mysterious Typhoon is correct. You're awesome! ;D**

**YoungBlood23- WHOA, WHOA, WHOA! *puts helmet on* Don't hurt me dude, I have the Avengers on speed-dial!**

_And it's that time again, folks._

_MY REVIEW FOR AMENDING FENCES!_

**(SPOILERS AHEAD- YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED)**

Welcome to Sassymouse's reviews, everyone, so grab a chair, stool, couch, sofa, maybe you're reading this in bed, or maybe you've just stopped caring and sat down on the floor wherever you are. But no matter where you're reading this, just sit back and try to enjoy this wacky, random ride.

So, _Amending Fences_ has become my favourite episode of this season, for several different reasons. But as usual, I should start from the beginning. So the episode starts off with Spike reminding Twilight of her friends in Canterlot; which was funny enough in itself- I mean, I guess it was a little mean of Twilight, but at least most of her old friends didn't take it to heart. And Spike's wearing an apron again! :D

And then we go back to where the series first began: Twilight's weird, dome-house-thingy. Seriously, does this thing have a name, 'cause I need to know before it starts bugging me. Anyway, it was cool to see Twilight's weird dome- okay, let's just call it Twilight's 'house'- after so long, though it was kind of sad to see it so neglected… but there was one hell of a trip down memory lane to be had there.

Then we meet Twilight's old friends: Minuette, Twinkleshine, and Lemon Hearts. That was my first disappointment. For the past two years I've been calling Minuette 'Colgate', so it'll take a while for me to adjust to that- it's a good thing I haven't written about Minuette in the past. I was also a little bummed out that we wouldn't see Lyra talking again, but that was made up for when we see Lyra in cameos (one when she was a FILLY!). They forgive her darn near immediately, and the way they laughed at Twilight when she apologized actually made me feel relieved. I was afraid they'd make poor Twily upset for a moment. The scene where they go to the science lab was one of my favorites; seeing Twilight as a filly again was a real treat, and the face Lemon Hearts made when she got her head stuck in a beaker wins my award for '_Best Face in the Episode_'. And then for the first time we meet the pony who has been faceless since season one. Moondancer (I don't know if it's Moondancer or Moon Dancer, but the folks on Equestria Daily have been calling her the former, so I will, too) has fast become one of my favourite ponies. Moondancer is an embodiment of what Twilight would have been if she had never discovered the magic of friendship, and if she had never gone to Ponyville I would bet that Twily would have wound up in the same isolated state as Moondancer. The writers even go as far as to use the same model of Twilight to make that point clear; nice move on their behalf.

But the thing I found intriguing was that the entire conflict of the episode was based on a scene right at the very start of the show! There was no way that the writers had planned this far ahead back when they were writing that episode, but it was still so great how they managed to pull it off as if they _did_. I don't think I'll ever be able to watch the first episode again without thinking about how somewhere in Canterlot a unicorn's life is being plunged into loneliness.

But now we move onto Moondancer herself. Apparently her design and name is inspired by a pony from the first generation of MLP; now I'm not so familiar with the earlier generations, but a call-back to the 80's series was nice of the writers to throw in. We learn that she went to _Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns_ with Twilight and her other friends, and that they were both antisocial bookworms-

INTERRUPTION! I also have a theory that the characters that the mane six reconcile with (Gilda and Moondancer so far) will be important in the finale. Keep an eye out for episodes with foalhood flashbacks, people!

Back! We also learn that the party Moondancer was throwing in the first episode was an attempt to put herself out there- only when Twilight didn't show up due to 'other obligations' she became depressed and gave up on friendship completely. I think that it was an overreaction, but there is a theory I have that goes with it so hold onto your hats if you're wearing one. If not hold onto your hair; and if you don't have hair just pretend that you do. Quite a lot of people wouldn't understand why Moondancer reacted the way she did after Twilight didn't come to her party, but this is actually pretty similar to problems a lot of people in real life have/had. When someone who is shy or antisocial attempts to break out of their shell, they really can shut themselves off from the world if this is met with a less than expected outcome. This can in fact lead to people spending all their time reading/studying, sitting at home watching TV, lounging around playing video games, or sitting in front of a computer writing fanfics…

*Ahem* Well, I guess this is the right time to say that Moondancer is one of those characters a lot of people can relate to in some way; myself included. I'm a pretty antisocial writer, and in truth I would die if any of my friends saw my stories. I'd find it embarrassing, and if they criticized me for what I do then… well, I'd probably stop for good. See, this is what I mean. In some way I think all of us have an inner Moondancer.

And now we move onto my favourite part! I loved the scene at the library; there were so many funny moments there, ranging from Twilight appearing inside a book (damn I wish I could cast that spell) to Moondancer and Twily getting shushed a lot. I could re-watch that part over and over again!

But back to the review- skipping all the unimportant parts to the scene near the end, where Twilight, Pinkie and the others throw a party to try and reconcile with Moondancer. Moonie (new nickname) makes it clear to Twilight that she can't fix the mess she's made and then proceeds to deliver one of the most intense monologues of the entire series! Twilight then tries to reintroduce Moondancer to friendship again and it was so heartbreaking when she says that it's the worst she's ever felt. But that's understandable, I mean the Princess of Friendship made somepony give up friendship- ouch.

But that's all resolved and at the end of the episode Spike gives Moondancer a gift that not only bring the whole episode in a loop, but the entire series! And then it ends epically!

HOLY HORSESHOES THIS EPISODE WAS AWESOME! It has a realistic plot line and is definitely the strongest in the season, if not the entire series!

And, who else noticed a certain villainous mare make a cameo in the restaurant? Hm?

If you haven't watched this episode, DO IT NOW! As said before, it's the best of the season to me.

**(SPOILERS END HERE)**

**Sort of… I would also like to say that I have got to stop writing so much! I can barely believe it myself but I started writing **_**another**_** pony story! Don't worry, **_**Dashing and Soaring**_** is still my main focus, but if you're interested it's based on **_**Amending Fences**_** and takes place during the episode and after. I've calculated that it's a fairly long story, too (20 chapters, give or take) so I'll probably write it and then post it after this is finished. And I have one more thing to say; I want to say it out loud and clear for all to hear (**_**rhymed**_**) 'cause I don't care what you think! But after watching **_**Amending Fences**_** I can say that I am a **_**proud**_** TwiDancer shipper! DEAL WITH IT! I mean just check out the face Twilight was making at Moondancer in the library, and the butt touch in Twilight's 'house'!**

**Okay, prepare for a lot of adorableness in the chapter, then some fluff, tears, more tears, and maybe some reassurance at the end. I have a box of tissues (14 to be precise) just in case, and I'm hugging the Spitfire plushie I got for Christmas. Just remember, this is the darkest this story will ever get.**

**Now let's get this chapter started with some itty bitty Spitty!**

* * *

Spitfire was a happy little filly. When she was little ponies were always saying how adorable she was, and how lucky her mother was. She had super soft, fuzzy golden fur and a dark and light orange tail and mane that fell past her shoulders. Whenever she came into a room it would light up, and she would always cheer anypony up with a single giggle or smile. Her mother said that her orange eyes were like blazing fire, which gave her inspiration for her name.

Her family was pretty well-off, too; enough so that they were able to live in the upper middle class part of Cloudsdale. Her father, Jetstream, was a doctor who worked with the Wonderbolts, and therefore he got paid a tonne of bits- thousands each year. He also knew a lot about constellations, and he would often talk about the stars, sometimes completely out of the blue. He had blue fur and a mane the color of the midnight sky.

Her mother, Honey Glaze, was one of the kindest ponies you could ever wish to meet; she was a lemon yellow pegasus with a wavy amber mane and the gentlest green eyes. Her cutie mark was a honey spoon with some of the gooey golden stuff dripping off the end to represent just how sweet she was.

But Spitfire's favourite pony in the whole entire world was her older sister, Typhoon. Typhoon had blue fur just like her fathers, and wore her dark and light blue mane in spikes just like a lot of her idols, the Wonderbolts, did. Every time her dad went to work she would plead to go with him, and she was the one who listened closest when Jetstream spoke of how he had fixed up a lot of the 'Bolts when they were injured. Typhoon saw the good in everything, and everyone, and was both Spitfire's big sister and best friend rolled into one.

Spitfire's favourite memory of her early fillyhood was when she had gone stargazing with her sister and father…

* * *

**Five years old**

"Ugh, this is sooooo boooooring," Typhoon groaned as she flopped backwards over her father's back. Jetstream chuckled at his daughter's silliness and reached his head over his shoulder to nuzzle her belly, making the little blue filly spasm with giggles. "Stop it!" she shoved his head away.

"Ooh, ooh, my turn!" Spitfire piped up as she stopped chasing a butterfly and lay down on her back with all four legs spread out wide. Jetstream and Typhoon shared an identical evil look before Typhoon bounded over and started snuffling her little sister's tummy. A few moments later, Jetstream joined in, and Spitfire regretted ever asking. She was laughing her head off but she could barely breathe. "That's… enough!" she sputtered out helplessly between bursts of laughter. Jetstream backed off but Typhoon kept on going. Finally, Spitfire launched herself up and knocked her sister to the floor, giving her a taste of her own medicine by snuffling her neck. Jetstream sat back and watched as his daughters wrestled on the clouds, and when he decided that they were getting a little too rough he moved over to separate them.

"Okay, tickle time's up," he ruffled both their mane's in turn and they both let out a melancholy 'aw man.'

"So… can we leave now?" Typhoon clambered onto Jetstream's back and then onto his head, one of her front hooves accidentally poking him in the eye. Jetstream sighed and slanted his eyes up so he could see the blue filly on his head.

"You're so impatient ya know?" he teased her, and Typhoon sheepishly grinned. "Give it rest, won't ya?"

"Aw, but I'm so _good_ at being impatient!" she stuck her bottom lip out and pouted. Suddenly her face lit up like a candle. "Maybe _that's_ my special talent: being impatient!" she hopped down to the ground and stood on her hind legs. "I wanna go home NOW!" she yelled to the skies above with her hooves raised up high before examining her flank. "Anything there, Spit?" she asked her little yellow sister.

"Nope," Spitfire shook her head, and Typhoon put her pouty face back on.

"Aw, horseapples," she folded her arms. Jetstream cleared his throat to get their attention.

"The stars are out now, you two," he called over to them. Spitfire sprung onto Jetstream's back for a better view and Typhoon sat beside him.

"About time," she huffed. "Celestia is so slow tonight!"

"Stop complaining, Typhoon," Spitfire whipped her sisters head softly with her tail, and in response the blue filly gave it a tug, almost making the little golden pegasus fall off her father's shoulders.

"Careful up there," Jetstream said to his youngest daughter, who sweetly nuzzled her father's right ear.

"Sorry daddy," she said. Typhoon pointed up at the sky with one hoof.

"Hey, check it out, that constellation looks like a pony!" she told Jetstream, who squinted up at the sky.

"Nice spot, Typhoon," he praised his eldest foal, who puffed up her chest with pride. Spitfire hopped up onto Jetstream's head.

"Hey, that constipation looks like a bunny!" she tipped forward and fell off her dad's head onto the clouds below. She sneezed as some of the fluffy stuff got in her nose. Typhoon snorted with laughter before falling to her back and rolling around in hysterics.

"It's 'constellation', not 'constipation', you doody-head," she cackled. Spitfire rolled her eyes.

"What are you, a dictionary?" she asked. Typhoon gasped and put her hooves on the sides of her face.

"Maybe _that's_ my special talent. I know a lot of big words! Um…" she thought for a second. "Elephant! Giraffe! Whale!"

"'Whale' isn't a big word," Spitfire removed the last of the cloud from her snout. "And neither is 'giraffe', really."

Typhoon snickered a little. "Well they're all pretty big animals," she said, and Spitfire giggled again at her sister's joke. Typhoon looked back up at the stars and then wrapped a wing around Spitfire's waist. "When I'm a Wonderbolt I'll fly all the way up to the stars and bring one back for you," she told her little sister. "So which one do ya want?"

Spitfire's young little mind processed the question. Every single star looked the same to her, a little white glowing dot amidst an infinite mass of dark blue. But like most young foals, she wanted the best of the best, so she pointed at the brightest one in the sky.

"That one!" she decided. Typhoon groaned.

"Aw man, that's the one I wanted," she grumbled before brightening up a second later. "I guess we'll just have to share it then. From now on, that'll be Our Star," she concluded, and Spitfire nodded in agreement.

"Hey, Typhoon, I wanna tell you something," Jetstream motioned for the blue filly to sit beside him. Typhoon did as she was told and looked up at her father with her big orange eyes.

"What is it?" she asked curiously. Jetstream smirked down at her, as if he knew she would like what he was about to say.

"Apparently, every Wonderbolt who's ever worn the uniform eventually ends up in the sky on one of those stars when their time is up, so that they can watch over the ponies down below just like they did when they were alive," he told her. Typhoon sat up straighter.

"Whoa," she breathed. "Does that mean that General Firefly's up there somewhere?" she asked with awe before gasping. "Maybe Our Star is General Firefly's star?" she looked over at Spitfire, who shrugged. In truth this stuff didn't really interest her. Typhoon may have wanted to be a Wonderbolt, but Spitfire would have liked to be a doctor like her father, so that she could look out for Typhoon. It had been their foalsitter Silver Lining who had first got Typhoon interested in the Wonderbolts, and ever since she had been darn near obsessed with them; sometimes Spitfire thought that the only reason Silver Lining agreed to keep looking after them was so that he could talk about the Wonderbolts with Typhoon.

"Hey, check it out!" Typhoon gasped as a bright streak zoomed across the sky. "What was that, dad? Was it a spaceship?" she asked with excitement. Jetstream gave his daughter a small, playful shove and rolled his eyes.

"No, that was a shooting star, Typhoon," he corrected her. Typhoon gave a few slow nods before her ears pointed straight up.

"Oh! I've learnt about them in school; apparently if you wish on one then it's sure to come true," she recited, mimicking her teacher's voice. Spitfire snorted and blew a few errant locks of her mane out of her eyes.

"No way," she disagreed. "It's just a star, Typhoon."

Typhoon smacked her sister on the shoulder. "Watch it, you're talking about dead Wonderbolts, here!" she booped the yellow filly on the nose. Spitfire was actually a little freaked out by the thought of a bunch of dead ponies being angry at her. She'd definitely have to sleep with the lights on for a while.

"Go ahead then, Typhoon," her father batted the blue filly with a wing. Typhoon thought for a while before holding her breath, puffing out her cheeks, and scrunching her eyes shut. After a couple of seconds she exhaled and sat up straight.

"Did it!" she chirped. Spitfire wasn't sure if she believed in wishing on stars or not, but she wished on this one anyway; she could have wished for something that every little filly wanted like new toys, but instead she just wished that she'd always have her family, that they'd always be together, and always be happy.

* * *

Typhoon had been the one that made up the ritual she and her sister did every night before they went to sleep. The two of them would always look out the window at their star and wish on it; even though Spitfire was sure it was just Typhoon being her usual, silly, naïve self, she kept on wishing. The golden filly had often asked Typhoon what she wished for, but her sister had always said that it was a secret. Finally, after a while Typhoon finally revealed what it was she wished for.

"Every night I wish for the same thing," she told her little sister, draping a wing over her shoulders. "And every single time, I get it."

"Well, what is it?" Spitfire asked curiously. Typhoon had leaned down and nuzzled her forehead.

"Your happiness, Spit," she finished. "You're the most important thing to me, so if you're not happy then neither am I."

"You're a sap," Spitfire had teased her, though she was still touched at her sister's words. Typhoon scoffed and nuzzled her again.

"But you love me anyway," she prompted.

"Of course I do," said Spitfire.

So life was perfect.

At least it was until that terrible day; the day that the stars blinked out.

* * *

**Seven years old**

"Slow down!" Spitfire gasped out as Typhoon whizzed through the sky. The blue nine year old filly just scoffed at her little sister.

"Slow? There's no such word as slow to a Wonderbolt!" she bragged. Spitfire took a moment to facehoof before clinging onto her sister's neck fur again.

"Yes there is! It's a four letter, one syllable word that _everypony_ knows!" she whimpered.

"Wow, someone's been paying attention in math," Typhoon teased the filly on her back. Spitfire gave her sister a sharp slap round one ear and to 'punish' her, Typhoon did a triple somersault.

"Ungh…" Spitfire began seeing triple… or was it quadruple? She couldn't really tell. "I think I'm gonna hurl," she groaned, putting one hoof to her mouth as she felt a horrible churning sensation in the pit of her stomach. Typhoon suddenly slowed down.

"Not on my head you're not," she warned. Spitfire gulped hard.

"It's okay, I think I swallowed it," she reassured Typhoon, who made a pretty disgusted gag face. Then all of a sudden-

"Whoa, look at those ponies!" Typhoon nodded in the direction of two white pegasi. But these weren't just ordinary pegasi, after all not many pegasus ponies wore golden armor like that.

"Are those the Princess's royal guards?" Spitfire asked with wide eyes. She had only seen pictures of them in school before, but they definitely seemed to match the ones that had been depicted in her Equestrian history lessons.

"They_ are_," Typhoon sounded breathless. Since she was still young, Spitfire didn't fully understand how amazing it was to be in the presence of such important ponies, so she wasn't as excited as her sister. The guards looked a little nervous, and kept giving each other hasty glances, as if they were hesitant to do something.

"What're they doing?" Spitfire wondered, folding her hooves on Typhoon's head. She looked down and saw Typhoon's lips curl into a cunning smirk. Oh Celestia, this is the look she always got when she was coming up with a plan.

"Let's follow 'em," before Spitfire could get a word in edgeways, Typhoon plunged forward and flew after the guards, making sure that they didn't get too close for them to be suspicious of them, but not so far that they lost sight of them. By then Spitfire's curiosity was at its highest; this was clearly a big deal, and her thirst for knowledge only increased her lust to find out what was happening.

"Shouldn't we be going home?" Spitfire quipped innocently. That was the rule: Be home by 3:30 after school. Typhoon laughed as if she had just asked the most ridiculous question ever.

"And miss out on observing the royal guards in action? Have you got bees in your brain or something?" she chuckled. "Come on, we've got plenty of time."

"Okay…" Spitfire went along with it; after all, Typhoon was the smartest filly she knew. They had been following the guard for ten minutes (since they were flying pretty slowly) before they realized where they were.

"Whoa, why would the royal guards come to our street?" Typhoon muttered as she saw the two guards touch down a few houses away from theirs… and then moved down until they were right outside it. "And our house?" she swooped down and landed a few meters behind the guards, making sure that she didn't get their attention. Spitfire got down from her back, and saw Typhoon push a hoof to her mouth to shush her. Spitfire stayed silent as one of the guards knocked on their door. He looked back at his colleague, who shifted uncomfortably from hoof to hoof. Honey Glaze pushed the door open, looking a little surprised to see the guards outside her front door. The guard nearest the door cleared his throat and starts to speak, looking down at the floor the whole time. The two fillies just stood and looked on in silence as they kept talking, the second guard eventually having to finish saying what the first one couldn't. Honey Glaze snapped a hoof to her mouth and rapidly shook her head, looking pale. She seemed to be repeating the word 'no' over and over again. The first guard sat next to the yellow mare as she sunk to the ground, her amber mane covering her face as she suddenly burst into tears. Forgetting all about Typhoon's order, Spitfire rushed up to her mother, surprising the two guards.

"Mommy, mommy, what's wrong?" she shook her mother's shoulders, but Honey Glaze couldn't reply. She was too busy sobbing. Suddenly, Spitfire felt a hoof wrap around her middle, and the second guard lifted her up. "Hey, lemme go!" However, the guard just sat her beside Typhoon, who was still standing where she had been before Spitfire had run off.

"What's going on?" Typhoon sounded scared, and whenever Typhoon was scared, it just made Spitfire scared, too. She leaned against her sister, both of them looking up at the guard with their matching orange eyes. The pegasus in the armor rubbed one leg with his other and gulped.

"You're Jetstream's children, correct?" he asked, and Typhoon nodded for both of them. The guard put his face in his hoof and muttered something. Spitfire caught the words 'why' and 'kids'. Finally, he looked down at them seriously. "Well, um… you know that a lot of happy stuff happens to ponies, right?" he then visibly cringed. Typhoon just nodded along and held Spitfire close to her. "It's just… the thing is that today… something very sad has happened."

"I want mommy," Spitfire trembled in Typhoon's hold. The guard looked like he wanted to just walk away but was rooted to the spot.

"Mommy's just having some trouble right now," he tried to soothe the two fillies, but with Typhoon acting suspicious and Spitfire shaking this was proving to be easier said than done. "Let me explain; this morning the Wonderbolts got caught in a storm in Neighgeria, and one of them got trapped under a fallen tree."

Typhoon gasped. "Which Wonderbolt?" she asked worriedly.

"That's not important right now. It's just that… your daddy went out to help free him and heal his wing, and…" he was sweating by now. "…the storm was worse that the Wonderbolts had thought, and… your… your daddy isn't coming back."

Typhoon tightened her grip on Spitfire. "Ya mean he's…" she was trembling, too. The guard slowly nodded his head and Typhoon quaked for a little while before burying her face in Spitfire's mane and weeping. Spitfire herself was just confused; she was too young to understand.

"Where's daddy?" she looked up at the guard with big round eyes, all the while feeling confused and scared at the same time. Only a bad pony would make Typhoon cry. Finally, the guard who had been comforting Honey Glaze came over, looking down at Spitfire with a mix of concern and impatience.

"He's dead, kid."

* * *

Spitfire couldn't understand what was going on; her mother was sad for a long time after that, and even Typhoon, who was happy no matter what was going on, was down in the dumps. But Spitfire's still-developing mind couldn't get a hold on what was happening around her, especially why her father wouldn't be coming back. She had seen him that morning after all, and he'd told her that he'd be back in the evening. But now he never would be back, and Spitfire wasn't sure why; how could somepony be there one minute and then be gone the next? It just didn't make any sense. But then again, most seven year olds _wouldn't_ understand.

After that, Spitfire and the remainder of her family fell to hard times. Now that they had no income due to her father's death they had to give up their home and move to a much smaller one, with only a living room, two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen. They had to sell all the things that Spitfire had grown up with, and try as she might, she _still _couldn't understand. She was still too young.

So for three years they struggled to get by in their new home, living off welfare and down by one member of their family.

And then Honey Glaze met Scotch …

* * *

**Ten years old**

Spitfire stormed in through the front door in a huff, tossing her saddlebags aside and slinking over to the sofa. She clambered onto one of the seats and sat with her front hooves hanging over the side. She instantly blew some of her long mane out of her eyes, reflecting on her day.

"Stupid Sugarplum!" she cursed the name of her stupid classmate. She hated her! She hated this stupid school! And she hated her puny wings and blank flank! Yes, she had neither of the things any pegasus foal was praised for. She had no cutie mark to show off, and she couldn't freakin' fly! She was basically just a… just an earth pony on clouds! Pfft, what a ridiculous thought.

And the worst part was that Typhoon hadn't been there to fly her home after school! She had stood outside school for what felt like forever but her sister hadn't turned up! She'd better have a good explanation.

"Gotcha!"

"Whoa!" Spitfire was suddenly barrelled off the sofa and onto the floor. The wind was knocked out of her as she landed on her back and the room started spinning around. Just then she felt somepony blowing a raspberry on her tummy, and despite her bad mood she burst into a fit of laughter, repeating 'stop' between her giggles. She finally found herself looking into the orange eyes of her big sister.

"Heya, Spit!" she greeted chipperly. Typhoon had got over her father's death quicker than her mother had, and for a while she'd been the one looking after them. While their mother stayed in bed moping around she had made all their meals and cleaned the house; she'd had to grow up very fast. But thankfully, after Honey Glaze had finally got her act back together she had returned to her usual playful self. Spitfire punched her sister on the shoulder, and judging by Typhoon's cry of pain it had been harder than she had expected. "OWOWOW! What the hay was that for?" she asked, rubbing her shoulder.

"You didn't pick me up you featherbrain!" she scolded her blue sibling. "I'd had a bad enough day already."

"Lemme guess," Typhoon rolled her eyes. "Sugarplum?"

"Bingo," Spitfire slumped down to the floor and instantly had to brush her mane out of her eyes again. Typhoon sighed and sat down next to her sister.

"That purple pile o' poop doesn't know what she's talking about, ya know. You may not have a Cutie Mark-"

"Thanks, I feel _so_ much better now," Spitfire rolled her eyes. Typhoon ruffled her mane, and Spitfire blew it out of her line of sight again.

"You didn't let me finish. If you'd have kept your hole shut you would know that I was going to say that she's just jealous of you 'cause you're the most awesome filly at your school," the blue filly finished. Spitfire flushed a light pink colour and gave her sister a hug.

"I wish you still came to school with me," she murmured, remembering the day Typhoon had left elementary school, leaving her all alone. Typhoon snorted and looked down at the floor.

"Wanna switch with me. It only gets harder, Spit," she sighed. Spitfire nuzzled her sister's cheek.

"But you go through with it 'cause you're tough," she praised her blue sister. Typhoon chuckled and hugged her sister to her chest.

"Yeah, I try my best," she agreed.

"Anyway, why didn't you show up?" Spitfire pulled back a little so she could look up at Typhoon.

"Oh, I was just hanging out with Silver Lining. He's signed up for the Wonderbolt cadets and he was showing me the guidebook."

"Of course," Spitfire rolled her eyes. Ever since Silver Lining came of age to train for the Wonderbolts Typhoon had been hanging around with him more and more. Heck, most of the times Spitfire hung out with Typhoon they would always wind up at Silver Lining's place, then he and Typhoon would talk about the Wonderbolts while Spitfire colored and then they'd go back home.

"When we're in the Wonderbolts he'll be my trainer and we'll become the most popular Wonderbolt duo ever. That's our plan," Typhoon's eyes were full of hope as she spoke; that was her best quality if you asked Spitfire, she was full of hope, and as long as she had it then she believed that they would be okay.

"Sounds a little far-fetched," Spitfire warned her sister, who just scoffed.

"Come on, you know what I always say," Typhoon cleared her throat and Spitfire found herself reciting the phrase.

"It's the smallest ponies who reach the biggest dreams."

"Hang on I thought your catchphrase was 'Courage!'" Spitfire felt confused. Typhoon held a hoof up.

"No, what we just said was my catchphrase; 'Courage!' is my motto."

"What's a motto?"

"Nothing, what's the motto with you?" Typhoon prodded Spitfire's chest before cackling with laughter and tumbling onto her back. Spitfire was about to pounce on her sister when the door opened.

"Hi girls," Honey Glaze smiled at them as she came in. Typhoon leapt up and rushed over to hug her mother, nuzzling her under her chin with a huge smile on her face.

"Hi mom, good to see you so happy," she chirped. Spitfire was about to join in the hug when she noticed that Honey Glaze wasn't alone. Standing just outside the door was a muscular teal pegasus stallion with a black and dark blue striped mane. His cutie mark seemed to be a hops plant, though at the time little Spitfire didn't know what that plant was for.

"Um… hello?" she greeted the stallion, who gave her a small smile.

"Hey, kid. Um… you're Spitfire right? The yellow one was Spitfire?" he asked her.

"Yeah," Spitfire couldn't help but feel like the situation was a little out of sorts. He reached out a hoof for her.

"Well hi there, I'm Scotch," he greeted her. Spitfire warily shook his hoof, still not fully trusting this guy… at all.

"Who's this dude?" Typhoon asked out loud and her mother gave her a sharp glare, as if she had said something a little too rude. Honey Glaze moved over to stand next to the stallion

"Well, you've already met little Spitfire, it seems. This is my older filly Typhoon," she gestured to the blue pegasus, who had scooted over to sit next to her sister. Typhoon was looking at him in a way that suggested that she didn't like the looks of him. "Typhoon, this is my friend Scotch."

"'Sup, Typhoon?" Scotch held out his hoof for her as well. Typhoon just maintained an uncharacteristically stern glare and stared at him, refusing to show she accepted him. Spitfire knew that Typhoon meant well, and she usually say a good quality in everyone, so if she was being hostile to this guy then something was definitely up.

"Typhoon…" Honey Glaze said through gritted teeth. Still, Typhoon refused to cooperate, so their mother just walked inside.

"She can be a little shy around new ponies," Honey Glaze lied, giving Typhoon another glare. "Come on inside."

So Honey Glaze and Scotch headed to the kitchen, while Typhoon and Spitfire hung around in the living room, Typhoon remaining silent while Spitfire uncomfortably walked around in circles. Honey Glaze emerged from the kitchen after a minute or two and headed over to them.

"What's the matter with you?" she asked Typhoon, who just shrugged.

"Nothin'," she said simply.

"You were just acting childish, so tell me why," Honey Glaze said, regaining her silky smooth voice. Typhoon sighed and let her wings fall to her side.

"Why is he here?" she asked. Honey Glaze looked in the direction of the kitchen.

"Oh, I… I met him a couple of weeks ago and I just invited him over for dinner."

"He's gonna _eat_ with us, too?!" Typhoon sounded appalled. "Why can't it just be the three of us like always?"

Honey Glaze sighed and sat down. "Typhoon, I hate to make you upset but I've been feeling sad since your father died and, well… I really like this one. And I think he likes me, too."

"Is he… is he gonna be our new daddy?" Spitfire asked. Typhoon cuffed her sister over the ear.

"No!" she snapped.

"Typhoon…" Honey Glaze sounded forlorn. "You have to come to terms with the fact that he _might_."

Typhoon looked more furious that she'd ever been before. "I don't like him, mom!" she finally admitted. Honey Glaze ran a hoof through her amber mane and looked down at the floor.

"You haven't got to know him yet. Give it time and you'll like him. I promise."

And then she went back into the kitchen, leaving her two daughters alone. Typhoon huffed and got up on all fours. "Why should she be hanging around with this goober?" she muttered, hopping up onto the sofa and going into the position Spitfire had been in when she'd first come in from school. Spitfire hopped up next to her and rested her head on her back. "We've been fine without him, and I think it's better this way. Just me, you, and mom."

"You're right," Spitfire didn't like the looks of Scotch either; there was just something about him that brought bad things to mind. She didn't like the faint bitter smell that lingered around him, and he was a little scary-looking, especially to a small filly.

"All she needs is us…" Typhoon sulked, folding her hooves over her head and allowing her sister to curl up beside her. "Just us…" she repeated over and over again. "Just us…"

* * *

But wish as they might, Honey Glaze couldn't see what the sisters saw. Scotch was rough, rowdy, and he often smelt of that strange bitter stuff. Typhoon had told Spitfire that it was alcohol, which had just increased her worrying.

The teal stallion just came round more and more, sometimes he stayed overnight, sometimes they would go and stay with him for the weekend, not that the sisters wanted to. One thing was for certain; Honey Glaze wasn't going to let him go so easily. Once she had even voiced out loud that she wouldn't mind starting anew with him as her new husband. Of course Typhoon had 'overreacted'.

"WHAT?! No, you can't be serious!" she'd yelled, stomping her hooves in a rage. Spitfire stood on the sidelines; she hated it when Typhoon got angry, which was almost never, praise Celestia.

"Typhoon, what do you hate about him so much?" Honey Glaze wasn't mad, just a little upset that her daughter wouldn't accept the so called 'stallion of her dreams'.

"He's a huge jerk! He might not act like it, but I know that there's something up with him!" she had then looked up at her mother with pleading eyes. "If you loved us you would dump his sorry ass!"

"Language!" Honey Glaze shushed her daughter. "I _do_ love you, Typhoon. Both of you. But I love Scotch and he makes me happy… don't you want me to be happy?"

"Of course I do!" Typhoon snapped, her eyes beginning to water. "But we were happy before he turned up, right, and we'll still be happy after he's gone!"

Honey Glaze cast a sad glance to the side. "No… I wasn't happy. I need somepony to love."

Typhoon looked like she'd just been slapped round the face. "You… you love _us_ right? Aren't we enough?" she'd pulled Spitfire in for a hug, the little golden filly remaining silent as the scene played out before her. Honey Glaze sighed and sniffled.

"They're two different kinds of love. You'll understand one day," she assured Typhoon. The blue filly rushed forward and hugged her mother.

"But what about dad?" she asked tearfully, nuzzling into her mother's chest fur. "Don't you still love him?"

Honey glaze stroked her daughter's spiked mane, nuzzling her ear in the hope that she would calm down. "Of course I do. But don't you think that he'd want me to be happy, too. Scotch makes me happy, girls, and you'll grow to like him."

"That's what you've been saying for months," Spitfire mumbled under her breath. After a few more minutes of hugging, Honey Glaze let Typhoon go and retreated to the kitchen to make dinner. Typhoon sat in the middle of the room, looking at the floor as if staring down her mortal enemy. Spitfire moved over to comfort her sister.

"Don't be mad," she begged, looking into Typhoon's eyes, which were a perfect reflection of hers even when she was in a rage. The blue filly wrapped her tail around her sister and sighed.

"I wish dad was still here. Then we wouldn't be stuck with dumb old Crapnugget," she complained. Spitfire let out a giggle at her sister's bizarre nickname for Scotch. She put a reassuring hoof on her shoulder.

"I bet that mom won't marry Scotch," she tried to sound optimistic. "She loves us too much to do that."

Typhoon smiled softly at her sister before rolling her eyes.

"You just had to say it," she groaned.

* * *

"I just had to say it!" Spitfire exclaimed as her mother and Scotch finished their announcement.

"ENGAGED?!" Typhoon was outraged, and wasn't afraid of showing it. Honey Glaze was wearing an obviously forced smile and Scotch looked awkwardly off to the side, his wing still wrapped around his new fiancée.

"Y-yes," Honey Glaze stammered nervously. Typhoon was shaking now, not with fear, but with anger.

"But- he- you said- I don't- UGH!" she then turned tail and stormed off. Spitfire was about to follow after her but Honey Glaze stopped her.

"Just let her go. She'll come to her senses," the amber maned mare was surprised to see her youngest daughter sniveling. "Oh, Spit, not you, too," Honey Glaze sighed with exasperation.

"Don't call me that!" Spitfire snapped all of a sudden, and her mother backed off in surprise. The golden filly had never shouted at her like that before… actually when had she ever shouted at anyone at all?

"Spitfire…" Scotch moved forward and put an arm around the filly, who immediately stiffened. "I know that I'm not like Jetstream, but I promise that I'll be a good dad."

The yellow filly wrinkled her nose and blew her mane out of her eyes. Now that he was really close the bitter smell he bore stung her nostrils and made her eyes water. It was surrounding her like a suffocating fog and choking her. How could her mother stand this? She pushed him away.

"You will never… _ever_… be my dad," she hissed, her voice like poison. Honey Glaze didn't even attempt to stop her as she strode out the room and up to hers and Typhoon's bedroom. As she entered she didn't hear her sister pacing or muttering; she couldn't even hear her breathing. Probably because she wasn't in here. Not really seeing any reason to stay awake, Spitfire crawled into her bed and fell into an uneasy sleep.

"Spit?" she was roused from her dreamless slumber all of a sudden. Brushing some strands of her fiery mane out of her eyes she rolled over and squinted to see the face of her alarm clock.

2:25.

"Ty," Spitfire sat up and rubbed her eyes, looking at her sister at the side of the bed. "What is it? When did you get in?"

"About two minutes ago," Typhoon admitted, "I just went to Silver Lining's for a little while to clear my head…" she hesitated. "Didn't work."

"This stinks," Spitfire mumbled, rubbing her bloodshot eyes with her hooves.

"Sorry…" Typhoon blushed, looking down at the floor.

"Not you, Ty-ew," Spitfire quickly plugged her nose and her older sister snickered. She then sat on the edge of the bed.

"So why didn't you follow me?" she asked. Spitfire raised a brow. "When I left I thought you'd come with me."

"Mom stopped me, and then I was just too mad to leave the house," the younger filly admitted. They sat in silence for a little while before Typhoon cleared her throat.

"Can I sleep in your bed tonight?" she asked, looking a little ashamed of herself. Spitfire could understand her sister's pain, though. She was obviously too distressed to sleep by herself, heck so was she. She scooted to the side and allowed Typhoon to clamber onto the bed. Once she was atop the mattress, the blue filly wrapped her arms around her sister and began stroking her mane, something that their mother did to them when they were upset.

"I wish the world was just you and me," Spitfire sighed, leaning into Typhoon's embrace. Her sister chuckled and nuzzled her forehead.

"Then it is," she decided. Spitfire wished it was true; as far as she was concerned their mother didn't love them enough to listen to them… or were _they_ the ones being unfair? Ugh, she wished that she was old enough to fully understand.

"I'm afraid," the younger sister admitted, looking away from Typhoon. "I yelled at her, Ty. I _yelled_ at mom! What if she's mad? What if she disowns me? What if-"

"Calm down, won't ya!" Typhoon slapped a hoof over her sisters mouth. "She's not gonna disown you… if anything she'd disown _me _for embarrassing her; but she does love us… even if she's too blind to see that Scotch is a good for nothing-"

Typhoon said a word that probably doesn't belong here.

"- but she'll get over this is a little while. She always does. Besides, if she doesn't…" Typhoon planted a soft kiss on Spitfire's forehead. "We've still got each other."

"Yeah," Spitfire sighed contently, smiling for the first time in quite a while. "As long as I have you I'll be alright. I'll always have something lighting my way." She added, surprised to find that her sentence had some meaning to it.

"Right back at ya," Typhoon hugged her sister tighter, nuzzling her again. "Courage." She said her catchphrase.

"Courage," Spitfire echoed.

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

And it wasn't until the next morning that they realized that during the night Typhoon's Cutie Mark had finally appeared.

A big glowing candle with a smaller one resting beside it.

* * *

Sure enough, Honey Glaze and Scotch married in the spring. Even though the sisters still weren't fond of Scotch, things weren't all that bad. Scotch moved them all out of that tiny house and into a bigger one. It wasn't nearly as big as the house they'd had when Jetstream was alive, but it was a step up, nonetheless. Typhoon and Spitfire still didn't like that their mother was married to another stallion, but she was happier now, which made _them_ happy.

And Typhoon's Cutie Mark was a reason to celebrate, too. Their mother had been thrilled when her daughter had rushed down the stairs in the morning as if she were on a sugar high and showed off her flanks, their fight the previous night forgotten in the happiness of the moment.

But still, there were still other problems for little Spitfire, the main one being the fact that she was now the only blank flank in her family, and she feared that she would someday be the only one in her own school. And to add to her embarrassment, she _still_ couldn't fly! She often wondered who'd want to be friends with a flightless blank flank.

One day she would find out, and when she did she was in for a big surprise…

* * *

**Eleven years old**

"Hey there, *badword*fire!" a filly jeered as Spitfire closed her locker at the end of the school day. She had originally been searching it for some wet wipes due to somepony writing the word 'Loser' in big red letters on the door, but now she just groaned and leaned her head against it. Why…?

"Go away, Sugarplum," she sighed, but of course her purple rival just sauntered up to her.

"Wow, not very nice are you?" Sugarplum asked rhetorically. The yellow filly tried her best not to turn on her and wring her neck.

"What do you want?" she asked sternly. Sugarplum leaned against the wall of lockers, standing out of the way as a few other foals walked past and out the door, waving goodbye to their teacher as they left.

"I just wanted to let you know that there's gonna be a race in ten minutes and there's plenty of room for competitors," she informed. Oh Celestia, Spitfire knew what was coming next. "Oh, that's right; I totally forgot that you were an earth pony," the purple bully giggled. Spitfire ran a hoof through her long orange mane, feeling her anger beginning to boil.

"Sugarplum, go shove your head in a drain," she turned her back on the other filly. Glancing to her other side, she saw a white filly watching them; however she looked away as soon as she saw that Spitfire had noticed her. She knew this filly- she was the one that sat at the desk behind her. Surprise was her name. She had a poofy mane that she had clearly tried to put in spikes but failed miserably, and her cutie mark was three purple balloons. She was also a little… okay, a lot… on the chubby side. But she seemed nice, and she had even attempted to make friends with Spitfire a couple of times, though she just rebuffed her advances every time since she didn't really trust ponies her age.

"Well see ya later then, earth pony. Try not to fall off the clouds, 'cause nopony will catch you," Sugarplum took her leave, and Spitfire watched her until her dark lavender tail disappeared through the door. Why was her luck so bad? No Cutie Mark. Useless wings. What next? Was she going to go bald?!

The last of her good mood having been completely abolished, Spitfire stormed out of the schoolhouse and looked around for Typhoon. But amongst the small crowd of foals greeting their family members and telling them about their day she couldn't see hide or hair of her sister.

"Not again…" she muttered through gritted teeth, seeing her sister's absence being the cherry on the icing on the cake of her bad day. Well, looks like she was walking home today. So, she set off for home, curious to hear what Typhoon's excuse would be this time.

"SURPRISE~!" something white popped up in front of her.

"Holy Celestia!" Spitfire felt back onto her haunches, probably on the verge of a heart attack. She saw that it was only Surprise, wearing a huge grin.

"Hi!" she chirped. Spitfire got her heartbeat under 356 beats per minute and stared her down.

"What the hay is wrong with you? Were you trying to kill me or something?"

"Heh… oops," Surprise chuckled nervously. Deciding that she didn't have time for this, Spitfire pushed past her, only to have the tubby filly catch up with her a few seconds later.

"Wait for me," she started trotting at Spitfire's pace. The golden filly dipped her head down so that her face flopped over the left side of face so it was shielded from Surprise's view.

"I've told you before Surprise, I prefer to be alone," she mumbled. Surprise gasped and jumped few feet in the air, flapping her wings in excitement. Great, even the fat filly was a good flier.

"Me too!" she exclaimed. She then put her arm around Spitfire's shoulders. "Let's do it together!"

Great, another pony that made no sense. Spitfire pulled herself away from Surprise and trotted on, hoping that the white filly would just take a hint and leave her alone. Of course, she didn't, reappearing at her side in a matter of moments.

"You shouldn't let Sugarplum get you down," she said optimistically, and Spitfire noticed that despite her bulging belly, Surprise still had a spring in her step. "She does it to me all the time."

That stopped Spitfire in her tracks. She finally locked gazes with this filly. "Why?" she asked. Why would then be teasing Surprise? She could fly _and_ had her cutie mark. What else was there to tease?

"Because I'm fat," Surprise admitted, sitting on her rump and jiggling her belly around as an example. She even had a small frown on her face, which made Spitfire feel a tad guilty. "And I can't get enough of candy, and I'm a little too perky. Oh, and I can get super duper hyper!" she finished listing. "So there are a lot of reasons why."

Spitfire suddenly started worrying even more. This filly was teased even though she had her Cutie Mark and an ability to fly. Wow, was it weird that she suddenly felt really sorry for Surprise. And what if she was still teased when she'd gotten _her_ Cutie Mark? Would it ever end? All of this was pretty nerve-wracking. But much to her surprise (which as she would come to learn, would be a regular occurrence whenever she was around this filly) she saw that despite her little lament, Surprise still had a smile on her face.

"Doesn't it bother you at all?" she asked. Surprise just shrugged and shook her head, never losing that Celestiadamn smile.

"Nope-a-rooni. Bullying's just a natural part of pony nature… or any nature come to think of it. Sometimes I think that when you're richer and stupider bullying is just programmed into you." She explained. Okay, it felt good to call Sugarplum stupid. "Um… can I ask you something?"

"Why not?" Spitfire shrugged, knowing that there was no chance of getting rid of this filly now.

"Is the blue pegasus with the candle Cutie Mark really your sister?"

Spitfire stopped in her tracks again. This was weird since most of the time nopony believed that they were sisters. She sometimes bragged about it at school, but since they didn't look alike it was darn near impossible to convince them that she was telling the truth.

"Uh… yeah," the yellow filly replied. Surprise started frantically hopping up and down.

"Awesome!" She squealed. "I've seen you hanging around with her-"

Spitfire raised a brow at her.

"-I'm not stalking you!" Surprise rushed, looking a little flustered at the thought. "I've seen her flying around doing all of these cool tricks. She should totally be a Wonderbolt someday."

"Well Typhoon would be pleased to hear you say that, 'cause that's all she wants to do with her life," Spitfire responded. Surprise started hopping in circles around her.

"That's great! I have a feeling that she's gonna be one of the most increditastic Wonderbolts ever!" the white pegasus gushed. Spitfire let out a soft chuckle.

"Seems like she already has a number one fan… besides me!" Spitfire stood up to her full height, though even this wasn't enough to make her the same height as Surprise. Suddenly without warning, Surprise grabbed Spitfire and hugged her tightly, rubbing her cheek against the other filly's.

"I just can't believe I'm friends with Typhoon's sister!"

WHAT?!

"Whoa, whoa, hold the phone, Surprise," Spitfire shoved the white filly away, making her frown a little.

"What phone? I don't have a phone," she looked confused. Spitfire promptly face-hoofed.

"It's just an expression!" She ran her hoof down her face, beginning to get a little frustrated. She just wanted to get home.

"Whoops," Surprise looked down at the ground before straightening up again a moment later. "But could I still meet her? I've always wanted to talk to her and ask what she calls that triple loop with the roll and the little twist at the end and the-"

Spitfire slapped a hoof over her mouth. "If I say yes will you stop talking?" she asked. Surprise made a hum of affirmation and Spitfire moved her hoof away, feeling relieved. "Okay, let's go."

Spitfire reluctantly led her new acquaintance to her house and held the door open while she walked in. She suddenly found herself growing worried that Surprise would make fun of her for the house, but the pegasus simply said 'Nice pad' and hopped onto the sofa, swinging her front legs over the side and stating that it was 'super soft'.

"I guess she's not here right now," Spitfire muttered, closing the door behind her and putting her hooves on the windowsill, looking left and right for any sign of her sister's return. She then felt something tugging her right wing and looked back to see Surprise pulling it with her teeth. "What the hay are you doing?" Spitfire snatched her wing back, opening it in case she had to deliver a blow to the filly's head. Surprise just took a step back.

"Sorry. I was just wondering why you couldn't fly," she revealed. Oh Celestia, not this topic. "I mean you're wings aren't underdeveloped, and most pegasi can fly when they're eight."

"Wow, thank you Surprise, I feel _so _much better," Spitfire scoffed sarcastically, blowing her mane out of her eyes again. Surprise gave her new 'friend' an apologetic glance and looked her wing over once again.

"Hey, hasn't Typhoon ever tried to teach you?" she asked. Spitfire felt a strong surge of pride flow through her.

"I don't need her help. She's offered but I refuse! This is something I need to learn by myself."

"You can't just suddenly know how to fly. Most pegasi are taught by an older pony, ya know. I was, and surely Typhoon was." Surprise seemed to be pretty good when it came to pony nature, it seemed.

"Yeah, she was…" Spitfire felt her voice get caught in her throat.

"Your mom taught her, right?" Surprise asked.

"No, my dad," the golden filly replied quietly. Surprise looked over at the fireplace and squinted at a photo of Honey Glaze and Scotch hugging resting on top of it.

"Is that your dad? He's hot!" she commented. Spitfire felt a fire rage in her belly.

"Most certainly not!" she raised her voice. Surprise turned to look at her in bewilderment. "He will _never _be my dad!"

"Oh… so your dad's…"

"Shut up," Spitfire turned away, struggling to hold back her tears. She didn't want to remember that her dad was gone forever and had been replaced by this sleazy tailhole, Scotch.

"Sorry…" Surprise clearly thought that the situation had turned awkward now. And then-

"Oh, so who's this?"

"Typhoon!" Spitfire jumped up and hugged her sister as she came in through the door. Suddenly she remembered her sister's absence and dropped down before slapping her roughly on her left foreleg a few times. "Where. The. Heck. Were. You?!" she punctuated each sentence with a punch.

"Ow…" Typhoon rubbed her sore leg and gave her sister a grimace. "I was-"

"Silver Lining?" Spitfire took a wild guess.

"Yep," Typhoon replied.

"I knew it!"

"Then why did you ask where I'd been?"

"What else was I supposed to say?"

"Typhoon, I love you and you're the most incredible mare in Cloudsdale?"

"Typhoon, I love you and you're the most incredible mare in Cloudsdale!" Surprise popped up between the two sisters, gushing like a huge fangirl. Typhoon looked the filly over.

"Hey there," she greeted, looking a little weirded out. Spit, you never told me who your new friend is."

"She's not my-"

"I'm Surprise!" the white pegasus cut her off. "I'm your biggest fan." She proceeded to hop from hoof to hoof with excitement. Typhoon looked pleasantly surprised (another of the many ironies that came with this filly).

"I have a fan? Awesome!" the blue filly smiled wildly. She went on to shake Surprise's hoof, still looking awkward that she was meeting her first fan.

"Yep-a-rooni! I sometimes watch you fly and I had no idea that Spitfire was telling the truth when she said you were her sister, and she wants you to help her fly but she's too embarrassed to admit it-"

"Don't listen to her. She's insane!" Spitfire clamped a hood over Surprise's mouth… again. Typhoon looked at her sister with concern.

"Spit, if you want me to help you fly you can just ask," she offered.

"I don't need help!" Spitfire protested.

"But don't you wanna stop getting bullied for it?" Surprise asked.

"SURPRISE!" Spitfire looked horrified since she had been keeping that a secret from her family.

"Bullied?!" Typhoon's expression mirrored Spitfire's. She'd known about Spitfire's trouble at school because of her blank flank, but not about her inability to fly. "Spit, why didn't you tell me this before?"

"Because-"

"I could have taught you myself."

"That's why!" Spitfire snapped. Typhoon put a wing around her sister.

"Why wouldn't you want my help?" she asked softly.

"Because…" she sighed and looked sullenly down at the floor. She hadn't wanted to tell her sister this, but it looked like there was no escape from it now. "I really wanted to learn by myself… I wanted to impress you…" She admitted. Typhoon looked a little touched, but at the same time a little irritated.

"You do know that I'm proud of you already?" she asked.

"Why?" the golden filly looked up at her big sister. "I haven't done anything to deserve it."

Typhoon chuckled quietly. "After all we've been through, with Scotch and dad, I'm proud of you for pulling through. A normal filly your age would have, I don't know, run away or something," she explained. "You're the bravest pony I know, and that alone is a reason to be proud."

Spitfire felt herself blush brightly at her sisters little speech, but she was too strong to show that she appreciated it. "When was the last time I called you a sap?" she asked, smirking a little.

"Oh, har de har har," Typhoon laughed sarcastically. "Now will you _please_ let me help you out?"

"I still wanna do this on my own," Spitfire disagreed. Typhoon took a deep breath and dramatically looked off into the distance.

"Fine… then you leave me no choice," she closed her eyes and said in a low voice. Then she suddenly flopped down on her tummy, made puppy dog eyes and made a prayer sign with her hooves.

"PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASE-"

"ALRIGHT!" Spitfire finally gave in, jamming her hooves over her ears. "If I let you will you please _never_ do that again?"

"YAY!" Typhoon picked her sister up and hugged her, giving her a noogie for extra effect.

"Every moment I live is agony…" Spitfire mumbled to Surprise, who was rolling on the floor with laughter after Typhoon's plea.

"Well your agony amuses me." She said.

Ten minutes later, Typhoon, Spitfire and Surprise were down by the school at the playground, which is where Typhoon was allowed to practice after she had asked (begged) her old teacher to let her.

"Okay," Typhoon was wearing fake glasses that she had found lying around in their room somewhere and was walking around her little sister. "Test subject, please spread your wings," she demanded, pushing the specs up her snout. Spitfire played along with her sister's spaz lesson and did as she was told, Surprise egging them on from a nearby bench. Typhoon squinted closely at her sister's wings and made some humming noises. Finally, she pulled back. "Okay, according to my hypothesis… well I don't exactly have one right now so could you just try to fly for me?"

Spitfire held her breath and tried to focus on nothing but her wings. Flapping them as hard as she could, she leaped into the air. She felt her wings push down on the air and she could feel herself rising higher and higher…

…before she tumbled unceremoniously down to the ground.

"I give it a 3," Surprise held up a chalkboard with a wonky number three etched onto it. Spitfire curled up in a ball on the clouds and tried to hide her face behind her mane. Why her?

"Okay, I have come up with a solution to my diagnosis… no that's something doctors do… I mean I need you to listen carefully because I'm about to lay down a very practical scientific proposal," Typhoon used her best 'smart voice' as she sat beside her fallen sister.

"There's no hope and I really am an earth pony?" Spitfire suggested, staring straight ahead and wishing she would disappear. Typhoon booped her on the nose.

"Have you ever heard the phrase 'the fake scientist is always right'?" she asked.

"No."

"Well now you have, so listen up. You can't fly because you're doing it wrong," Typhoon revealed.

Spitfire slanted her eyes up to look at her sister. "What?"

"You need to open your wings more. How can you expect to fly with your feathers all bunched up like that?" Typhoon spread one of her own wings to demonstrate how it should look. Determined to get it right this time, Spitfire stretched out her wings as far as she could and looked up at her blue sister.

"How's this?" asked the filly.

"Perfect." Typhoon praised her. "Now spread out your feathers."

Spitfire clenched her eyes closed and grunted as she strained to get her feathers to move. Just as it seemed like she was about to burst a blood vessel or something she swore she could feel movement. "Did it work?" she gasped out. Typhoon shook her head.

"They're still too bunched up." She responded. Feeling suddenly discourage, Spitfire just let her wings fall to her side. Her sister removed her mane from her eyes for her. "Listen, you're so tense when you try to spread your wings; ya need to stay calm and relaxed."

"I'm never relaxed Ty, you know that," Spitfire deadpanned. Her sister slowly nodded in agreement.

"Well give it a try at least?" she fluttered her eyelashes and smiled widely.

"Fine…" Spitfire knew that there was no point in arguing. Once Typhoon had her mind set on something then there was no way of getting the idea out of her head. They could literally be stuck in that playground for months if necessary. So she tried relaxing all her muscles, but hard as she tried Sugarplum's taunts along with all her others classmates' kept ringing in her ears.

"Still not working, Spit." Typhoon snapped her from her attempt. Letting out a loud groan, Spitfire looked back at her wings.

"Useless things," she hissed.

"Wow you really are bad at relaxing," Surprise commented from the bench, and Typhoon was quick to agree.

"Yeah… hey, ya know, dad always used to rub my back when this happened to me," Typhoon said to her sister, who looked bewildered.

"That actually worked?" she asked.

"It sure did. It works miracles," Typhoon confirmed. Spitfire just scoffed and blew her mane of her line of vision again.

"Yes right, there's no way-"

She suddenly felt a hoof rub her back and her mind went numb.

"Oh, that feels good…" she said before rolling her eyes up and falling on her front. Typhoon and Surprise started giggling.

"Maybe there's such a thing as too relaxed," the blue filly giggled. Feeling embarrassed again, Spitfire got back to her hooves.

"Okay, let's try this again," she gave her sister a sharp glance, the shiver up her spine having been too sudden for her liking. Now that she was prepared, Spitfire let her wings extend as her sister rubbed her softly between her wings. Finally, she heard Typhoon let out an 'ah-ha' of victory.

"That's more like it," she raised her chest at her triumph. Spitfire looked her wings over, noticing that unlike before when her feathers had been bundled up in certain places they were spread out evenly, the same way Typhoon's looked when she was flying.

"Awesome!" Spitfire flapped them a couple of times. "I'm gonna try again!"

"Wait a sec-" but Typhoon was too late, since her sister took off from the ground and flapped her wings as fast as she could. But like before she only stayed aloft for a few seconds before plummeting down again and landing on her rump.

"I think you get a strong 4!" Surprise raised her chalkboard up again. Spitfire got up and rubbed her sore behind.

"What went wrong this time?" she asked Typhoon, trying to ignore the pain in her rear end.

"There's more to flying that having straight feathers, ya know?" she told her. Spitfire felt her shoulders sag. How long was this gonna take?"

"Okay, so just tell me what I need to do."

"I'm trying to remember what dad told me… there was a lot," Typhoon admitted.

So Typhoon guided Spitfire through various lessons that their father had taught her. She progressed slowly, falling and hurting herself more than a few times. But no matter how slowly she progressed, no matter how many times she had to repeat an action; Typhoon never grew impatient with Spitfire, never spoke harshly to her, and praised any improvement she made, no matter how insignificant it seemed. After some time, Spitfire brought herself to her hooves after falling for the… she didn't know how many times she had fallen. She guessed that it was somewhere in the Eleventy-million's now.

"This is impossible!" she complained, throwing her hooves up in the air. "I'm gonna be sent to live on the ground or something, 'cause that's where earth ponies belong!"

"Hey, I'm not giving up yet," Typhoon wrinkled her fake glasses up her nose. "You're a pegasus, right? You were meant to fly!"

"Well so far I've crashed so many times that I'm starting to lose all feeling in my back legs," Spitfire kicked one of them out to try and get the numbness out of it.

"Spit, you wouldn't believe how many times I crashed while learning to fly," Typhoon looked a little humiliated as she saw Surprise's jaw drop at the revelation. "But I never stopped trying, and neither should you." It was lucky that Typhoon had a knack for motivational speeches. "Ya know dad always told me…" she cleared her throat and began doing a bad impersonation of Jetstream. "If ya believe in yourself there's nothing you can't do."

Spitfire then clutched her throat and began gagging. She teasingly looked up at her sister. "Would you stop that? You're starting to sound like one of those movies we like to make fun of," she chuckled. "Besides, what is there to believe in? I don't think it's possible for me to do that." Yep, it sounded even sadder out loud. Typhoon sat on her haunches and picked her little sister up, raising her to eye-level.

"Now see here. There's plenty that you can believe in. Like I said, you're brave, sweet, adorable… _especially_ adorable." She nuzzled Spitfire's tummy, getting a tiny giggle out of her. "Besides, even if you don't believe in yourself, _I_ do."

Dammit, Typhoon had that look on her face; the one that was a mix of determination, desperation, and durability. The Three D's, as Spitfire called them. In short, this wasn't going to end until Typhoon reached hers and her sister's goal.

"Me too!" Surprise waved from the bench, having written 'Yay Spitfire!' on the chalkboard, with the E at the end turned around backwards. Spitfire sighed and shook herself out of Typhoon's grasp. She had to do this; she knew that as well as her two companions, and if she didn't then it was going to be a long night. Heck, she wouldn't be at all surprised if they were still trying to do this when the sun rose. She stood up and hopped onto a clump of cloud that towered a little higher than the rest of the ones in the playground.

"I'll try again, then- OOF!" She was suddenly slapped on the back.

"That's the spirit!" Typhoon praised once all the air had been knocked out of her sister's lungs. "Now for the love of Celestia, spread those mighty wings!"

Spitfire did as Typhoon had instructed her, then, holding her wings straight, she took off from the ground. She glided slowly through the air, sinking lower by the moment, then just as she was about to touch the ground, she flapped her wings as Typhoon had shown her, keeping them straight. Her wings caught the air, pushing her up- not by a lot, but enough for her to know that she had done it right. Hold on… she'd done it right! She couldn't believe that she had actually flapped her wings without hurtling into the climbing frame! But she couldn't get overexcited just yet. She brought herself to a stop before stretching out her wings again and flapping them once again. She was propelled into the air; then she flapped her wings again, and then again, each flap bringing her higher and higher above the clouds below. She seemed to hang in the air, her wings keeping her small body aloft.

Spitfire would have jumped for joy if she could have. She was doing it! She was _really _doing it! She was doing the one thing she wanted more than anything else, the thing she had been yearning for what felt like her whole life.

Spitfire was flying!

"WOOHOO!" she began swooping around the playground, weaving through the climbing frames and diving under the slides. She failed to notice Typhoon's concerned yelling over her cheers.

"Hold on, you need to be careful!" the blue filly out. But Spitfire paid no heed to her as she danced across the sky, her heart practically singing with glee. She'd done it, she was finally flying! She couldn't wait to see Sugarplum's face when she saw that she could fly now. For the first time in her life she felt invincible. She felt as though the world was hers for the taking. She…

…crashed headfirst into a lamp post, and started descending towards the bench Surprise was sitting on.

"Whoa!" Surprise tried to leap away in time, but the falling filly crashed into her like an arrow meeting the bull's-eye. The two of them tumbled over each other until finally they stopped in a heap on the clouds. Spitfire had her face in Surprise's mane, and the white filly was pressed into the floor. Spitfire rolled off Surprise and helped her up. The white pegasus looked a little dazed, and only responded when Spitfire gave her a small slap round the face.

"You okay?" she asked. Surprise shook herself and groggily reached for the chalkboard. She scribbled something on it and held it up for Spitfire to see.

"Ten!" she declared. It took a few seconds, but Spitfire began giggling at Surprise's silliness, and a moment later the poofy maned filly was joining in. Typhoon finally made her way over to the two of them.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay, Spit?" she asked. Instead of getting a reply, her sister jumped up and wrapped her forelegs around her neck.

"Thank you! Thank you!" She hugged her tight, too overjoyed to do anything but stand there and repeat herself. Typhoon, hugged her sister back, and used her right wing to pull Surprise into the hug, too.

"It was no sweat," she was clearly lying, since it had been hard work. "But helping you out is my special talent, after all."

"Huh? How does your Cutie Mark show that?" Surprise asked curiously, looking down at the two candles that were shown on Typhoon's flank. The blue filly looked proudly at her Mark.

"Candles are supposed to light the way for others…" she started to explain, only to be cut off by Spitfire.

"And that means that she's _my_ candle," she nuzzled her sister's neck, and Typhoon flushed from the embarrassment.

"Yep," She confirmed. "And I promise that I'll always try and keep things bright."

* * *

And Spitfire was right. When Sugarplum saw her flying around the playground, looking happier than she'd been for a long time, there was no denying the humiliation plastered on her face. Surprise and Spitfire became best friends, and life at home was alright, too. She and Typhoon may never grow to like Scotch, but nothing bad had happened, so they were content with things the way they were.

In other good news, Silver Lining was accepted into the Wonderbolts at long last, which just gave Typhoon all the more reason to be obsessed with them. As irritated as Spitfire was by her sister's Wonderbolts aspirations, she couldn't be ungrateful for it. Because the day that Silver Lining took her and Typhoon to Spitfire's first Wonderbolts air show turned out to be one of the greatest days of her life…

* * *

**Twelve Years Old**

"Why do I have to wear this?" Spitfire tugged irritably on the hem of the T-shirt Typhoon had forced her to wear.

"Because it's supposed to be cool!" her sister replied, raising her chest to show off her own one. Typhoon's shirt read 'Wonder' in big blue capital letter, and Spitfire's had 'Bolts' on it. "Now just remember that you have to sit on my left for this to work otherwise we'll just look like retards. And we wanna look like number one!"

"I feel like number two." Spitfire grumbled, receiving Typhoon's signature slap on the back.

"That's the attitude, Spit!" she said naïvely as her sister landed on her face from the impact. "Now let's go into the stadium!" She lit up as she got an idea. "Hey, maybe afterwards we could look around Canterlot. I've never been here before, so this is a pretty rare opportunity."

Spitfire shrugged. "Why not; it's not like we have anything else to do for the rest of the day." She replied. The two of them made their way to the long queue to get into the arena, and Typhoon flapped into the air to examine how lengthy it was.

"Dang, we'll be here a while," she reported to her sister, who slumped down to the ground. Was seeing a bunch of ponies fly in formation worth standing in line for half an hour. It had been ten minutes when some royal guards came walking by.

"Hey, kids," one of them addressed the two sisters. Typhoon turned to face them.

"What's up?" she asked them.

"Have either of you seen the Princess's pet phoenix? She went missing a couple of hours ago and we've been going on a wild phoenix chase!" the pegasus guard explained.

"A wild phoenix chase in this case." The unicorn guard interrupted, only to be stared down by his colleague. Typhoon shook her head, buffeting her spiked dark and light blue mane side to side.

"Nope, sorry," she replied. The two guards began moving up the line, asking everypony the same question and being met with the same response every time. Spitfire looked up at her sister.

"What's a phoenix?" She asked.

"A phoenix looks pretty cool for one thing," the blue pegasus began. "It's a pretty big bird that looks like its feathers are made of fire. I've never seen one in real life though."

"Wow…" Spitfire admitted that a phoenix _did_ sound like a pretty awesome bird. She'd have to see if she could find any pictures of them when they got home. Oh to be at home…

Five more minutes…

Spitfire was flopped over her sisters back, feeling even more bored than she felt in geometry lessons. Maybe she could just fly home without Typhoon noticing? Oh who was she kidding, that was never gonna work.

"This is crap." She finally sighed, rolling onto her back and staring up at the sky.

"Just a little longer, Spit; we're almost there and then you'll finally get to see the Wonderbolts! You won't be disappointed, I promise." Typhoon vowed. "I'd use the Word of a Wonderbolt if I was one." She added for extra measure.

"Can you last two minutes without relating something to the Wonderbolts?" Spitfire asked. Typhoon pondered that for a moment.

"Um… no, I don't think so. When you're really passionate about something, you live, breathe, and sleep it. Basically, it's on your mind twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week." Typhoon replied. Wow, it must be really boring in Typhoon's head, Spitfire thought, looking down the line to see that they were almost at the doors. Feeling relieved, she jumped down from her sister's back and impatiently hopped from hoof to hoof. Typhoon gave the pony at the doors their tickets and then led the way to their seats. Since it had been Silver Lining who gave them the tickets, their seats were pretty good, close to the front where they had a great view of the show. They had only been seated for about ten seconds when Typhoon started buzzing in her seat like she had chugged a whole bag of sugar.

"What now?" Spitfire asked, getting her sister to stop. Typhoon stopped jumping, but started clapping her hooves together instead.

"I'm just so psyched to see all of the Wonderbolts! I mean we're gonna see all the greats: Contrail, Afterburner, Hoarfrost, Concorde, and of course, _Captain Nighthawk_!" Typhoon put her hooves on the sides of her face and squealed. Spitfire found herself rolling her orange eyes. Why couldn't her sister be interested in something more fun?

"Save it for the show, why don't ya?" she asked, grumbling as her fiery mane fell into her eyes again. She tucked it behind her ears to avoid any further frustration. Spitfire kept a close watch on the entrance doors as the other ponies filed through. She noticed that most of the attendees were unicorns, which made sense since unicorns were usually of a higher class than the other races of pony, and Canterlot was the prissiest place in Equestria. Spitfire hadn't had any interactions with unicorns or earth ponies before, so she was a little weirded out by their lack of wings to say the least. The unicorns' horns and magic baffled her to no end; how did they get the sparks to come out of the long bumps on their heads? And how were they able to cast different types of spells? A part of her was curious about it, and she wondered if it hurt when the magic came out of their heads? Did the magic sparkles tickle? Oh well, what's the point in dwelling on subjects she could never fully understand?

Unfortunately for the filly, her decision to pay no further heed to the way unicorns worked brought her boredom crashing back down on top of her. Were they going to have to sit in the stands forever? Well, she knew that they wouldn't, but it felt like they were- when you're a young pony, boredom inevitably began to eat at your spirit, and the only way to quench your thirst for entertainment was to get off your butt and go find it. So there had to be a way to get out of that stadium for a second.

"Ty, can I go to the bathroom?" Spitfire asked, feeling like she'd do anything to get out of there for even five short minutes. Her sister shrugged and nodded.

"Fine, but be quick, the show starts in fifteen minutes!" Typhoon waved her off, and Spitfire wasted no time in retreating to the mare's room. It took a couple of minutes for her to find it, so there were just over ten minutes left to wait. She took her time in the bathroom and when she came out she just leaned against the wall beside the door and looked out across the stadium. It had no roof, perfect for flying pegasi, and was pretty big once you got the full view of it. Spitfire was no architect, but she could tell that it was a pretty impressive structure. Oh well, she might as well head back-oh, hello!

Spitfire froze mid-step as she caught sight of something perched a little way along the railings in front of her: a tall, beautiful bird with feathers of scarlet and gold, with eyes that looked like embers were burning within them. Typhoon had been right that it was a stunning creature to behold; in fact the very sight of the phoenix made the golden filly feel honored. So, this was the pet that the Princess had lost… she sure had good taste when it came to animals. Hmm… she started to imagine how proud Typhoon would be of her if she managed to catch the bird and return it to the guards. Now _that_ was an intriguing thought. Now, how does one catch a phoenix?

Moving forward slowly, Spitfire strode over to the phoenix until she was all but a foot away from it. The bird was tilting its head at her curiously, and now that she was closer she could finally see just how tall it was. It was making a soft warbling sound in its throat, almost sounding like it was humming. Maybe she should call its name… oh wait; Spitfire didn't know what it was called. No, _she. _This was definitely a female phoenix, if the eyelashes were any indication.

"Um… here, birdy birdy birdy…" Spitfire attempted to coax the phoenix towards her, but the bird just chirped and began preening one of her wings. Grimacing at her failure, Spitfire began slowly extending her hoof forward for the phoenix. The bird looked down at the pegasus with interest, and stretched her long neck out. Just when Spitfire had a feeling that the bird would move to perch on her outstretched hoof, she squawked and pecked her instead.

"GAH! Ponyfeathers!" the filly shook out her now sore hoof. She glared vengefully at the phoenix, who seemed to be… laughing? Yep, it was an unmistakable, but very bird-sounding cackle. Why that little…"

Spitfire leapt for the bird, only for her to take off, allowing the filly to crash into the railings with a resonant CLANG! Once the stars had vanished from view, the pegasus got up and looked around for the bird, rubbing her forehead. She caught sight of the phoenix hovering in the air a few feet above her and, the nerve, it blew a raspberry at her.

It. Was. ON!

Spitfire flew into the air and gave chase, pursuing the phoenix out of the arena and into the streets of Canterlot. She swerved left and right, up and down, round and round, every direction she knew as she fought to catch the phoenix. She was astounded to find out just how swift the bird was; it soared through the air with the greatest of ease, her feathers making a fiery effect as she streaked over the houses. It was actually pretty awesome to look at, but Spitfire had no time to marvel at the bird, she was gonna catch that thing and teach it not to mess with her!

She flapped her wings as hard as she could, beginning to grow more and more aware of the speed she was travelling at. She was pretty sure that she had never flown this fast before, not even when she was racing Typhoon. There must have been something about the vast determination that seemed to be coursing through her veins that made her _need_ to go faster.

A couple of times she almost caught up to the phoenix, but it seemed that whenever she got near enough to grab her, she always flew that infinitesimal bit ahead of her, almost as if she were taunting her. If she was trying to test Spitfire's patience, then boy was she doing a good job. The phoenix was flying pretty low to the ground now, and Spitfire wasted no time in dropping to the birds level, even if she did startle a few of the ponies wandering around town… she may have accidentally knocked somepony over, but she felt that if she looked back to check she would just feel obliged to go and apologize, which meant that she would lose track of this pesky bird!

The phoenix ascended higher again, and flew straight through the window of somepony's house. The filly chasing her followed through, scaring the mare who was inside brushing her mane out of her wits, before the speeding bird and equine flew out the window on the opposite side of the room and resumed their course through town. The phoenix dove straight downwards at a seemingly frightening speed, but Spitfire trailed after her anyway, only realising the danger of crashing to the ground and breaking her neck when she was a few feet away from it. Gasping, she stretched her neck up and flapped her wings as hard as she was able to, and then… wow, she didn't know she could do that! She pulled up right in time so that her hooves were skimming the ground below as she flew. Chuckling at her discovery, she admired her trick for a moment more before returning to the chase. The mischievous bird flew right towards a particularly tall building that loomed over the houses surrounding it. Spitfire slowed down as she saw that the phoenix was flying straight for the wall, but that was exactly what she wanted the pegasus to think. With a teasing squeak, the bird flapped its large, powerful wings and flew vertically along the wall. Growling a little, Spitfire tried to catch up to the bird again, even though she was pretty far ahead of her by now. For a few seconds she struggled to maintain a view of the phoenix, but thankfully its vibrant colors made her fairly easy to spot.

For a while the chase ran ordinarily, the phoenix gliding over the rooftops with the filly always a few feet behind. And then much to Spitfire's surprise, they found themselves back at the stadium. Oh no! Typhoon was probably wondering where the hay she had got to. Well the sooner she caught this ever elusive feathered fiend the sooner she could get back to her seat. She would actually be quite relieved, since her wings were beginning to get sore, and she was sweating a little, too… okay a lot. Her mane was beginning to stick to her face, and the Celestiadamn shirt Typhoon had forced on her wasn't helping the matter, clinging to her body uncomfortably and providing unnecessary heat.

Oh crud.

Why was the phoenix leading her down to the seats? Should she stop? Too late! Before she could even decide what to do she was flying above the ponies' heads in the stands. Thankfully since she was merely a fiery streak in mid-air at this point, nopony could see anything distinct about her. Looking to her left she saw that the air show had begun and the Wonderbolts were performing a complicated routine with a lot of flashes and flips. It _did _actually look pretty awesome.

Wait a sec…

The bird was flying out into the midst of the show! Oh gosh, if she were to get caught in one of their flashes… aw nuts, she had to do something! Burying all of her doubt in a dark hole in the deepest corners of her mind, the filly took the plunge and followed after the phoenix, feeling her heart pounding in her head from the fear of getting hit by lightning or something. Oh boy, she could imagine Typhoon's horrified face as a fiery streak that she could recognize any day appeared with her idols. Oh woe.

She swooped down after the phoenix as she narrowly missed being knocked clean out of the sky by one of the Wonderbolt stallions. Spitfire had to do a back-flip just to avoid colliding with a 'Bolt doing an insanely fast spin like move, which made the pegasus look like a bullet in the sky. She thought she was going to have a heart attack when a charcoal black stallion had to cease flying as she flew in front of him and a second later a rose colored mare barreled into him.

"_Oh Celestia spear me with your horn_," Spitfire thought as she imagined the chaos she was creating in the air show. She never lost sight of the bird, however, and she began climbing higher into the air again. Spitfire gulped and looked at how high she was going to have to go to tail the phoenix. She'd never flown that high before, and as strange as it was for a pegasus to be afraid of heights, there was still a reason to fear the altitude and the fact that some mistakes could result in injury… or worse. Here goes nothing…

Spitfire fought to keep her eyes open as she defied the laws of gravity to catch up to the phoenix. The bird must have some trouble with flying at this height as well, since she seemed to be slowing down.

Perfect.

Spitfire stretched out her hooves in an attempt to snatch the bird, but she just dove down. Oh, not this again! But instead of flying straight down, the phoenix instead rose back up, circling the filly. Spitfire, beginning to get even more frustrated, began a mindless chase, allowing her irritation to numb the rest of her senses as she flew in a repetitive circle. Up, down, up, down, round and round and round again. The golden pegasus had expected to get nauseous in seconds, but she seemed to just feel exhilarated. She was looping around at incredible speeds after this phoenix, and it almost seemed as if she were growing… warmer. Yes, the friction that she was building up as she looped was forming a fire-like effect around her. It was like she was a living Catherine Wheel firework. Spitfire couldn't tell herself, but from the ground it was like a huge fireball was shimmering in the sky, getting bigger and bigger as the seconds passed on. Even the performing Wonderbolts had stopped to see what was happening. Finally, the heat began to get more and more intense, and for a moment Spitfire feared that she would simply burn to a crisp. But then the phoenix began a new course, and zoomed off higher into the sky. And then as Spitfire shot up to follow her.

!BOOM!

She gasped and looked over her shoulder at the fiery explosion she had created, and her eyes grew wider as she noticed the trail of fire leading off from her tail.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed, grinning with glee. She looked back ahead to see the phoenix make a sharp turn left. As Spitfire mimicked the bird's movements, another resounding explosion rang out the moment she dashed left. She began laughing with euphoria every time she made a corner-cut, each time leaving a fiery blast in her wake. Once the fire from her tail died out, the smoke still lingering in the sky, the phoenix she had been so keen on chasing slowed down until she was flying right next to the filly. Spitfire gazed at the bird with big, confused eyes. As if reading the thoughts in her mind, the phoenix gave out a soft chirp-like squawk.

"Thank you…" Spitfire said to the phoenix, which raised her neck and made a long trilling noise. As Spitfire flew back down to the stadium, she was pleased to find that the bird came with her, and soon the two had returned to the ground outside the stadium, Spitfire finally sitting on her haunches to catch her breath, and the phoenix landing on her shoulder, straightening up in all of her glory.

"Hey, I've found her!"

Suddenly those two guards from earlier practically appeared out of thin air.

"Thank goodness for that. I wouldn't want to imagine what would happen if we couldn't find Philomena."

"Philomena?" Spitfire looked up at the phoenix, feeling pleased to know her name. It sure was a pretty one. The unicorn guard lowered his head for Philomena to move on to while the pegasus ruffled Spitfire's mane.

"Yes, this is Princess Celestia's personal pet, and if she went missing then… the Princess would be disappointed and let's leave it at that," he explained.

"Oh, relax," the unicorn sighed. "It's not like she was gonna pour molten silver down our throats or something."

The pegasus just ignored his comrade. "Anyway, thanks for finding her…"

"Spitfire," the filly smiled up at the guard.

"Right." The guard gave her a grin in return. "Thanks for finding Philomena for us. You saved our fur, that's for sure."

"No it's not!" The unicorn called out.

"I'll be sure to mention you to the Princess. She'll be incredibly grateful." The pegasus looked relived. Philomena bent down her neck and affectionately butted Spitfire's head, and the filly giggled in response, reaching up and petting the phoenix.

"Bye, Philomena." She waved as the two guards trotted back towards the palace. The filly sighed in relief as they left, still smiling lightly. Now all she needed to do was go find Typhoon, and then… she looked up at the three ponies standing before her.

Oh horseapples.

Standing there were three pegasi in blue and yellow skin-tight uniforms. There was that rose mare with the maroon mane (Afterburner), a light blue stallion with a golden spiked mane (Contrail) and a muscular stallion who was mostly as black as the darkest of nights with grey streaks in his mane that kinda reminded Spitfire of smoke (Captain Nighthawk).

"Um…" Spitfire tried to say something, but the tension in the air was so thick that it felt like she would choke on it if she dared let another word escape her mouth. The two pegasi flanking the captain were staring down at her with displeasure. Each of them started muttering things to Nighthawk, who silenced each of them with a quick glance to each side. He then turned his attention to Spitfire, who had sunk down to her haunches and was staring at him with a mixture of terror, honor, and humiliation. Was she really about to get scolded by the most famous pegasi in Equestria? Nighthawk bent his knees so he was face to face with her.

"That was really dangerous, ya know, kid?" he said to her with a surprising amount of gentleness, though there was still a hint of harshness in his tone. Though Spitfire knew that he had every right to hate her- she had got caught up in their performance, caused a collision, messed up their routine, and stolen their thunder in a way. There was probably going to be a restraining order filed against her. "I've never even seen a pony do that before." Nighthawk added, referring to her fiery trick. Spitfire sighed and looked down at the floor, wishing that she could dig a hole, crawl into it, and die. It seemed better than being berated by the Wonderbolts. The ponies were all silent for a lengthy minute or two, Afterburner and Contrail staring at Nighthawk; Nighthawk staring at Spitfire; and Spitfire staring at her hooves, wishing she could just disappear. Suddenly…

"Wow…"

Spitfire looked up in surprise as Nighthawk's tone changed entirely. He was actually smiling now… wait, this didn't make sense. He was supposed to be angry? He was meant to kick her from here to Las Pegasus. At the very least he was inclined to hang her upside down from tree branch and let ponies beat her with a stick like she was some kind of piñata. But he just smiled. And that was preferable.

"I've never even seen a pony do that before." He repeated, Afterburner and Contrail lightening up a little too as they caught on to what their captain was getting at. Even _they_ gave her tiny smirks. Nighthawk reached down and pulled something off his uniform, before bending to Spitfire's level and pinning it to her shirt (thank Celestia she hadn't taken it off). Spitfire's jaw dropped as she caught sight of the badge that was now on her chest, glimmering gold and in the shape of a winged lightning bolt.

"Nice job, kid." He messed up her mane with a forehoof, and Spitfire gazed up at him with fascination. His red eyes seemed to strike a match in her soul, because it was as if some kind of mist had cleared within her. Giving her a wink, Nighthawk took off into the air, his two companions flashing her their own broad smiles before following suit. Spitfire stared after them with her eyes still wide, wondering if that had really just happened. Well if the badge she was wearing was still there then it must have been. And then-

"SPIT!" She was suddenly seized by her shoulders and twisted round, where she found herself looking into Typhoon's frantic face. Her sister felt Spitfire's forehead, looked inside her ears, opened her mouth wide, and rifled through her mane, before putting a hoof on each of her little sister's cheeks. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" she asked.

"Ty, I'm fine." She replied. Then she yelped as Typhoon delivered several swift punches to her arm.

"Then. What. Were. You. THINKING?!" she said a word between each hit. She then began to pace back and forth. "I thought you'd been foalnapped or something, and then you were out there with the 'Bolts, and you were so high and I thought you friggin' _exploded_!" she raised her forehooves in the air. Spitfire had never seen her sister so mad before. The blue teenage pegasus stood at her full height and glared down at her sister. "So what have you got to say for yourself?!"

Spitfire didn't answer right away and instead looked up into the sky, where the Wonderbolts were just vanishing over the roof of the stadium. And in that one moment, she knew. She knew what she wanted to do. Her dream. Her desire. Her destiny. And then she looked back at her sister, wearing a bright smile and her eyes glowing.

"How do I become a Wonderbolt?"

And in a flash of light, something appeared on Spitfire's flank.

Her very own Cutie Mark.

* * *

And for a long while, everything was perfect. Both sisters had the same dream, and dedicated hours of their day to working towards their goal. Spitfire figured out how to perform her fiery trick without the assistance of an annoying phoenix, which she and Typhoon had dubbed the 'Spit-Blitz', and Typhoon even found out that she could do her own neat trick. The blue teen just had to fly long and fast enough for her to build up friction on each of her sides, and then she would use her wings to slow down; the impact would allow Typhoon to practically stand on the wind, which carried her along while forming a wave-like effect in the sky. She called this trick simply 'Riding the Wind'. Silver Lining gave them his own personal flying lessons, and he told them that he was giving Captain Nighthawk good word of their progress.

Perfect.

But as most people know, perfect is a word that can only be used loosely, for with the slightest turn of events, perfect could change into disaster…

* * *

**Fourteen Years Old**

"Hey Spit," Typhoon greeted as she came through the door to the sister's bedroom. Spitfire was at the desk beside the window, finishing writing a book report for school.

"Hey Ty," Spitfire replied, looking over her shoulder. "You've read _Of Mice and Mares_, right?" She asked. Typhoon nodded.

"I love that book." She grinned. "It was moving, full of meaning, and-"

"Yeah, yeah, cool, can you just tell me what lesson the story taught?" Spitfire cut her off, much to her sister's annoyance. She moved over to sit at the desk next to her golden sibling.

"The story teaches a grim lesson about the nature of equine existence. Nearly all of the characters admit at some stage to having a sincere sense of loneliness and isolation." Typhoon said slowly as Spitfire wrote. The youngest sister knew that her sister had read the book more than once due to her love of reading so there was nopony better to go to for book reports.

"Thanks. Now that's all my homework done." She irrevocably dabbed a period at the end of the report and let the quill drop from her mouth. Unicorns must have had it easy since they held their quills in magic. Statistics proved that unicorns did better than pegasi and earth ponies in school, but Spitfire had a theory that school was rigged; she understood all the lessons just fine but she'd like to see a unicorn write down equations with their face pressed against the paper.

"Whoa…" Typhoon got Spitfire's attention. The young blue mare was staring at the clock on the wall. "It's almost midnight." She stated. The littlest sister shrugged.

"You say that like it's weird." She told Typhoon. The older pony nodded.

"Yes. It's odd because Scotch hasn't come home yet." She bit her lip, looking worried. Spitfire scoffed and leaned back in her chair.

"So? Maybe he finally got kicked off of Cloudsdale." She relished in that idea for a while, loving the mental imagine of the stallion unconsciously plummeting out of their lives.

"Spit, he went to the bar." Typhoon looked at her little sister as if she should understand. When it was clear that it wasn't getting through to her, Typhoon sighed and went in a little deeper. "When is a guy going to a pub and coming home late ever good? I mean, mom's gonna be furious!"

Then, as if on cue, the sound of the front door opening was heard. Typhoon seemed to just leave the subject behind after that, but then…

"What the hay is going on down there?" Spitfire asked her sister as the sound of shouting rang out from downstairs.

"It's… it's just mom telling Scotch off for coming home two hours late. No biggie." Typhoon shook her head in dismissal, ever the optimist. But the shouting just got louder, and the sound of Scotch swearing violently drowned out Honey Glaze entirely. Typhoon had to cover Spitfire's ears at one point. The blue pegasus removed her hooves for about a second when the yelling stopped, only to put them back a millisecond later when the sound of things breaking could be clearly made out.

"Actually… this is a HUGE biggie." Typhoon gulped, looking scared. Spitfire didn't like that; as said before, if Typhoon was scared, Spitfire was scared, and vice versa.

"Um… Spit?"

"Yes?"

"You know how I always say that I love it when we're right about something?" Typhoon asked as Scotch began another rally of curses.

"Yes." Spitfire repeated her last reply. Typhoon jumped as something else smashed down below and pulled Spitfire into a tremble-filled hug.

"Well I change my mind… I don't."

* * *

The fillies _had_ been right about Scotch. The stallion repeated his cycle of leaving the house and coming back late, yelling at Honey Glaze, and in some cases, using physical violence on her, and then stomping upstairs.

Once time the sisters had been unfortunate enough to be downstairs with their mother one Friday night when Scotch came home. The stench of that horrible bitter stuff was so strong that it made Spitfire choke, and his fur was messed up. There was a wild look in his eyes, as if he was ever so slightly insane. During the daytime, the teal pegasus was collected and calm, but whenever he came home after his drinking trips, he looked like he'd been dragged through a bush backwards. Honey Glaze had been silent and ignored him that time, but it didn't stop the large pony from barking orders at her, and when that didn't work he had started yelling at Typhoon, which had terrified the poor pegasus out of her mind. That was when Honey Glaze had started yelling back, and soon they were hitting each other and cussing.

So Typhoon always locked herself and Spitfire in their room when Scotch came back, though that did nothing to stop the fighting. A couple of times, Typhoon had gone downstairs to assist her mother, but had always returned with some sort of injury.

And it went on like that for days… then weeks… and then months. The sisters hadn't ever been afraid of their own house before, and sometimes when the fighting got serious, Typhoon got Silver Lining to take care of Spitfire until the coast was clear. Typhoon finally decided that she'd had enough when Honey Glaze came to hide in their room after receiving a black eye from Scotch; Spitfire had locked the door and barricaded it with their desk (with some difficulty) while Typhoon negotiated with Honey Glaze.

"Mom," Typhoon had said, sitting next to Honey Glaze while she wept into her hooves. "This has gone far enough; you can't let him push you around like he does. We- we need to get out of here- run away!"

"We can't," Honey Glaze had pulled Typhoon beside her with a wing and rubbed her back gently. "He's got all the money, so if we leave we'll be on the streets." She fretted. Typhoon had tried to come up with something.

"Silver Lining will let us stay with him. We'll be better off there!" She had pleaded. But Honey Glaze was too kind for her own good, and refused to take advantage of Silver's hospitality. No matter how much Typhoon begged, Honey Glaze wouldn't stop enduring this, and so they stayed…

And things didn't improve. There was more screaming, crying, and injuries. Sometimes the neighbours would called the police, but Scotch was clever, even if he was drunk, and he'd always come up with a cover story to make them leave.

And it carried on…

Until…

* * *

"Maybe we could ask Mrs Starburst if we could live in the classroom." Spitfire suggested as she and Typhoon landed outside their house. It had been a particularly quick day at school, something they had gotten used to over the recent months. They heard the other ponies saying that school went by slowly, but for them school couldn't go slow enough. They envied ponies who looked forward to going home, since they could enjoy themselves, whereas all that the sister's had to look forward to were a few hours of fleeting freedom before the fighting began. And Honey Glaze had forbidden them from telling anyone about what was going on at home, so they couldn't get comfort from anypony. Typhoon had already told Silver Lining, but with a lot of persuasion he had reluctantly agreed to keep everything to himself. Even his new marefriend didn't know about their little secret.

"Fat chance of that working," Typhoon giggled despite their situation. For some reason Typhoon laughing always managed to perk Spitfire up. For her the laugh acted as a little reminder for her that they had some hope that things would get better. "Where would we sleep anyway?"

"We could sleep on the desks and use our saddlebags as pillows." Spitfire suggested. Typhoon smirked at her as they opened the front door.

"You've already thought of this haven't you?"

Yes, yes I have."

But the moment they stepped inside they knew that something was up. They couldn't see anything wrong but they could hear that something was out of the ordinary.

Because there wasn't any noise.

Usually their mother would come and greet them at the door, or there was the sound of pots and pans clanging in the kitchen as she cooked. But there was no noise at all, and that made the house seem surprisingly cryptic.

"Mom?" Typhoon called into the house.

No reply.

"Mom, where are you?" Spitfire slunk past Typhoon into the living room and looked at the desolate chairs. Typhoon closed the door behind her and the two moved into the kitchen. Now that there were no other sounds they could clearly hear the clip-clopping of their hooves on the ground, and that scared them a little.

"You in here, mom?" Spitfire poked her head into the downstairs bathroom, finding nothing out of sorts (apart from the toilet seat being left up, something Honey Glaze usually despised).

"Have you found her?" Typhoon's voice made Spitfire jump. As she shook her head, Typhoon frowned and shuddered. "This isn't right…" she muttered under her breath before turning and making her way to the staircase. Spitfire followed suit, not wanting to be left alone downstairs. Typhoon checked the upstairs bathroom while Spitfire checked their room- nope; Honey Glaze was nowhere to be seen. Finally there was only one room left to check.

"I'm scared." Spitfire muttered, leaning against her sister and using her soft blue fur as a form of comfort. Typhoon stroked her fiery mane, brushing it out of her eyes due to its tendency to flop into them. Spitfire could see her sisters hoof shake as she put it on the door knob and pushed it open. Spitfire stood in the hall as her sister took a couple of cautious steps in, breathing heavily. Actually, she may have just been breathing normally, but the silence made it seem louder. Suddenly, Typhoon gasped and clapped a hoof over her mouth, staring to the left.

"No… no…" she repeated. Spitfire rushed into the room and stood next to her, following her gaze. What she saw on the bed made her blood run cold. Typhoon moved slowly around to the side of the big double bed, tears streaming down her face as she shook her head. Spitfire hoisted herself onto the bed and stared down at her mother. Her limbs were spread around her in a fashion that made her look like she had frozen whilst making a snow angel. There was a small, empty pill bottle beside her hoof, the label on it reading 'painkillers'. Spitfire put a hoof on Honey Glaze's chest, and shivered when she couldn't feel a heartbeat. She was also shocked to find out how cold she felt, like she was slowly freezing. Her green eyes were wide open and they stared straight ahead, and when Spitfire stood above her face she didn't blink. She didn't move at all. Spitfire put her front hooves on Honey Glaze's shoulder and shook her a little.

"Mommy…" she croaked. Spitfire hadn't called her 'mommy' since she was much littler, but she was terrified, so she made an exception. "Mommy, please get up. This isn't funny."

"Spit, she's not gonna get up…" Typhoon sobbed, bending down and putting her forehead on her mother's tummy. Spitfire had known, of course, but hearing it from Typhoon just struck her in the heart. And then she was crying, too, not being able to take her now bloodshot eyes off her mother's lifeless body. She had read about ponies looking peacefully asleep when they're dead... but Spitfire now knew that the books were wrong. Honey Glaze just looked dead. Like a candle that had lost its flame. Spitfire tried to make some kind of sound, but it was like her throat had closed up on her.

Typhoon reached over and pushed a few locks of their mother's hair to the side, like she did with Spitfire's. The youngest sister had never really taken into account how much she looked like her mother. They had almost the same fur colour, and her mane was a little like hers, too… the only big difference were their eyes, those bright green eyes that had once shone with brilliance and kindness were now dim and blank as they stared up at the ceiling she couldn't see.

"Never could bring herself to wear her mane up," Typhoon said out of the blue, her voice strained. "That's what ya get for being such a sweetheart you big doofus... that's what ya get…" she sniffled. Jolting suddenly, Typhoon punched the wall as hard as she could, leaving a dent in the wall.

"Celestia damn it, mom…" she begged, hitting the wall again and again to make it obey her. "Oh, damn it, mom, don't be dead, please just get the hay up!"

And then she bolted through the door and down the hall.

* * *

That was when Spitfire's shutdown had begun. She started wearing her mane in spikes like Typhoon did and began developing a bad attitude towards ponies.

But even though Honey Glaze was gone, Scotch didn't get any better. In fact, he just got much worse, and all the anger he had previously taken out on Honey Glaze was then aimed at Typhoon. Spitfire was forced to watch as Scotch beat the living daylights out of the young blue mare, but Typhoon wasn't like Honey Glaze- she fought back. She never won their fights, but she didn't stop trying. She wasn't going to suffer the same fate as her mother.

And then the cops finally found out the truth…

* * *

**Sixteen Years Old**

"GAH!" Spitfire yelped as she narrowly missed being hit in the face by an airborne TV remote. She dove under the coffee table and trembled, praying to Celestia like she did every night, not that it ever helped. She supposed that it just gave her something to believe in. She was forced to emerge from her hiding spot when the table was flipped over. She glanced at her sister, who was bleeding heavily from her jaw and a gash on her cheek that had been reopened from a few fights ago.

"Get. OFF!" Typhoon kicked Scotch off her as he attempted to deliver a punch to her muzzle. Not being able to stand seeing her sister take him on by herself, Spitfire leapt and landed on the teal stallion's back, biting on his ear and tugging it hard until she drew blood. Yuck! It tasted vile and it made her eyes sting when it clashed with the strong alcohol smell that seemed to permanently occupy the house.

With a strong curse word, he flung Spitfire from his shoulders, sending her flying across the room into the wall with a shocking amount of momentum. The golden pegasus pony's ears rang for a few seconds, and for a moment she was afraid she couldn't move, since any effort to move her legs were met with failure. Fortunately, she began to feel her hooves again and she shakily got back to her hooves, getting a head rush in the process.

Spitfire realised that she had landed on something wooden (whatever it was had been destroyed beyond recognition) and the pain from the sensation caught up to her, making her entire left side hurt. But she had grown strong over the past year and shoved the pain aside, throwing herself back into the scuffle, despite Typhoon's protests. She managed to grab one of Scotch's wings and twist it around; for a glimmering moment she thought it would break, but he just tossed her aside like a ragdoll and she slammed into the door, bouncing off it and landing on her face.

She was about to try and get up again when something wet and warm dripped into her right eye and blinded her. She wiped whatever she could of the stuff out of her eye, feeling sick to the pit of her stomach when she saw its maroon colour and reached up with her other hoof, pressing it gently against her forehead. When she brought it back down it was reddened as if by magic… and that time she really _was_ sick.

Spitfire looked up once she had finished spewing to see Scotch pinning Typhoon against the wall, one hoof on her throat and the other on the wall. Typhoon flailed her hooves wildly, trying to land a hit, but it was no use. The blood kept flowing down Spitfire's face, and much to her horror she even coughed some up, too, and soon even breathing became a big effort. The next minute or two passed as if she was in a dream- the door swung open, and a few pegasi in uniforms came in. Scotch let Typhoon fall to the ground, and the world started tipping from side to side as she started swaying, feeling faint from all the blood loss. There was a high pitched buzzing noise, which the youngest pegasus could only assume was Scotch and the others all yelling simultaneously.

Then two of the cops grabbed Scotch and dragged him out the door, still yelling and swearing. Typhoon made her way over to Spitfire, and started saying something, looking distressed. Man, it just made her ears hurt… and had her head always been this heavy. She tipped backwards, not even conscious enough to notice that she'd fallen into a pool of her own vomit and blood. She felt her body get rolled over and suddenly she was looking into a pair of worried orange eyes.

"Stay awake, Spit!" Typhoon cried out, but Spitfire could barely hear her. "Whatever you do, don't close your eyes. Just stay awake long enough… long enough so that I don't have to go through with this alone…"

It sounded like a good idea, but try as she might, Spitfire did feel awfully sleepy… man, her eyes weighed a ton…

"Heh… bit his ear off…" Spitfire chuckled, blood burbling from her mouth. "Pretty freaking cool… right?" everything started getting darker.

"No! You gotta stay awake… you gotta tell 'em what happened… you need to…"

* * *

"…have you living by yourselves. It's out of the question!"

"Listen, I've been practically raising Spitfire for the past year. You are not sending her to a dumb care home!"

"I'm sorry, miss. She needs a working adult to look after her. If we left her in your care- well I can't do that… and since you don't have any other family members to take care of you this is the best I can offer."

"This SUCKS! I'll get my own place and we'll be happy there. Just don't… don't take her away from me…"

"Oh Celestia, please don't start crying on me. You seem like a good pony, but where would you go if you got the chance to take your sister and live somewhere by yourself?"

"Our old foal sitter Silver Lining and his wife- they'll let us live with them. Silver Lining is pretty much our second dad anyway."

"…I tell you what. You call this guy and get him over here. If he meets the qualifications I might be able to get the sergeant to look the other way and let him have custody of the two of you."

"Okay… thank you."

"Ty…" Spitfire opened her heavy eyelids, being blinded by the bright lights of the room. Typhoon gasped, and immediately held her younger sister against her chest.

"Spit! Don't scare me like that again. You were bleeding and pale- terrified me half to death," Typhoon kissed each of her cheeks and then started snivelling into her mane, shaking a little.

"Where are we…?" Spitfire lifted her head away from her sister's bosom and looked around at the small room. There was a huge glass window in one wall and only one door out.

"It's an interrogation room. They know all about Scotch now." Typhoon explained as she stroked Spitfire's back.

"About time." She commented, scooting off her sister's lap and sitting next to her on the sofa, though she wasn't able to sit straight and had to rest her head on Typhoon's shoulder to stay up.

"So what's happening?" She asked, nuzzling Typhoon's neck. The blue mare sighed and rubbed her forehead, prodding her cheek where her gash had scabbed over.

"Since Scotch is gone and we don't have any other family that can take us in, they're gonna send you to a foster home if Silver Lining can't take care of us." She explained solemnly. That got all the senses back into Spitfire's head.

"What… b-but we aren't gonna let 'em do that… right?" She asked, not being able to stand the thought of being taken away from Typhoon. Not having her sister around would be like ripping a part of her soul out.

"Of course not." Typhoon said intently, biting her lip and not being able to mask her uncertainty. "They'll have to deal with me before they do that. I would rather cut my front hooves off and stick pins in my eyes than… well, I'll have to stick the pins in my eyes first, and I'll need help to cut my other hoof off because I wouldn't be able to hold the knife in the first hoof because it would have been cut off and-"

"Ahem," a voice got their attention, completely cutting off (ironic) Typhoon's rant. The cop in the doorway looked at the eldest sister. "The phone's available now and you can call your friend."

"Great," Typhoon looked down at Spitfire. "I'll be just a minute." She then left the room, leaving Spitfire alone in the room with the cop. Being the distrusting pony she was, Spitfire just stared at her hooves the whole time, meeting any of his attempts at conversation with a menacing glare. She was relieved when Typhoon finally came back.

"He's on his way." She reported to the cop, who looked as equally relieved as Spitfire to have her back.

"Alright then, you two stay put while I tell the sergeant." He walked briskly out of the room, leaving the sisters by themselves once again.

"So… what happened to Scotch?" Spitfire asked Typhoon after a few minutes of sitting in silence while the oldest sister paced alongside the glass window. Typhoon stopped and stared out the window, obviously waiting for Silver Lining to come through the door and rescue them.

"They're throwing him in jail of course. Abuse is a serious matter, Spit, and causing his own wife to commit suicide… he's gonna be in a cell for quite a while." She sighed. Spitfire huffed and leaned against the arm of the chair.

"Serves him right- he should be in the slammer for life for what he's done to us." She stared at the wall opposite her with slitted eyes. Typhoon only responded after a few seconds.

"It's kinda sad." She muttered. Spitfire's ears pricked up. She had to have heard that wrong.

"Say what now?" She asked. Typhoon looked over her shoulder, her ears drooping and her orange eyes fixed on the floor.

"It sounds horrible… being stuck in a cell for years at a time. I mean just think, not being able to fly free," she visibly shuddered at the thought. "I'd lose my mind."

Spitfire sat up straight once again. "What's the matter with you? After all the pain he's caused us you actually feel sorry for the guy?" she made incoherent bumbles as Typhoon nodded. "But- but he beat you and me up over and over again; he made our mom kill herself! And- and you… you don't think he deserves it?!"

Typhoon sighed again and let her wings fall to her sides. "Well…" she couldn't think of anything else to say. Spitfire shook her head at Typhoon; she was too optimistic for her own damn good. She could always somehow see the good in everyone- Scotch could have murdered the whole street and she still would have figured out some reason for him to be pardoned. It was in her nature to look on the bright side of things, and Spitfire was convinced that it was her sister's weakness- one of her only weaknesses. The enemy needed to be taken down, and if that way was throwing them in a cage then so be it!

"Let's not think about it," Spitfire said as her sister began repeating 'Courage!' over and over again. Then the door swung open and a familiar silver stallion walked through, flanked by the cop from before.

"Typhoon, Spitfire!" He greeted them as they flung themselves at him, Typhoon nuzzling his neck and Spitfire wrapping her hooves around his middle.

"About time you got here," Typhoon slugged his shoulder. "I was beginning to think that you were just gonna leave us for dead in here."

Silver Lining gave her a small shove and ruffled Spitfire's spiked mane. "Never mind that," he gathered the two young mares in for a second hug.

"I'm here now."

* * *

And so it was arranged for the two sisters to live with Silver Lining and his marefriend Cloud Showers. Since Silver was a Wonderbolt their house was pretty big, about the same size as Spitfire and Typhoon's very first house. And things got better. Cloud Showers was very sweet to the two of them- she was a cornflower coloured mare with an orchid mane that she wore in waves, and treated them like her own foals right from the start.

Even better, Typhoon was accepted into the Wonderbolts Academy, since Captain Nighthawk had heard so much about her from Silver Lining's frequent reports about her. She got the role of lead pony, and broke countless Academy Records, even beating Nighthawk's score on the Dizzitron- 6.8 seconds with 6.5 seconds. She was looked up to by all of the other cadets, and soon she had achieved her dream of joining their ranks. The happiest day of Typhoon's life was when she was given her official uniform, signifying that she was one of the greatest flyers in Equestria. Spitfire and Cloud Showers were in the stands of all her and Silver's shows, cheering them on as they completed stunt after stunt. Everypony went wild for Typhoon's 'Riding the Wind' trick, which soon became iconic for the Wonderbolts. In no time at all Typhoon had become one of the most popular 'Bolts, always having to stay after shows to sign autographs, and being dragged to photo-shoots. Once when Spitfire had accompanied her to one of the shoots, Typhoon had made her join in- getting her to sit on her back or wear her goggles while Typhoon made a silly duck face, which always cracked her up.

It seemed like after a long time of darkness, the candle had been lit once again. And it must have been burning brightly because a couple of months after her nineteenth birthday, Spitfire finally got her own acceptance letter to join the Academy.

* * *

**Nineteen Years Old**

"I can't believe we're finally here!" Surprise buzzed in her excitement as she and Spitfire flew over the Wonderbolts Academy towards the training grounds. From their years of being best friends, Surprise had gained an interest in the Wonderbolts, too, joining in whenever Spitfire, Silver Lining, and Typhoon trained, and even going to see some air shows with them on some occasions. She had also lost that pudge of hers.

"Me neither. Seven years of training and we've made it!" If she was younger and a little more naïve like Typhoon then she would have squealed.

"Oh my gosh, check everything out!" Surprise _did_ squeal as they descended down to the landing strip. Spitfire looked around at all the training equipment; of course, she had seen Typhoon train on it dozens of times, and had even been allowed to fly around the track a few times before, but the first time she had seen all the stuff she had reacted the same way as Surprise, desperately wanting to try out everything in the training grounds… twice! They landed at the end of the line of cadets standing on the strip, chatting amongst themselves and looked down it. Five other ponies were in the line, two mares and three stallions, all shaking hooves with each other and introducing themselves. Nopony had seemed no notice that two new ponies had joined them… actually, _one_ pony did.

"Hi there," a rhythmic voice got the two mares' attention. They looked to their left to see an eighth cadet, a white pegasus stallion with a gamboge coloured mane he wore in high spikes, smirking at the two of them.

"Oh, hello." Surprise was the first to greet him with her signature grin. "How're you doing?"

The stallion moved to the side until he was standing between the two mares. "Oh I was just doin' fine, baby." He then snaked an arm around each of their shoulders. "And then two fly mares flew down from the heavens and now I'm even more fine."

Feeling a little awkward, Spitfire removed the stallion's arm and scooted to the left, away from him. This didn't seem to faze him in the slightest, despite Surprise's obvious discomfort. "So…" she tried to think of some form of conversation to break this silence. "You're special talent is…?" she looked at his Cutie Mark, which was a cluster of a bottle of hair gel, a pair of sunglasses, and a comb.

"Looking hot, of course!" he chuckled. "But ya must've already figured that out."

Wow, narcissist much?

"So, what're your names, ladies?" he asked, looking from Surprise to Spitfire. Surprise pointed over at her golden friend.

"That's Spitfire, and I'm Surprise, and we're both a little freaked out…" Surprise added that last one through gritted teeth, not that this guy noticed. He seemed to be a little ignorant.

"Ooh, your names are cute, baby. Mines- HOO! - Paladin!" he pumped his hoof in the air when he made his 'hoo' noise. Surprise slowly walked around him and sat on the other side of Spitfire, who then walked around to sit on the other side of her, resulting in the two mares arguing over with of them had to sit closer to this weirdo. Suddenly-

"Hey, what's going on here?"

The two mares quit arguing to look up at the speaker, seeing Captain Nighthawk, fully clad in his uniform, which displayed his cutie mark- the head of an eagle, colored completely white with a red outline and one yellow eye. The three ponies stood there for a while, before Surprise squealed and leapt up at him, hugging him so tight that he stumbled a little.

"Oh my gosh, Captain Nighthawk! I'm touching Captain Nighthawk! I've been a fan for years now, and I'd really appreciate it if you autographed everything I own- you can even write your name on _me_ if you like. Mind if I squeeze a little tighter- WHOA, you smell like oranges- you'd look good in a tux, kinda like those spies from the movies, can I take a selfie with you, I-"

"Whoa, easy there," Nighthawk pushed Surprise off her to get her to stop fangirling, though her display had got a lot of the other cadets laughing. Surprise took her spot next to Spitfire (it was also next to Paladin but by now she didn't care) and Nighthawk began pacing along the line of pegasi.

"Okay listen up everypony 'cause I wanna make myself very clear! I'm looking at all your smiling faces and I bet you all think that this whole training session is just gonna be a barrel of fun. Well wipe those grins off your face, 'cause fun is near the bottom of the list of words I would use to describe this. Grueling, is one of the words near the top- so is exhausting, challenging, and for some of you, painful! GOOD! 'Cause it's my job to make Wonderbolts out of you, so if I have to make you squeeze every last drop of sweat out of your lazy, napping-on-the-couch flanks I WILL, dammit!" he barked. Spitfire had seen him act like this before when Typhoon took her to her practices for air shows, so this wasn't new for her. When she had first heard him yell like this she had been taken by surprise, since he was one of the coolest, nicest ponies ever when he wasn't in Sergeant Nasty mode. But she had grown accustomed to it.

"Any questions?" he scanned the line of cadets. Surprise waved her hoof in the air and made a few 'ooh' sounds. Nighthawk nodded at her and Surprise lowered her hoof back to the ground.

"Okay, when lightning strikes the sea why don't all the fish die?" she asked. Spitfire groaned and face hoofed, hissing the word 'idiot' out the corner of her mouth.

"Any questions that are in some way related to literally anything we're doing?" Nighthawk made his point a little clearer, only to be met with no response. "Okay then, I want all of you to give me 300 laps around the track so I can see what you're made of. Let's move it! GO, GO, GO!"

The cadets raced to the track, Spitfire taking the lead. Well, that was short-lived when she was suddenly tackled to the ground. All the cadets stopped as Spitfire was pinned down by the muscular blue mare.

"What's up, Buttercup?" Typhoon grinned down at her sister. Spitfire felt a blush creep onto her face as Typhoon reached down and nuzzled her forehead. The other cadets started whispering to each other and pointing as Typhoon continued to baby her sister. Spitfire tried to get away, but Typhoon just grabbed her again and ruffled her mane. "How's my sister's first day so far? Is Nighthawk treating you right?" she planted a wet kiss on her cheek, clearly embarrassing her on purpose. "You been potty yet?"

"Alright, lemme go, this has gone too far now!" Spitfire scrabbled to escape her sister's iron grip. Years of training had done her well- Typhoon just maintained her hold on her and blew a raspberry on her neck, making her sister squirm with the effort of not laughing.

"Ahem," Typhoon stopped mid-raspberry as Nighthawk trotted up to her and gave her an amused glare. Typhoon released her sister, who gave her a shove before moving to stand next to Surprise.

"Yes sir?" Typhoon asked, putting on an innocent face.

"Typhoon, I'm all up for you looking out for your little sister-" when he said the word 'sister' the cadets all gasped and looked at Spitfire with bewilderment. Yep, it paid to be the younger sibling of a popular Wonderbolt. "-but couldn't you wait to humiliate her after training."

Typhoon huffed and folded her arms, making a pouty face. "Aw, _fine_," she moaned, but as soon as Nighthawk started walking away she sat up and poked her tongue out at him. And then-

"Don't think I don't know what you're doing, Typhoon," Nighthawk called back without turning around. "If the wind changes while you're making silly faces it'll get stuck like that."

Typhoon pulled her tongue back into her mouth and silently mimicked him. "It'll get stuck like that, meh meh meh…" she teased him as she walked past a group of three cadets, who all burst out laughing. Typhoon bent down and whispered one last thing to Spitfire.

"Grind 'em all into the clouds, Little Wonder." She winked before flapping into the air and whizzing back over the training grounds.

"She's your sister?" a male voice, not Paladin's this time, spoke from Spitfire's right side. Looking in his direction, Spitfire was met with a pale blue stallion with a phthalo blue mane that he wore in a windswept style. He had green eyes that looked at her with disbelief and his jaw was slack, giving him a dopey appearance. Spitfire nodded, feeling odd that she was getting so much attention for her sister's fame.

"Yeah," was all she said, shrugging her shoulders like it was no big deal. Well, for her it was no big deal at all, since she had known Typhoon since the day she was born. Her sister was special, but when you've known somepony for nineteen years they become normal no matter how famous they become.

"That's so awesome," the stallion gaped. "Typhoon's one of the greatest Wonderbolts ever. I tried Riding the Wind like her once." He added. Spitfire's eyes widened.

"And it worked?" she asked.

"Yes…" the stallion looked down. "if you consider hurling out of control and crashing into a tree 'working'." He made quotation marks with his wings. Something got Spitfire's attention then.

"Trees?" She cocked a brow. "I guess you don't live in Cloudsdale then." She supposed that if he did she would have seen him before. Heck, she should probably have gone to the same school as him if he lived here since he was about her age, most likely a little younger.

The stallion shook his head. "Nah, I'm from Fillydelphia- nice place even if the ground isn't as soft."

"It's nothing special once you get used to it," Spitfire kicked at a loose tuft of cloud with a hoof, which was a habit of hers. "_Kinda like having a prestigious sister."_ She added mentally.

"But if I graduate then my family and I are moving to Cloudsdale immediately. I'll get a place for them… and a bigger place for me." He told her his plan. Spitfire gave him an eye roll for being so prepared.

"So, yeah, I'm Spitfire," she shook hooves with the stallion, relieved to meet one that wasn't a wadbag. Usually she didn't trust ponies she just met, but this guy seemed nice enough.

"And I'm Soarin," he greeted back, giving her a smile. He looked after the other ponies and his ears poked straight up. "Hey, everyone's taking off. Wanna race?" he offered. Of course, being the competitive mare she was, it only took Spitfire about a tenth of a second to say 'yes'. She quickly caught up to the ponies at the front of the pack, getting an awe-filled stare from the grey mare who had previously been in the lead.

"Hey!" Spitfire looked to her other side to see Soarin flying neck and neck with her. Wow, she hadn't ever met a pony her age that could fly as fast as her- not even Surprise could beat her in a race (when she wasn't hopped up on sugar anyway) since she was more of an agility pony. Soarin gave her a cocky grin. "What's the matter? Little Wonder can't catch up to the newbie?" he teased. Spitfire gave him her most challenging smirk.

"Little Wonder can make you eat her dust!" she declared, picking up speed. Even though Soarin lagged behind her a little after that, he managed to keep close enough to her that she was impressed. As a Wonderbolt's sister she had become a good judge on whether or not to be impressed by a pony's skills. She could barely believe that she had once been astounded by a triple barrel roll. To her that was just basic now.

When they finally finished the 300th lap, they came in for landing, skidding to a halt right in front of Captain Nighthawk, who seemed pretty proud of them. "Nice going you two, I think I'm gonna keep an eye on you guys."

Spitfire felt her heart skip a beat at the captain's praise, knowing that if she was a touchy-feely pony she would hug him.

"Yeah, great work, Spit!" Typhoon landed next to Nighthawk, who gave her an exasperated look. "You and your friend are gonna go far. Who is this anyway?"

"This is Soarin," Spitfire introduced the stallion, who looked a little starstruck at meeting Typhoon. The blue mare reached forward and shook his hoof anyway, even though he didn't shake back due to his paralysis from being in the presence of the kind Wonderbolt.

"Um… durr…" Soarin slurred dozily when she stepped back. Nighthawk tapped Typhoon on the shoulder.

"Yes, my good man?" Typhoon gave him a playful grin, which he didn't seem to find so funny.

"Typhoon, we've talked about this. Family members should normally be excluded from these training session so nopony feels obligated and there's no favoritism," he lectured her. Typhoon sulked and made puppy dog eyes at him.

"But I wanna see my widdle sister twain!" she begged, getting Soarin to chuckle at her. That's another thing Spitfire loved about Typhoon: she always knew how to make ponies laugh. Nighthawk got a cunning expression on his face.

"I'll tell you what. You can watch her train tomorrow…"

"YES!" Typhoon flapped into the air.

"…if you clean all the latrines with your toothbrush."

"NO!" Typhoon sunk back down to the ground.

Nighthawk chuckled at his colleague's crazy antics. There was always that one member of a group that loved to liven things up, and when it came to the Wonderbolts Typhoon was definitely that pony.

"Now will you leave me alone to figure out the lead ponies and wingponies?" he gave her a shove to get her moving. Typhoon snorted through her nose and slunk off.

"Sure thing, ya grumpy old fart," she mumbled. Nighthawk called after her.

"What was that?"

Typhoon's eyes darted around as she frantically thought of a lie. "I said 'sure thing ya… jumpy golf cart…?'" she flew off before Nighthawk could ask for the truth. He shook his head and looked at the cadets, all of whom had completed their laps.

"You'll have to ignore Typhoon guys; she's very nice but she can be a bit of a distraction." He looked sympathetically at Spitfire, who just shrugged. She loved Typhoon no matter how irritating she could be. She was her sister, best friend, and mother all bundled up into the same pony, after all.

"She's not so bad," Spitfire whispered to Soarin, who nodded.

"She seems great! It must be awesome having her as your sister."

Spitfire nodded sincerely. "Yeah, she's the best."

"Okay, everyone, we're gonna move on and test you all out on the Dizzitron. After that you can all get settled in." Nighthawk began leading the way over to the huge circular machine near the center of the training grounds.

"So fun!" Surprise made Spitfire jump as she popped up right beside her.

"Will you stop doing that?" She bonked her white furred friend on the head. Soarin looked past her at the new arrival.

"Oh, who's this?" he asked. Spitfire sighed and put a hoof on Surprise's shoulder.

"This is Surprise, my best friend. She's sterling, tough, dependable, honest, brave and true." She gave her friend an introduction.

"Aw, thanks, Spit." Surprise smiled.

"Oh shut up, Surprise, you know I don't mean a word of it," Spitfire smirked, though Surprise didn't seem disappointed or upset in the slightest. Mostly because she knew after all these years than when Spitfire teased somepony like that she didn't really mean it. She did it to Typhoon a lot so it was just natural. "And don't call me Spit. Only Typhoon can call me that."

"Hi, Surprise," Soarin smiled at the white mare. "Nice hair." He complimented her. Surprise grinned and puffed up her mane a little more.

"Thanks. I've been trying to wear it in spikes but for some reason it seems more natural like that. All I have to do to get it this way is stick my head under one of those automatic hoof dryers in public lavatories." She explained. Spitfire had tried to explain to Surprise that she could just use a hairdryer to do the exact same thing, but Surprise said that she didn't trust those kind of electronics because they cause fires. Well at least she was wary of safety…

"Yeah, you're lookin' so hot that you could make a stallion melt like butter on hot asphalt, baby." Paladin swaggered up to stand between Surprise and Spitfire again. Soarin and Spitfire exchanged glances, Soarin pointing at Paladin and mouthing 'yikes', which made Spitfire chuckle.

"Wow what a jerk," he said out loud. Paladin looked Soarin up and down, looking at him with the first frown they had seen on him.

"Oh, who're you?" he asked. Soarin could sense that something was up, so he raised himself to his full height.

"Soarin Skies," he used his full name this time. Paladin moved over to him and gave him a shove.

"Well listen here, Soarin Skies, this is how things are gonna work." He stood nose to nose with the other stallion. "How old are you?"

"Eighteen…" Soarin replied awkwardly, looking weirded out by the whole situation. Paladin jabbed him in the chest.

"What's your wingpower?" he asked a second question. Soarin gave him a proud yet challenging smirk.

"10.7!" he bragged. You could tell that Paladin had a lower wingpower by the fact that he didn't answer. "Why d'ya wanna know? So you know your place when I fly right past you in every single race? I mean you were way behind just then."

"Yeah, you were right behind me the whole time," Surprise said to Paladin, who smirked.

"I was doing that on purpose," he said. "That way I had a good view," he winked at Surprise, who turned a bright red color. Spitfire felt the sudden urge to punch this guy in the jaw. He had no right to treat mares like this!

"Are you gonna get to your point with all these questions?" Soarin got Paladin's attention back. Paladin straightened himself up and sauntered around the small group.

"I'm planning on becoming the youngest stallion cadet to get into the Wonderbolts. And it looks like you're gonna be my competition," he devised. "So I just wanna let you know that I'm not gonna go easy on you here."

Soarin didn't look put off at all. "Good." He shoved past Paladin. "And I won't go easy on you."

Paladin scoffed before returning to his usual routine of being a bad flirt. "So, now that we're all friends, do you two wanna play a game like, maybe, truth or dare, spin the bottle, or seven minutes in heaven?" he asked, winking at each of the mare's in turn.

Paladin was on the floor with a sore jaw in less than a second.

* * *

And so Nighthawk arranged all the lead ponies and wingponies. Surprise and Spitfire were overjoyed to discover that they had been put into a pair, Spitfire being the lead pony, with Surprise as her wing. However by some cruel irony, Soarin had been made Paladin's wingpony. Spitfire didn't know how that happened, since Soarin was way faster than that pile of pony poop. True to his word, Paladin didn't go easy on Soarin; in fact he treated Soarin like something vile that he'd stepped in. But then again, neither Soarin nor Spitfire could be ungrateful for the way Paladin treated the pale blue stallion, because it turns out it would benefit both of them.

* * *

"You okay Soarin?" Spitfire approached the stallion, taking off her flight goggles after a pretty intense cloud busting session. Soarin shrugged and sighed, his usual response when she asked that question. After finding out what Paladin could do, Soarin had grown less cocky- the white stallion made Soarin do a whole bunch of crummy jobs, like carrying him across the training ground or doing his _laundry_, which he then had to do because he was inclined to as a wingpony. The stallion was clearly getting sick of all the slave labor he was doing for his jerk of a lead pony.

"Where did I go wrong?" he muttered, managing a small chuckle. Spitfire sighed and patted his shoulder.

"Soarin, just keep telling yourself that you're better than that tailhole. No matter what he makes you do you're always gonna be the better pony." She comforted her friend. Soarin gave her a grateful smile and started heading off to talk to one of the other cadets.

"See ya later then, Spitfire," he said over his shoulder. Surprise caught up to Spitfire as they approached the mess hall.

"Paladin?" was all she asked, and Spitfire nodded. Surprise rolled her eyes and headed in. Spitfire was astonished to see that two cadets, Paladin and Soarin no doubt, were still outside.

"Paladin, there is no way I'm gonna help you out with that!" Soarin stared at him angrily. Spitfire crouched down behind a particularly large lump of cloud and eavesdropped on them

"C'mon, it'll be fun pranking the captain. I heard you saying that you like pranks, and if you help me fill Nighthawk's office with helium it'll be hilarious." Paladin gave his wingpony a noogie. "Or are you too chicken?"

"It's not that, it's just that nitrous oxide isn't just laughing gas. It can make you hallucinate and worse!" Soarin told his lead pony. "It's too risky- I don't wanna get in trouble and kicked out of the Academy."

"Wow, someone paid attention in science," Paladin yawned. "Listen, if you do this then I'll… let you comb my hair for me," he suggested running a hoof through it. "Just check out my mane- it's so soft. I use a really good conditioner and I know that you're always wondering how I get my hair to be this shiny."

"Dude, I'm not doing it- not for all the bits in Equestria!" he declined. Paladin was silent for a few seconds, clearly contemplating an insult to throw at him, since he was wearing the same expression he always did when he was about to make fun of somepony, a smug smirk accompanied by one squinted eye.

"I know what's going on here. You're just being useless on purpose… not that I blame you- if I lived my whole life surrounded by earth ponies I'd probably be… well, maybe not a lame as you but still." He berated the pale blue pegasus. Spitfire silently snarled.

'_Not this racist stuff again.'_ she thought.

"Leave earth ponies out of this," Soarin sighed, his voice shaking as if he had been through a similar conversation with Paladin before.

"Aww, is the earth pony gonna cry?" Paladin taunted Soarin, making his voice go high. "Are you gonna add being a crybaby on top of being useless?" he started laughing.

The ass _laughed_!

Spitfire felt the blood roaring in her ears, the sight of Soarin's pained face was enough to make her feel like a pack of windigos in pony form. She dashed over and stood beside Soarin, staring Paladin down with eyes of fire.

"Hey, knock it off ya sack of crap!" she snapped at him. Paladin rolled his eyes at her, not the slightest bit worried about how long she had been listening to him and Soarin.

"And who're you to stop me, babe?"

"I'm his friend." Spitfire replied simply. Paladin snorted with laughter.

"So?" he asked.

Spitfire marched forward, spreading her wings wide so her shadow covered Paladin. "So, you mess with him, you mess with me, and you do _not_ wanna mess with me." She grabbed Paladin by the collar of his cadet uniform and pulled him forward so that they were nose to nose, dropping her voice to a lethal whisper. "And if I hear you bothering him again, I'm gonna tie you up and take you on a little trip over the side of Cloudsdale. Insert the spoiler tag here: it all ends with you making a pony shaped bloodstain on the ground! And if you think I'm lying, just try to do it again!"

Paladin was shaking now, all his previous arrogance gone as he quivered in Spitfire's hold, hopelessly lost in the ferocity of her eyes. "Y-y-yes, m-ma'am."

"I can't hear you!" she punched him in the shoulder.

"YES MA'AM!" He squealed desperately. Spitfire threw him to the ground before nodding at Soarin.

"Now for the love of Celestia, apologize to Soarin." She ordered him. Paladin scrabbled to his hooves, his tail between his legs.

"I'm sorry! Honest, I really am! Don't hurt me!"

"Good," she glared daggers at the stallion, who was sweating bullets. "Now get outta my sight before I take you on a 'trip' anyway."

He turned and bolted for it, tripping on the way, never looking back.

Satisfied, Spitfire sat down next to Soarin, who was staring at her with his jaw slack. "If he bothers you again just tell me and I'll kick his ass." Spitfire told him. He fumbled for the right words.

"That… that was…"

"Impressive."

Spitfire and Soarin almost had consecutive heart attacks as Nighthawk suddenly appeared behind them like some kind of crazy jack in the box… okay a jack in the box would pop up, and that's not what Nighthawk did so- GETTING AWAY FROM THE POINT!

"H-how much did you see?" Spitfire asked, since Soarin was incapable of speech for the time being. Nighthawk seemed amused by their shock.

"I was standing behind Spitfire while she was listening in on your conversation," he revealed. Spitfire anxiously raised her hoof.

"Pardon me sir, but… that's a little creepy."

Nighthawk just smiled at the two of them. "I've gotta say the two of you have something about you," he commented, looking at Spitfire first. "You aren't afraid to protect your friends, and you're tough, too- always good in the Wonderbolts," he then looked at Soarin. "And you show great loyalty and endurance for dealing with your lead pony for this long. And your refusal to gas my office proves that you stand up for what you believe in." He lowered his voice a tad. "To be truthful I'm grateful for that, too."

"Well… th-thank you Captain," Spitfire said nervously. "But I would have thought you'd be mad at me. I mean, I did just make a cadet wet himself."

"I'm not mad- didn't I just say I was impressed?" he repeated his earlier praise. "In fact I have a proposal that I think you two will like."

"Oh… what?" Soarin asked, baffled by the fact that the captain was remaining calm about all this; was he gonna spring their punishment on them now under the impression that it was a good thing? Nighthawk gave the two of them a smirk.

"How would you two like to be my personal protégés?"

* * *

And of course their answer had been a resounding "HELL YEAH!"… followed by Nighthawk being tackled to the ground and hugged. And from there I think most of you know how the story goes.

Under the watchful eye of Captain Nighthawk, Soarin and Spitfire made it all the way through the Academy, and they, along with Surprise and another stallion, Nimbus, graduated and were made fully fledged Wonderbolts. And much to Paladin's displeasure, Soarin became the youngest stallion to become a Wonderbolt.

"Huh? Hey Cap, how come he gets to be a Wonderbolt and not me? That's not fair!" Paladin had whined after their graduation ceremony was over. Nighthawk glowered down at the stallion, something he only did when he was at his most fierce.

"Because you lack all the qualities a Wonderbolt needs," he told the ex-cadet. Paladin looked crushed, and for one fleeting moment Soarin and Spitfire felt sorry for him. Just _one_ moment though.

"B-but I'm such a good flyer. I'm fast and I can do stunts… what else is there?" he asked, looking like he was in one of those dreams that you couldn't make sense out of no matter which way you looked at it. Nighthawk put a hoof on the young pegasus pony's shoulder and looked him intently in the eyes.

"Remember Paladin, it isn't fast flying that gets you into the Wonderbolts. It takes boldness and determination in the face of great danger; especially in battle." Nighthawk replied in a strong voice an answer that you could tell had been branded into his heart, "A Wonderbolt has courage, bravery and valor, the greatest of those being Valor!"

"Loyalty unwavering. Bravery before loyalty. Heroism greater still. Valor above all." The captain recited the Wonderbolt creed.

"That's what it takes kid," Nighthawk stated then gestured to her own wings. "Trust me, there isn't an ounce of any of them in these wings," he then thumped his hoof against his chest. "They're all in here, you just gotta dig deep and find them."

Paladin dipped his head before slinking off to the doors out of the main hall, where Surprise and Nimbus were congratulating each other. Deciding that there was no reason to pass another opportunity to flirt with Surprise, he poked his head around the side of the door and smirked at her.

"So now that you're a Wonderbolt how about we see if you really can give a flying-"

And then the door slammed on his nose.

"Spit, ya did it!" Typhoon grabbed Spitfire around her shoulders and squeezed her tightly. Spitfire hugged her back, despite the pain in her chest that made her fear her lungs would collapse, and suddenly realized her sister was sniffling.

"Ty, are you crying?" the golden mare asked. Typhoon lifted her face from her sister's mane, affirming that there were in fact tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Why shouldn't I?" she asked. "My sister's finally a Wonderbolt," she kissed her nose and nuzzled her forehead. "I didn't know it was possible to feel this proud."

"I did." Spitfire told her. "I'm pretty sure that's how I felt when you became a Wonderbolt."

"This good?" Typhoon looked at her sister with disbelief. "Wow, you sure must have been proud of me."

"You have no idea," Spitfire rubbed her cheek against her sister's, getting a giggle out of her. Nighthawk and Soarin walked up next to them since Soarin had finished being congratulated by his family.

"Well Typhoon, I think you're the only pony prouder of Spitfire and Soarin than me," he said to the blue Wonderbolt. He then glanced at Soarin and Spitfire in turn. "But seriously, I'm so glad that I made you my protégés. The two of you are going to do great things- I just know it."

Soarin was the first to hug the captain, something the big black stallion was used to from him now. "Thank you Captain."

Nighthawk looked down at Soarin. "No need for formalities now that you're a Wonderbolt, Soarin. Just 'Nighthawk' will work just fine." Soarin looked at him incredulously as if this was a great honor… well it was, but he had just been made a Wonderbolt so in comparison it wasn't all that cool. Spitfire was about to say something to Typhoon when Soarin grabbed her and pulled her into the group embrace, too.

"We can't forget about you," he said to her, even though he knew hugs weren't exactly how Spitfire rolled. Typhoon then joined in, putting a hoof around Spitfire and Nighthawk.

"Don't leave me out- I want a hug, too!" she chirped. Nighthawk obliged, though he did that usual head shake and eye roll he seemed to reserve for Typhoon alone. The blue mare stood back, pulling a camera out from her mane- yes she had indeed learned that trick from Surprise. "Okay, now the three of you get into position. We need a photograph of this moment."

"Alright then," for once Nighthawk agreed with one of Typhoon's ideas, standing in between Spitfire and Soarin and smiling at the camera. Spitfire stood on Nighthawk's left, grinning up at her sister rather than the camera lens, and Soarin wore the same cheesy smile he'd had on his face for the past half an hour it seemed. Then Typhoon snapped the picture and the three ponies crowded round to see it.

"I look constipated," Soarin flushed as he saw his smile, and Typhoon was quick to agree.

"Just so we're clear, I'm keeping this on my bedside table," she told the others. Spitfire poked her in the ribs.

"You could at least give us copies," she said. Typhoon scoffed and gave her sister a playful shove.

"Why would I forget to do that? Sheesh, treat me like I'm useless why don't ya, Spit?" she nudged the younger golden pegasus with one of her wings. The two of them made their way out of the main hall and into the hallway. Typhoon led Spitfire over to the window on the right side of it and the golden mare stood next to her.

"Lemme tell ya something," Typhoon gazed up at the dark sky. "Remember when we were fillies and I picked out a star for us to wish on," she waited for her sister to nod. "Well I never stopped wishing on it."

"Seriously?" Spitfire scoffed. Typhoon shrugged.

"Yeah, I wished on it every night that you'd get into the Wonderbolts, and I'm so pleased to see that it came true," she said in that naïve voice of hers. Spitfire knew that there was no way wishes on stars came true, but she didn't want to rain on her sister's parade. "Hey."

"What?" Spitfire asked. Typhoon nodded up at the stars.

"I remember mentioning something to you when we were little about flying up to the stars and bringing one back for you," she recalled. "Well I'm glad I waited to do it, because now we can fly up there together," she schemed. Spitfire felt her heart throb at her sister's sweetness and twined her tail with hers, butting her cheek with her muzzle.

"This is the best day of my life," she confessed, blushing as Typhoon nuzzled her forehead again. Typhoon then booped her on the nose.

"And it's only gonna get better," she revealed. "I checked out the buffet list for the celebration earlier and I'll give you one guess at what certain sweet treat is on it."

Spitfire gasped before drooling out the answer in unison with Typhoon.

"Chocolate!"

* * *

Both sisters had achieved their goal: to fly with the best of the best. And their streak of good fortune didn't end there! When Afterburner, the co-captain, retired so she could look after her ill mother, the role was given to Typhoon who practically tore the whole compound apart bouncing off the walls in her joy.

Silver Lining had some good luck too: Cloud Showers had a foal of her own, Orion, and Typhoon and Spitfire then had to move so they had more room, which was no trouble, since they could now afford to get their own place.

And in air shows the ponies in the stands went nuts for the Spit-Blitz especially when Spitfire did it at the same time Typhoon Rode the Wind. There were, of course, some downsides along the way, too. For example, Nighthawk retired from his role as captain after twenty four years as a Wonderbolt and the torch was passed on to Concorde, one of the senior Wonderbolts. Spitfire, Soarin, Typhoon and the others were all sad to see their leader leave the business, but they couldn't really complain since he'd had a pretty long career, most Wonderbolts only lasting a little over fifteen years on average.

And then for a while after Typhoon and Spitfire lived the celebrity life of luxury, but similar to the rest of their lives, something always had to interfere with that. It was on the day of the iconic 'Dragon Attack of Hoofington' that the real impact was made, and each of the sister's got hit hard. For one it meant an everlasting agony; for the other it meant something much worse, yet not anywhere near as painful…

* * *

**Twenty One Years Old**

"Holy Celestia!" Spitfire felt her wings go numb as she along with Soarin, Nimbus and Surprise flew onto the scene. They had recently got news of a huge blaze in Hoofington, not caused by something stupid like a dropped match or an oven left unattended, but a huge fire breathing dragon!

"I suddenly wish I'd brought my bag of marshmallows," Surprise gulped. Spitfire would have slapped her upside the head if they weren't in mid-air.

"Is this really the time to voice your need for your marshmallow bag?" she asked. Surprise nodded.

"Yes! It's a snack_ and_ a pillow!" she explained. Nimbus pointed down at the ground.

"There's Concorde!" he led the way as the four reinforcements made their way down. Concorde, who was a tall navy blue pegasus stallion with a maroon tail and mane that he wore in a buzz cut, was speaking to Contrail.

"I think that's the last of the residents, Captain," Contrail reported. "We'll send out another search party just in case, though." Concorde gave him a nod of approval and then turned to the four youngest Wonderbolts.

"Thank Celestia you got the message- we need every Wonderbolt for this," he wiped some sweat from his brow, though whether it was from the stress or the heat they didn't know.

"Where did this dragon come from?" Soarin asked, flapping into the air to get a better view of the beast. It was a huge orange monster, and whenever it roared the ground shook. Concorde looked into the fire, which had spread across the whole town. From their spot just outside of Hoofington, they could tell that a lot of the houses had burned down, and destruction like this would take months to restore.

"The mountains to the east; apparently this dragon had just woken up from its hundred year slumber, and from the looks of things it was a pretty restless sleep," he joked, though his voice stayed stern. Spitfire looked around at the other Wonderbolts- some were assisting ponies along and others were flying over town looking for any stragglers.

"Where's Typhoon?" she asked Concorde. The captain sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I sent her to use her trick to try and blow out the fire… it worked for a little while, but it just rolled the fire further along town. So now she's trying to figure out how to take down the dragon. Crazy mare's gonna get us all killed." He said that last part to himself, not aware that he was worrying the others.

"So what do you want us to do?" Nimbus asked Concorde, standing straight. Concorde gestured to the stack of first aid kits a little way away.

"I want you four to take care of any injuries. If anyone comes out with wounds patch them up as best you can. I'm going to take a few of the strongest flyers to the reservoir to try and create a tornado of water big enough to put out these flames. Not sure what we're going to do about the dragon yet. Maybe we should just try to confuse it and chase it off?" Concorde was clearly sceptical of his plan. He whistled loudly and flew off into the fire, Contrail, Hoarfrost and another stallion, Storm Front, following close behind.

"Okay then, let's get to work," Soarin sat beside the stack of first aid kits. It only took a second for Nimbus to get bored.

"Doing what?" he asked. Nimbus was a stormy grey stallion with a mane and tail the colour of mustard and a cutie mark that pictured a storm could with blue sparks coming off it. He was a pretty impatient pony, but when duty called he could be a real soldier stereotype. Surprise was sitting close to the blaze, roasting something on a splint from one of the burnt houses.

"Surprise, what are you doing?" Spitfire called over from her spot with the two stallions. Surprise looked over her shoulder, waving her stick in the air.

"I found a couple of marshmallows that I keep spare in my tail. Want one?" She raised the splint higher, and Spitfire just shook her head and started pacing. She wasn't sure what worried her more- that there was a major dragon attack and they weren't allowed to help, or that Typhoon was somewhere in that inferno trying to take down the huge beast. Fortunately, no Wonderbolts came seeking medical attention, but _un_fortunately Nimbus decided he'd had enough.

"I can't do it," he stood up determinedly. "I'm not sitting around while my teammates risk their lives. I'm going in to help; who's with me?" he asked the others. Soarin was the first to speak.

"But… we'd be disobeying the captain, and we're not supposed to do that," he stated the obvious. Nimbus scoffed at him.

"We could save lives! Our help could make all the difference. Come on- the four of us against that dragon. We can do this!" he tried to hype his colleagues up. Spitfire tried to reason with him.

"Nimbus, this is crazy. There's no way we can go up against a fully grown dragon and live to tell the tale; I mean look at what it's done to Hoofington!" she gestured to the destruction around them, just in time for a pillar to collapse and send another house caving in.

"How do you know that?" Nimbus countered. "We'll never know unless we give it a chance. We're supposed to be the most skilled flyers in Equestria, and we're sitting on our flanks like bumps on a log waiting for the others to get the job done. I'm not standing for that! I'm going in to do what Wonderbolts are supposed to do, and if any of you want to help me out then come on!"

Soarin, Spitfire, and Surprise just sat and stared at him, knowing that there was no way they were going to change his mind.

"None of you…?" he looked a little worried now, but he put on a brave face anyway. "Okay then, if you wanna be good for nothing lumps then see if I care," he spread his wings before being confronted by his golden teammate.

"Listen you- we're just doing what Concorde told us so that no unnecessary casualties occur. Nimbus just shoved her to the side.

"Coward!" he snapped at her. "That's what you are; I thought you'd be all up for this, but you only care about yourself since you're the captain's pet!" he spat the last word out with so much venom that Spitfire associated him with a snake for a second. "He thinks that you're special just because you're the co-captain's sister, but you're the biggest coward out of everypony here. After what he's done you don't wanna back him up! _Coward_!" he said again. Wow, never had one word struck her to the heart like that; it stung so much that she felt miserable.

"Nimbus, shut up!" Spitfire flared her wings out to show that she meant business. The pegasus stallion just scoffed and walked on by.

"If any of you need me I'll be making something of myself!" he looked like he wanted to say other things, but he just shook it off and flapped through the flames. Surprise got to her hooves.

"Maybe we should go after him," she said once she'd swallowed her marshmallow. Spitfire put a hoof on her shoulder.

"No, Surprise. He's just being reckless… he'll come to his senses in a minute or two…" she gulped, pushing her friend back down to the scorched ground, just wanting him to get what was coming to him.

So they waited…

…and waited….

…and waited some more…

But Nimbus didn't come back.

"Okay, I'm starting to get worried…" Soarin fiddled with his tail whilst looking into the inferno. Spitfire was also concerned because the tornado had not been made yet. Originally she'd had qualms that they wouldn't have enough wingpower to make one, and it seemed like her fears had been correct after all.

"Maybe we should look for him," Surprise suggested.

Spitfire shrugged. "You could be right," she reluctantly said. "But what if some ponies need first aid? We'll need to be here for that."

"Oh come on," Soarin pointed a hoof towards the burning town. "Nopony has got hurt and we've been here for over an hour! If nothing's happened yet, then nothing _will_!"

And then a huge explosion sent the town up in flames. A huge arc of fire curved over Hoofington, buffeting everypony's fur and forcing the three youngest Wonderbolts to clench their eyes shut to shield them from the awful wave of heat that slammed into them. Once they could see again, which was a little scary since the flames in the town were now ever bigger and more lethal looking than before. Spitfire gave Soarin a look.

"You were saying?" she asked harshly, and Soarin looked down at the ground in embarrassment. Suddenly, Silver Lining swooped down from the sky, just in time to assist Hoarfrost, who tumbled out of the flames, looking like she'd been through hell. Surprise led the way as she and her two friends raced over to the battered brown mare. Spitfire cringed at the state of her: Her feathers were scorched, and she'd lost all of the fur on her right hind leg. It was a pretty grim sight for anyone who had never seen a pony without fur. Hoarfrost choked and spluttered, and clutched her chest in obvious pain.

"Hoarfrost, what's going on?" Silver asked. Suddenly, Contrail and Storm Front raced through the fire as well, looking even more messed up than Hoarfrost, their tails burned completely off. Surprise went to tend to Storm Front while Soarin dashed over to lend Contrail a hoof and Spitfire stayed with Silver and Hoarfrost, who was explaining what happened. "The fire spread to the centre of town…" she stopped to cough and hack some more. "I don't know how it happened, but everything went up in flames. We had to abort the tornado and get the hay out of there. But everything started falling apart and a pillar fell on top of me…" she winced as she tried to stand up and collapsed back to the ground. "I can't feel my back legs," she whimpered. "Are they still there?"

"Lemme get you some medicine," Spitfire was about to get a first aid kit but Hoarfrost grabbed her by the leg to stop her.

"No, I'm fine," she said between coughs. She was obviously lying, but Spitfire obeyed her will anyway. The brown Wonderbolt then pointed behind her into the flames. "But Concorde's still in there!"

Silver's jaw dropped and he started muttering 'no' over and over under his breath. Spitfire felt immensely worried, too- over the past year she had grown close to the captain, which Nimbus was quick to point out. She hadn't seen what the problem was with it; he just kept an eye on her because, and I quote, "She showed potential", Nimbus was just the jealous type.

"Surprise!" Spitfire called out to her white friend, whose ears perked up when she heard her name. "Fix Hoarfrost up; I'm going in!"

"WHAT!?" Surprise dropped the first aid kit she was holding in her mouth on her forehoof and yelped. "Are you insane!?"

"YES!" Spitfire spread her wings and looked away, ignoring Surprise's pleas as she took a deep breath and took off through the fire.

"Crud!" she exclaimed as soon as she flew in. She shielded her eyes against the blazing flames and landed in the middle of a burning house that had lost most of its walls. Keeping her eyes closed she pushed her way through the heat, amazed and terrified at just how hot it was possible to be. She had wondered several times what it would be like to walk on the sun, and if the sun was a trillion times worse than this then the idea of it now petrified her! For a second she even thought she might be melting!

"Concorde!" she yelled into the flames, gasping as she rolled out the way of a falling roof. "Concorde, are you here?!" most of her cry was drowned out by the dragon roaring again. It swung its massive tail and knocked a few more buildings down, sending debris flying here, there, and everywhere! She looked over her shoulder, wondering if Surprise had followed her, and when she saw she was alone she felt a tinge of regret. Was she being careless like Nimbus?

Wait… Nimbus!

He was in the explosion, too! Moving quicker this time, Spitfire dashed through the maze of fallen walls and flames, reeling back whenever something fell down in her path or having to fly swiftly through the blazes. She had been to Hoofington for air shows many times in the past, and now the place was impossible to recognize. The smells of the bakeries were replaced with a choking smoke, all of the foliage had been burned to a crisp, the clear night sky was blocked by the black smoky cover, and… wait, what the hay was that awful smell?

Spitfire felt her eyes water, this time not from the smoke as she caught a whiff of something vile on the wind- it smelled like… the worst fart ever mixed with a musky substance with a hint of… vanilla? Well whatever it was made Spitfire sick to her gut. She could liken it to the smell of death. Probably because…

"Nimbus!" Spitfire dashed to the crippled form that lay on the ground beside a black, flaming tree. She stood stiff as a statue as she gazed down at the stallion. If it wasn't for the cutie mark visible on his flank she wouldn't have recognized him. Almost all of his fur had been burnt off and his body was near completely covered in grotesque blisters. He looked _terrible_, so terrible that it was hard to look at tongue lolled out and his eyes were glassy… they seemed to be the only part of him that hadn't burned. She felt guilt stabbing her chest as she realized that the last thing the two of them had ever done was fight. She would never get to make amends with him now, and he had probably died thinking that she hated him. Oh Celestia…

"Nimbus, I'm sorry," she sat on her haunches and stared down at him. She knew that he couldn't hear her but she just felt possessed to apologize to him. "I should have helped- or at least got you to stay. I'm sorry, I didn't want you to…" she couldn't bring herself to say the word 'die'. She hadn't even realized she was crying until she raised a hoof to her cheek to wipe some ash off it. And the tears were only making the stinging worse when it mingled with the smell of burnt flesh and the smoke… which was soon accompanied by the smell of vomit as Spitfire lost her lunch right there and then. Forcing herself to look back at the burnt up pegasus, she decided that she couldn't just leave him there. She needed to get his body back to the others. But he was so… icky.

"Okay… it's just Nimbus... only Nimbus…" she held her breath and lowered herself down, hooking one hoof around the stallion's middle, feeling bile rise in her throat again as she felt that he was crusty in some places and oozing in others. "OnlyNimbusonlyNimbusonlyNimbus!" she repeated while trying not to freak out. She was so occupied by trying to imagine that she was carrying something other than Nimbus's burning corpse that she completely lost her sense of direction. She hurriedly made her way through the labyrinth of burning debris, not really looking for the others, just wanting to get the body safely out of the fire. She then got the idea to fly up to see where she was going. Flapping into the air, she cringed as Nimbus writhed on her back when she opened her wings and tried desperately not to pass out. As she swooped down to avoid a falling wall Nimbus's limp hoof fell into her face and she bit her lip to keep from shrieking. Ewewewewewewewewew!

"SPIT!"

"GAH!" Spitfire frantically looked around, hoping that Nimbus hadn't suddenly come back to life and was speaking to her. Well, if the blue mare in front of her was any indication then she wasn't carrying a reanimated carcass.

"What are you doing in here, Spit?" Typhoon asked, grabbing her by the shoulders. "Don't you know that it's dangerous… what is that on your back?" she looked at the dead body with wide eyes.

"It's Nimbus," Spitfire squeaked out, noting that her sister's face was turning green. Typhoon gestured from the body to the fire and then somewhere else, then at herself then at Spitfire then back the corpse to Spitfire again and then some other place. Whatever she was gesturing at was unclear. "Please get him off me!"

Typhoon didn't obey. "Hold on, what are you doing in here. Answer that first!"

"Fine," Spitfire held in her complaints. "I came in here to look for Concorde, and then I found Nimbus instead. Now we need to get him back to the others so they can deal with his grossness instead of me! I wanna respect the dead and all, but it's hard to when the dead is melting all over your fur!" she puffed up her cheeks at that and took rapid breaths. Okay it was official. She had a massive phobia of dead bodies!

"Okay, relax," Typhoon grabbed Spitfire's shoulders. "I'll take him back to Silver and the others and you can look for Concorde. I'll come back and help you once I'm done."

"Great," Spitfire nodded her thanks. "Now if you don't help get Nimbus off me I think I'm going to scream!" she was holding in her shrieks in a similar fashion to how you'd hold in puke… though she was holding that in, too. Typhoon, being the braver of the two, grabbed Nimbus and hauled him onto her own back, and Spitfire felt nauseous at the stains of blood and… some other thing she wished she couldn't see on her fur. She shuddered and rubbed one front leg with her other, slightly ashamed that this was the most physical contact she'd had with a stallion.

"You okay, Drama Queen?" Typhoon asked with concern.

"Yeah…" Spitfire shivered again, ignoring her sister's comment. "It feels like he's still on me," she voiced aloud. Surprisingly, Typhoon didn't seem fazed by the dead body on her back.

"Okay, go find Concorde," she saluted before dashing off into the flames. Spitfire knew that the navy blue captain would most likely be on the ground, so she landed on the ash covered surface and started searching around again. Much to her terror she found that she was moving closer to the dragon, so close that the ground vibrated with each step it took. To her dismay she discovered that with every passing minute it was like her lungs were closing in on themselves. Whenever she breathed it stung and she was almost constantly coughing. She knew that if she didn't find Concorde and get some air soon something was bound to go wrong. She was aware of the risks that came with breathing in too much smoke, like lung disease or cancer, so maybe she should try an aerial search instead.

She soared above the town, noticing a distinct change in her breathing once she was high enough to get some fresh air. She would never take the air for granted again; she was so relieved that it was like she was breathing soup. The first thing she laid her eyes on was the rampaging dragon- it was snuffling through a row of houses, occasionally sneezing and sending a building up in flames whenever it did. She then caught sight of the reservoir near the north west of Hoofington, taking one more breath of the sweet night air before diving downwards towards the pool.

When she landed next to it the first thing she did was examine the water, which was a murky black color because of all the ash falling into it. She staggered to avoid stepping on any burning splints as she whipped her head round and round to try and catch a glimpse of the lost captain. Smoke… that was pretty much all she could see no matter which way she looked. It was like the clouds had fallen from the sky right on top of Hoofington, only clouds weren't usually so foul smelling. Her lungs were already stinging and running began to hurt, so she decided to call out Concorde's name again, breaking into a coughing fit after a few attempts.

"Spitfire?" somepony called out in a weak rasp. Spitfire gasped (accidentally inhaling more smoke) and followed the sound, discovering Concorde trapped under a landslide of rubble, only his front visible under the pile.

"Concorde," Spitfire knelt down and started pushing some of the bricks off his back. "Don't worry, I'll get you out of there, just hold on a minute," she frantically scrabbled to uncover the stallion.

"I've got time…" he choked a few times. "Not going anywhere after all," he let out a feeble chuckle. Spitfire acknowledged how bad his voice sounded, like every word he said was hurting him. Eventually, Spitfire had pushed enough of the rubble off him that she could grab his front hooves and pull him out. She did it gently and slowly, fearing that she would hurt him even more with even the slightest mistake. Once he was fully out from under the fallen bricks, Spitfire looked over his wounds. He had a long gash in his side, that looked like a massive scratch, and it didn't take a genius to figure that he'd probably been scratched by one of the dragon's claws. He was bleeding heavily, and the blood pooled around him like paint spilling from its can. His back was scratched up, and he'd lost quite a bit of fur. His left hind hoof was free of fur, and a little blistered at the back of it, but at least he hadn't got hit full blast by the explosion like Nimbus had.

"Okay, get on my back and I'll fly you back to Hoarfrost and the others," Spitfire assisted the stallion as he struggled to clamber onto her back. Thankfully he didn't ask how she had blood and pus all over her flight suit from earlier. She really didn't want to talk about it. "Oh crap!" she cursed at the dragons tail suddenly sliced over her head and she ducked, feeling her spiked mane get tousled as the long tail passed over her and Concorde. The tail sliced through the surrounding houses like a knife cutting a slab of butter and sent wood and bricks raining from the sky.

"Hold on," Spitfire gave Concorde a second to react before she took off into the sky. She didn't want to risk being crushed or having their way out blocked, so she took off and flew diagonally up, leaning to the side a few times to miss some flying rubble, or ducking whenever something flew at her face. Concorde didn't make a sound the entire time, but the shallow breathing in Spitfire's ear alerted her that he was still alive. A large plank of wood spun their way and Spitfire quickly bounced off it with her hind hooves to propel herself higher and faster into the sky. The dragon breathed its fire in their direction, and the golden pegasus was sure that her tail was on fire, but she didn't have time to dwell on that. Remembering her training, she flew between two airborne chunks of a wall and dodged some falling ash, since getting that in her eyes would blind her, meaning that they could get hit out of the sky. Almost there…

And then they were above the flames, and Spitfire was sure that the dragon's next roar was one of frustration that it hadn't managed to fry them. Spitfire soared above Hoofington, until she saw Silver, Surprise, Soarin, and the others.

"We're here," she alerted Concorde, who hummed to let her know he'd heard her. She landed in front of the assembled ponies, a few of whom were crying over Nimbus's body. Though when Spitfire touched down with Captain Concorde, a few of them left Nimbus and rushed over to the new arrivals, including Hoarfrost, who was being carried on Storm Front's back. Spitfire gently placed Concorde down on the ground and the stallion struggled to his haunches, choking and coughing up an unusual amount of blackened saliva. Silver slapped him on the back while reassuring him that he would be okay. Spitfire turned to face the others and much to her surprise she felt something whack her across the faces, making her head snap to the side. She looked round and suddenly the explanation to her surprise was explained.

"You. Complete. Idiot!" The mare of the same name grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her violently. "I thought you'd been burned alive like Nimbus… well, until Typhoon told me that you hadn't anyway. But you could have been flattened, or eaten or… I made a list, where is it?" Surprise started rifling through her mane but gave up after around five seconds, hugging her friend instead of strangling her. "I'm just so glad you're okay… but I'm still so _mad_ at you! UGH! I don't know if I want to kiss you or kill you!" she leaned against Typhoon for support, looking exhausted from her rant. Typhoon patted her shoulder and pushed her towards Concorde.

"Are you hurt at all?" she asked, nuzzling her sister's cheek where Surprise had slapped her. Spitfire shook her head.

"Just my innocence," she chuckled half-heartedly. She'd never get the image of the burnt up Nimbus out of her brain- it would haunt her in her nightmares for the rest of her life!

"C'mon, let's go check up on Concorde," they moved in closer to the captain, who looked battered beyond repair. He was still bleeding from that gash in his side, and Spitfire finally noticed just how deep it was. The dragon had sliced clean through his ribs, and she could tell that sickeningly because she could _see_ them! She fought to hold in her barf again, and Typhoon had to lend her one of her shoulder to keep her from falling over. Concorde collapsed onto his back, gasping and kicking out one of his hind legs. Instantly a gabble of shock and confusion rang out from the circle of Wonderbolts as the captain rolled onto his front and started hacking up blood. Soarin clapped a hoof over his mouth and Surprise fainted clean away; she would have been no help in carrying Nimbus's corpse back. Typhoon knelt down next to him and started stroking his back.

"Sir, you need bandages and some painkillers," the blue co-captain said to her superior officer. Concorde shook his head, his tears noticeable.

"No… too late…" he was breathing heavily now. Spitfire watched with worry in her eyes as he shakily got up and made his way over to… her? He sat on his rear again, only managing to stay straight a few seconds before tumbling forward, and Spitfire fumbled to catch him. He coughed a few more times and ran a blood-soaked hoof through his maroon mane, though the colour didn't really show amongst it.

"Captain…" Spitfire couldn't bring herself to say much more. She knew what was happening but her mind fought to persuade her otherwise.

"I'm sorry," Concorde mumbled, wiping some blood from his mouth. Spitfire shook her head at him. "No, you're gonna be okay, you just need some medicine and-"

"No!" Concorde cut her off. Contrail made his way over to the captain in Spitfire's arms.

"Listen, you can make it, you just need to be patched up and taken to hospital. That's all," he was desperate.

"Contrail, you know as well as I do that it's not possible. I've lost too much blood," he looked down at his gash, which was displayed in all of its gory glory. "I'm not afraid," he assured his senior Wonderbolt. Contrail stammered and looked down at the captain with watering eyes.

"But… but…" Contrail was pulled aside by Silver, who held on to him despite his struggling. By then Soarin had revived Surprise, and he was hugging her close to him while she cried. Hoarfrost was weeping too, muttering over and over that it was all her fault. Storm Front nuzzled the mare's ear before looking over at Concorde.

"Captain… I just… well, without you who's gonna lead us?" the green stallion asked. Typhoon moved over to sit beside her sister and the dying captain.

"Yeah, who?" she asked. There was fear in her eyes for definite, Typhoon was stressed out enough with the co-captain position, and she had once told Spitfire that being the captain would be far too stressful for her to take; with her naïve and carefree attitude she could make a decision that could cost them everything- that was her worst fear anyway. Spitfire was jolted from her memories by something jabbing her chest. She looked down and saw that Concorde was pushing a blue patch with a lightning bolt badge against her, the one that he always wore on his flight suit for good luck, the one that he wore to let everyone know that he was Captain of the Wonderbolts.

Wait…

"Captain, what are you-" he cut her off out jabbing her again with the badge. His eyes said it all, but once again Spitfire worked hard to convince herself that it wasn't happening. He smiled softly up at her and spoke five words that rendered every other pegasus speechless.

"Lead them well, Captain Spitfire."

Spitfire stared down at him with her jaw agape. No… she didn't deserve this. She was too young! There had never been a captain as young as her! She couldn't do it! She didn't _want_ to do it!

"No… just no, Concorde you've lost your mind, I'm not-"

"I've never been so positive of anything before," he interrupted her yet again. "I've always kept a close eye on you, and you know it, and I've always had my suspicions that you would someday take my place when my time was up."

"You're delirious or something, you're not making sense. I can't be the captain, sir," she argued, knowing that she had no right to accept this honour.

"My mind is clear enough to know that I'm doing the right thing. The captain always chooses his successor, and I choose you," he said with finality in his tone, despite the life draining from him. Spitfire looked around at her fellow Wonderbolts, expecting one of them to object, or at least have Contrail strut up and take the badge for himself, but he stood rigid. Everypony had their eyes on her, even Typhoon, and for the first time there was no expression there. She was alone on this. Though to be honest, her mind was blurred too. Concorde was usually right about everything, which was something she has frequently heard Nimbus complain about when he made him do chores. If he wanted her to be captain then maybe she should listen, even though she was unsure as to whether the captain was just saying these things because his dying brain was screwing up his thoughts. But she wanted him to die thinking that the Wonderbolts were in safe hood, half-conscious or not… so there was really only one option.

She grabbed the badge in her hoof and squeezed it, smiling down at Concorde to let him now that she accepted. Concorde gave her a brave grin.

"You're gonna go far, Little Wonder," he gave her a final wink. Then the light faded from his brown eyes and he seemed to grow heavier, like stone, sinking lower into Spitfire's hold. And then everypony was crying; as if they'd been given a simultaneous command. There wasn't a dry eye amongst the group of pegasi. Spitfire was feeling a lot of guilt, much to her surprise, thinking of all the times she could have hung out with him when she didn't. She would never again see him laugh at one of Typhoon or Surprise's jokes, or see him merry after having more to drink than he should have, and he'd never give her a knowing smile when he was pretending to be mad at her in front of her friends. She could not comprehend that he wasn't still alive, and this wasn't just a sick joke he was playing on them. And moment Spitfire expected him to open his eyes and make fun of her for crying over him, but it never came. And it never would.

Contrail and Silver Lining took Concorde away from her and lay him beside Nimbus. Spitfire wiped her eyes, walking over to a stack of barrels a little way away. They seemed to be the only wooden thing around that the fire hadn't caught up to yet. She leaned her back against them and was soon joined by Typhoon, Surprise and Soarin.

"Wow…" Typhoon muttered as she sat next to her. She was blinking back fresh tears, her eyes already burning. "My little sister's the captain… never would have seen that coming."

"He's gone, Ty," Spitfire buried her face in her sister's shoulder. "I should have found him sooner. He might still be alive if I'd-"

"Hey, this is _not_ your fault!" Typhoon scolded her. "If it were I would be lecturing you far worse than he or Nighthawk ever did! Now, listen here," she tilted her sister's chin up so she could look her in the eye. "You're the captain now, which means that you need to give the others hope. You're their leader now, so get out there and lead. For Concorde."

Spitfire knew that she was right… oh, how she hated it when Typhoon was right. She got up and made her way over to her teammates with her friends and sister in tow, Surprise still sniveling. She cleared her throat to get the others' attention, not sure how she was supposed to order ponies around the way Concorde had. And even if she did come up with something who was to say they'd listen to her? She was too young for this! Looking around she caught sight of the barrels she and the others had been leaning against not that long ago. That actually gave her a good idea… and it was just crazy enough to work!

"Okay, listen up!" she barked in a voice she didn't know she possessed, one that surprised Soarin, Typhoon, Silver, and even Surprise herself. "I know that all of us are feeling losses for these… amazing stallions, but I just feel inclined to remind you that they gave their lives for the good of Hoofington. They died doing what they did best, fighting and flying for Equestria, and they'll be watching over us from the stars just like all those before us," she gave Typhoon a glance at that, and her sister nodded with approval at her pep talk.

"I know that a lot of you are angry… or hurt," she sniffled before straightening up again. "But this is the right time to aim that anger where it belongs!" she pointed towards the burning town. "There's a dragon in there destroying ponies' homes, and I've got a plan that can put down this beast for good. But you all need to follow my orders. You got that?!"

"YES MA'AM!" the Wonderbolt's chorused, a few of them still saying 'yes sir' instead. Even Typhoon and her friends were calling her 'ma'am'. It felt strange…

"Alright, Storm Front, you stay here and take care of Hoarfrost, everypony else, see those barrels over there?" she nodded over to the stack of barrels. "I want you all to take one barrel between two ponies and head on over to the reservoir. Use the barrels to scoop up the water and put out as much of the flames as you can. Typhoon and I are gonna head after the dragon. Silver and Contrail, I want you two specifically in a pair. When I do a Spit-Blitz that's your signal to grab a barrel of water as throw it down the dragon's throat; that'll extinguish its flames. Everypony got that?"

"YES MA'AM!"

"THEN MOVE IT, MOVE IT, **MOVE IT**!"

And then the Wonderbolts took off. Spitfire found herself wondering if this was what it was like to be a god, having control over everything and everyone. A part of her felt powerful, while a different part of her wanted to slap herself for doing Concorde's job- it was almost like she was insulting him for not giving the others more time to grieve.

"Hey, Spit," Surprise gave her friend a hug. "Don't die, okay," she squeezed her shoulder. Spitfire put of a brave face and pushed her away.

"Don't call me Spit," she grinned lightly. Soarin was about to follow the white Wonderbolt to the barrels when he looked over his shoulder at his golden colleague and new captain.

"Yeah, if you die I'll kick your flank," he joked. And then he was off. Typhoon nudged Spitfire from her left side.

"Ready captain?" she asked. Spitfire blushed, not sure that she would ever get used to being called that. Heck she wasn't even sure she _liked _being called that. But there was no time to debate whether or not she preferred one title over another.

"Ready as I'll ever be," she shrugged, looking straight into her sister's orange eyes. Yep, even after all these years they were still identical to her own, and they were reflecting the fire, making it seem as if they were really alight. If anything it just made her look even stronger that she was already.

Then they looked straight into the fire, each of them knowing that this would be the toughest challenge they'd ever have to face. Spitfire knew that there was a high chance that they would all die if her plan didn't work… in truth there will still some parts of the plan_ she_ wasn't sure of, so they had no choice but to literally wing it. She breathed in, aware that this would be her last breath of fresh air before she was in the smoke again, and then spread her wings.

"I feel the need…" she looked over at Typhoon, who smirked before they both finished the sentence together.

"THE NEED FOR SPEED!"

And then they burst into the fire again.

"So, what's the plan, Stan?" Typhoon asked her sister once their path had been blocked by a wall of rubble, probably caused by the dragon smashing something else. Spitfire thought frantically for a plan.

"Ty, what's our combined wingpower?" she asked. Typhoon added the numbers up in her head. 21 point something," she shrugged, not knowing the numbers precisely. Oh well, that might be enough.

"If we flap our wings hard enough maybe it could blow out the flames?" she was just spit-balling ideas here. Typhoon just scoffed at her plan, which she had kinda expected.

"Have you forgot who your sister is?" she asked. "I can do better than that," and then she crouched down. "But I'll need your help; jump on my back!"

Spitfire obeyed, knowing that her sister always had the best ideas. Typhoon then took off and backed down the path a little.

"Now flap your wings hard!" Typhoon took off instantly afterwards, Spitfire flapping her wings along with Typhoon, in sync and getting faster. And then she knew what the blue mare was planning. It only took about six seconds for the right amount of friction to be built up around them, and then Typhoon stopped flapping; the wind that they had created carried them along through the smoke, blowing the flames out an sending the barrier blocking their way tumbling down. They blasted through it like bullets, sending shrapnel billowing around them before it implanted itself in the ground and walls around them.

"Nice thinking, Ty," Spitfire praised her sister, getting off her back and flying next to her. "Now let's go smash that dragon's head in!" Well maybe she wouldn't do something that severe; as long as the dragon retreated back to its hidey-hole then everything was cool. She still wanted to avenge Concorde and Nimbus in some way, however.

The sisters' had a clear route from then on out, and soon they were looking over the dragon's path of destruction. It had stomped all over the buildings- so much that you couldn't tell that they had been houses once. And much to Spitfire's horror, there were more corpses; most of them blackened beyond recognition but quite a few in the same state Nimbus had been in.

"Pst, this way," Typhoon gestured for Spitfire to follow her, creeping carefully around the wreckage's. Spitfire found her eyes watering at the scrambled smells in the air, and she was struggling not to cough because of the smoke assaulting her lungs. A few times she and Typhoon passed a dead body, which just made the rank smell even stronger. The ground below was also partially painted with blood from the dead, and injured ponies that had run for cover. She decided not to look at it all and just keep on looking straight ahead, but she found out that it was the worst thing she could have possibly done.

Squelch!

Oh Celestia…

"_Please don't let it be what I think it is…"_ Spitfire slowly angled her eyes down, where she saw her front hoof embedded in a corpse's chest, her leg reddened all the way up to her knee from where it splattered. She was paralyzed for a full ten seconds before she could say something.

"Typhoon…" she squeaked, feeling sick all over again. Her sister turned and gasped, quickly grabbing the younger mare and pulling her closer.

"My goodness, you're white as a sheet," Typhoon looked her over. "Though mostly red," she added as an afterthought.

"What do ya mean?" Spitfire asked woozily, trying to keep her puke in. Typhoon escorted her into the husk of an old house and dragged her over to a mirror that had been partially cracked. She was actually horrified at the sight of the pony that stared back at her.

Her mane and tail were ruffled, but that wasn't the most horrific thing- not by a long shot. Her flight suit had been ripped in many different places, blood and pus were soaking her back, and it was dripping down her sides. She had several cuts on her face, the right side of her face almost completely reddened. Her front right leg was so red that it looked like she'd stepped in a can of paint, and there were scorch marks on her suit and tail, which had burned so much that a few inches of it was _gone_! She had ash all over her face too, tinting it with a dark grey and she had a pretty grim looking gash on her shoulder that was oozing blood and pus of her own. She was also embarrassed to find that there was still a puke stain at the left corner of her mouth. She wiped it away, but it was all for nought since she threw up again about two seconds later.

"You alright there?" Typhoon asked softly, petting her sister's back. Spitfire wiped her mouth again, getting rid of the stain entirely, though that was the least of her worries.

"Do I _look_ okay?" she gestured to herself. "I look like something out of a slasher movie!"

Typhoon gave a weak grin. "I uh… can't really disagree with you there," she rubbed the back of her neck. Spitfire gave her sister a quick once-over. She wasn't in the best state either, her back was soaked too, so she assumed that Nimbus had oozed over her a lot, too. She was admittedly not as bad looking as Spitfire, however.

"Look, we'll have a shower when we get back to compound. Just think of that," she waited for her sister to calm down and then they went back outside. Looking up, Spitfire saw that the other Wonderbolts were hard at work putting out the flames. The dragon slashed at them a few times, but they got out of harm's way fairly easily.

"Okay, here's the plan," Spitfire looked up at the massive beast. "We're both gonna fly around its head, only you're gonna go fly around it one way while I do the same in the other direction. A dragon is basically a reptile, right, so once we get it dizzy enough I'm gonna stop flying. When you catch up to me we're gonna fly in circles around each other to hypnotize it- ya know, like a cobra. Then I'll signal Silver and he'll do his part. Then the dragon will be powerless and the royal guards can take it from there." She plotted; amazed that it seemed to just come to her. Now if it would just _work_!

"Okay boss," Typhoon winked at her little sister and spread her wings. "Hey?" she asked just as Spitfire was about to take off.

"Hm?" the gold mare raised a brow. Typhoon looked awkwardly at the ground.

"What do you think dad and mom would say if they could see us now?" she wondered. Spitfire usually didn't like to think about her parents… or most of her past come to think of it. But it was a good question, and one that she had to consider.

"Well… they'd probably be scared of me," she decided, looking at one of her bloodied hooves. "Heck they might not even recognize me in my state," she thought of the innocent little long haired filly that had been replaced by… Jack the Ripper in a skin tight flight suit!

"Meh, I bet they'd still love you if half your face had been bitten off by-"

"LALALALALA!" Spitfire plugged her ears and sang loudly, not wanting to think about- nope, too late. EeEeEeEwWwWwW!

Unfortunately, her singing had attracted the attention of the dragon, who stared down at the two ponies with slit, yellow eyes. Typhoon and Spitfire stared back at it stiffly.

"Oh," said Typhoon.

"Crud." Said Spitfire.

The dragon breathed its terrifying fire at them and they dove in separate directions, narrowly avoiding getting scorched like Nimbus and all those corpses. After skidding a few feet through rubble and blood, Spitfire got to her hooves and looked around for Typhoon, fearing the worst. And then her hope was restored as her sister flew up to the dragon and started spinning around its head while singing:

"I'm the T to the Y

To the P, H, O, O, N!

I'm-a kick your scaly butt

And send ya crying to your den!

I'M TYPHOONLICIOUS!"

Spitfire had to hand it to her sister- she knew how to be hilarious even in a life or death situation. Well, time to commence the plan! Spitfire stretched out her legs once and then followed Typhoon. And then the plan was in action. She flew once way around the dragon, while Typhoon did the same in the other direction. Occasionally when they flew past each other they would hoof bump and then laugh at the dragon's befuddled face. It was like it was swatting aimlessly at two particularly annoying flies.

A few times, Spitfire came close to being shredded by those lethal looking claws, but luck must have been on her side because she swerved out the way of every attack. Typhoon practically breezed past every attempt the dragon made to knock her out of the sky, and once even blew a raspberry at it.

The new Wonderbolt captain took a second to look at her colleagues dousing the fire with the barrels of water. It seemed to be working, and the fire was extinguishing quickly. She caught sight of Surprise and Soarin tipping their barrel over and accidentally soaking Contrail, who yelled at them before getting back to work with Silver Lining. Man those two were funny.

"Spit, look out!"

"GYAH!" Spitfire snapped her wings to her side and free fell for a few seconds as the dragon breathed fire at her again, yelling in agony as she felt her back left leg get caught in the flames. She really needed to learn not to get distracted by anything. She looked back at her hoof, startled to find that when the fire died out on it, it took her fur with it. That was nasty!

Finally after a few minutes, Spitfire's wings were beginning to tire, and the smoke wasn't doing her any favors. It was stinging her eyes and cuts and making her head fuzzy. Not to help that the fresh burn on her back left was stinging like crazy. She recalled Nimbus's entire body being burnt, and felt a little sick at the idea of so much pain.

"Spit?" Typhoon started flying beside her, going against the rules. But the dragon seemed dazed enough anyway, so she allowed their discussion to commence. "Should we do our thing now?" she asked. Spitfire looked down at Silver Lining and Contrail, who sure enough were looking back at them.

"Alright, let's go!"

And then they started spinning around each other, flying up and then down over and over again. Spitfire had to remember that Typhoon couldn't handle that kind of dizziness for as long as she could, so they couldn't spend too long doing this. Though today she'd barfed so much that her throat was starting to ache… or was that from the smoke? Oh never mind the point is that she probably had nothing left to hurl anyway.

The dragon had its eyes fixed directly on them and for some horrific time the two pegasi thought that it wouldn't fall for their trick. Then suddenly its eyes went glassy and its jaw hung open. It looked a little like a limp toy swaying ever so slightly from side to side now, though its eyes never strayed from the circling Wonderbolts.

"Do it now!" Typhoon yelled over the sound of whirring, and Spitfire was quick to agree, grabbing Typhoon as she pulled up in a Spit-Blitz so that she didn't set her on fire. She looked over her shoulder and sure enough Silver and Contrail were flying up to the still dazed beast with their barrel.

"_Please get there before it snaps out of it,"_ she prayed to Celestia. Silver And Contrail readied the barrel and the thrust it forward with all their strength, sending water cascading into the dragon's mouth. The best convulsed and looked shocked, but by then it was too late. It roared to try and breathe fire but nothing came out! The dragon whined in a high pitched growl, as if it were having a tantrum. Typhoon made some happy cheering noises and grabbed Spitfire, hugging her and spinning around! They landed on the ground below and started jumping around each other just like a pair of little fillies playing together would do.

"We did it!" Typhoon sang over and over again and she hopped. But they weren't exactly out of the woods yet… oh no. In the dragons fury, it knocked over the Hoofington clock tower which, while on fire, was one of the only building that hadn't been smashed to pieces. The blazing tower toppled over, right at the celebrating sister's. Spitfire gasped and rolled to the left, while Typhoon dashed to the right. Spitfire landed on her right wing, feeling it bend and make a horrible cracking noise. She gasped with pain and shock, and found that when she lifted it, it burned as if it were set alight, without actually being on fire! Spitfire discovered that she was faced with a dead end wall of flames and twisted round to go back, but it was too late.

"SPIT-" and then the tower cut her off from Typhoon. And then wherever she looked there was fire. The sky was smoking so much, but it was her only chance. Flying into the air, she could only make it a couple of feet up before the pain in her right wing was too much for her to take. She then fell back down to the ground, trapped in the inferno.

She gave it a few more attempts, but every time the pain just got worse and worse. One time she even found herself worrying that her wing might break clean off. So she was forced back to the ground again, looking around desperately for some other way of escape. Forward? No. Backwards? No. Left? No. Right? NO!

And then she realized that there was nothing she could do. She was going to die here, all alone, engulfed by fire in what was left of Hoofington. She sat in the middle of the small space she had left and did all she could do- she curled up on the ground and waited, sobbing a little, too. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. She'd go knowing that she'd defeated a dragon, and that her friends were safe, most importantly Typhoon. She'd always heard that when you died you went to the EverAfter to be reunited with loved ones, so she would possibly see her mom and dad again. Concorde and Nimbus, too.

She buried her face in her hooves as she waited for the flames to swallow her up, imagining her parents when she saw them again. Her father would take her flying through the stars, just like they'd talked about when she and Typhoon were fillies, her mother would be in the beautiful state she'd been in before she met Scotch, she'd be smiling and singing all the time and she'd tell Spitfire how proud she was of her. Concorde would be there, and he'd be great friends with Jetstream. They'd talk about all that scientific stuff Jetstream would be into and when he met Honey Glaze he'd do the classic 'How did Jetstream get a mare as fine as you' line he often pulled. She'd make amends with Nimbus, who'd have all his fur back, and they'd chase each other through the sky like they'd done when they were playful moods.

Yeah, death was nothing to worry about… right?

"Spitfire," somepony shook her shoulders. Spitfire lifted her head and looked up. She found herself looking into the bright green eyes of Honey Glaze. "Spitfire, sweetie, you need to get up."

"Wha… mom?" she slurred, blinking rapidly. Oh, she knew what was happening. This was her mom come to get her. She'd heard about this happening before you died. Okay then… she was ready to give in anyway.

"No, Spit, you need to get up now!"

Wow, her mom had never been this harsh when she was alive.

"C-can't," Spitfire spluttered, coughing a few times. Then Honey Glaze slapped her across her cheek.

"OW!" she sat bolt upright. When her head finally cleared, her lemon yellow mother shifted into her blue sister, who was frantically shaking her.

"Snap out of it! We've gotta go now!"

"How the hay did you get in here?" Spitfire was fully aware of things now. Typhoon pointed to her side at a barrel.

"In that!" she gave her sister a shove as a plank of wood narrowly missed hitting her. "Now get in it. Trust me!"

Spitfire did as she was told, finding that the inside of the barrel was still wet from where it had been full of water previously, and it soothed the burn on her back hoof. Typhoon grabbed the barrel by the rim and started lifting it up into the air. As stated previously, pegasi were strong despite their size and so Typhoon had no problems in ascending with her sister in the barrel. Spitfire peered out from her spot, and she could see that the smoke was thinning out. Then she could see the dragon; it was close and flailing its tail about wildly. Silver and the other Wonderbolts were putting out more of the fires, pouring barrel after barrel down to the earth, and it was beginning to look like an improvement, even if you couldn't tell what most of the buildings were.

"OH SH-"

Typhoon's curse was cut off as the dragon's tail came their way. She wasn't able to move out of the way in time and soon the two sisters were falling through the air. Typhoon recovered after a little while and managed to latch onto the barrel before it hit the ground, though Spitfire was still a little shaken, especially since most of the impact had been on her broken wing.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," Typhoon apologised as Spitfire clambered out of the barrel. Typhoon tutted and walked back and forth frantically. She looked severely at Spitfire. "I can't fly fast enough to avoid the dragon while carrying you. We'll have to run for it!"

Spitfire had issues with this plan. Her wing hurt no matter how slightly it moved, and her burned hoof stung like Tartarus whenever she put it down. Upon realising this she lifted it up. She had to be strong. For Typhoon. For Surprise. Silver. Soarin.

"Okay," she replied simply, coughing on smoke immediately. Typhoon looked at her with concern but shook it off, not wanting her to change her mind. She bent down and kissed Spitfire's nose.

"I'm proud of you," she beamed at her, and those words seemed to pour strength into the younger mare's soul. She looked gratefully up at the blue mare and reached up to hug her, breathing in what she could of her familiar, comforting scent through the smoke and ash. She was ready. When they parted Spitfire stopped Typhoon as she was about to run.

"Hey, why don't you fly on ahead? I'll be fine by myself," she assured her, Typhoon shook her head.

"I'm not leaving you this time. We're in this together, all the way, that's the way it's always been right?" she asked rhetorically. "You know what they say. 'If your sister has to run through a blazing town-" she put a hoof on Spitfire's shoulder. "-You should too'!"

Spitfire chuckled as best she could and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, nopony says that," she gave her sister a playful shove before remembering that they were in a serious situation.

"Let's go!" they started dashing through the wreckage and fire. Unfortunately, they had fallen in a section of town that hadn't been visited by the Wonderbolts and drenches with water yet so it was still scorching. The dragon was obviously still fuming at them, and he wasn't going to let them go so easily. He picked up a flaming pillar in his jaws (damn dragons for being fireproof) and tossed it their way. Typhoon shrieked and picked up the pace as the pillar skidded across the ground after them. Luckily it didn't reach them, but the flames were licking at Spitfire's heels. Every step she took sent a volt of pain like electricity through her veins, making her want to just fall down. Typhoon was keeping her pace slow for her sake as well; didn't she know that they were in danger. This was the reason Spitfire admired her sister so much- she would risk her life for the ponies she cared about, no matter what the circumstances were.

The two sisters ran into some exceptionally thick smoke that partially blinded them. Apart from some orange flickers where the fire was Spitfire couldn't see anything! She looked to the side, wanting to tell Typhoon that they should go right, but-

"TY?!" she called out. Her sister had disappeared. Where the heck was she? Then again she could be anywhere- how could she see Typhoon when she couldn't see her own hoof in front of her face. She squinted to be able to see. Man she hated smoke!

She trooped on through the smoke, expecting to bump into Typhoon all of a sudden but she seemed to have just vanished into thin air. She hadn't been caught by the fire or crushed- oh no, she would have heard that! She was probably looking for her, too.

Suddenly there was a loud thud and the smoke around her billowed about. She wasn't exactly sure what happened but the next thing she knew her tail was trapped under a large chunk of… oh it was a chimney stack. She tried tugging her tail out from under it but found that it only hurt. She then tried pushing it off, but the darn thing was too big and heavy for her. She managed to make it scoot a little, but at the speed she was going she'd be dead before she was free.

"I sense a damsel in distress," Typhoon morphed out of nowhere like a ghost. It actually freaked her out, but Spitfire was just relieved to have somepony there to give her a hoof. The two of them managed to free her tail from the chimney stack and they hurried on, out of the thick smoke into… slightly less thick smoke.

"I think we're almost-" suddenly a sound similar to an explosion rang out and the ground began shaking. Before either of the sisters knew what was going on lumps of rock and brick were raining from the sky.

"Oh come on, that's not fair!" Typhoon wailed as they dodged each of the rocks. One of them slammed into Typhoon's side and sent her skidding across the ground into a wall, and with Spitfire assistance she managed to get back up to avoid being smushed by another one. It was like they were being fired at with the hugest bullets in existence!

The path was pretty clear now, and if Spitfire squinted she could see silhouettes of pegasi in the distance.

"I see them!" she shouted at Typhoon over the ringing in her ears. Typhoon smiled at her and they ran side by side through the rubble. Though as the seconds past Typhoon started to run ahead of her, her hoof began stinging like hell and every time her wing slapped against her side she wanted to pass out from the pain. She looked behind her and saw that she was leaving a trail of blood. Strange, when had she got that gash in her flank? Heh… ooh, why was everything spinning?

"Spit, hurry!" Typhoon called her back into reality. Oh yeah, running! Running is good! She picked up the pace again while trying to blot out the pain, though found that with each passing moment the ringing in her ears just got louder and things started to echo. She couldn't shake off that terrible feeling that something would fall on her head at any moment and knock her brains out, and there was an even worse feeling that maybe she should just let it happen. Wouldn't it be better than hurting herself like this? This just discouraged her more, and in her state of despair started hearing ponies' voices taunting her.

"_You. Complete. Idiot!"_

"_Coward!"_

"_What's the matter? Little Wonder can't catch up to the newbie?"_

"_What. Were. You. THINKING?!"_

"Try not to fall off the clouds, 'cause nopony will catch you."

One more dead pony wouldn't make much of a difference, would it? Ponies died all the time, so why would she matter?

"_He's dead, kid."_

"_Oh, damn it, mom, don't be dead, please just get the hay up!"_

"_No, you're gonna be okay, you just need some medicine and-"_

"_I should have helped- or at least got you to stay. I'm sorry; I didn't want you to…"_

"Spit, don't you dare stop!" Typhoon's voice broke through that infernal ringing. "Courage!" Wait, what was she thinking? She had Typhoon, Surprise, Soarin, and she was their captain now. They couldn't lose another Wonderbolt.

"_Nice job, kid."_

"_I'm here now."_

"_We can't forget about you."_

"_Don't die, okay."_

"_Yeah, if you die I'll kick your flank."_

"_You're gonna go far, Little Wonder."_

"_I'm proud of you."_

And then they were out of the fire.

The first thing Spitfire did when she and Typhoon made it to safety was collapse on the ground and gasp for breath through all the coughing she was doing. Typhoon was beside her immediately, slapping her on the back and hugging her. Spitfire saw that there were some royal guards on the scene now, armed with what looked like tranquilizer guns… the size of a tree.

"Okay give them some space," Silver Lining pushed away the Wonderbolts who were crowding around them. He sat down and wrapped his hooves around the two sisters as best he could, nuzzling each of them in turn. "Thank Celestia you're out, we were starting to think that you'd… never mind," he shook off his sentence.

"We're… alive…" Spitfire croaked out, lightening up a little. "We're alive!" she exclaimed, standing up on all fours, lifting up her injured hoof a second later. Surprise and Soarin rushed over to congratulate her and Typhoon along with the other Wonderbolts, and Spitfire took a minute to reflect on the praise she was getting. Would this happen all the time as a captain? Well if it involved death defying obstacles and fire breathing monsters then she'd happily pass it up.

"I really thought that you'd been burnt alive or- or squashed or eaten or…" Surprise was in tears. "Gah, I was so worried, and now you're here and I don't know what to do!" she just grabbed her friend, hugged her and then kissed her cheek, gagging as she realized that her friend was covered in blood and… Nimbus. Soarin hugged her from the other side.

"I'm so relieved that you're not dragon kibble," he looked shocked at what he'd said. "Not that it would have happened," he shrugged and grinned weakly. Spitfire slugged him on the shoulder and gave him an affectionate head-butt.

"Good to see you too, ya big dope," she teased him, and Surprise laughed at her. Things were already going back to normal. Spitfire then realized that Hoofington was still partly blazing, and this whole section needed to be put out. Concorde needed to… oh, yeah. So, taking her new position into account, she yelled over all the bumbling.

"GUYS!" she choked instantly afterwards. Okay, no more shouting for a while. She had their attention anyway. "Let's leave the celebration till after the job is done. We need to put out these fires pronto, so leave the royal guards to get the dragon and head on back to the reservoir. Let's go, come on!"

The Wonderbolts did as they were told, leaving only the sisters, Silver, Surprise and Soarin. Spitfire looked behind her at the blazing houses, taking comfort in the fact that they would soon be flameless… destroyed, but flameless. Silver Lining smiled down at them.

"You have no idea how proud I am of you two. I'm sure that Cloud Showers will say the same the next time you see her, and you'll have a cool story to tell Orion." He told them. Spitfire liked the sound of that, picturing her trying to tell the story and then Typhoon butting in, putting in some false information about how she put the dragon in a headlock or something. Surprise and Soarin started walking away.

"C'mon, let's go help out," Surprise chirped happily. Silver started following and Spitfire was about to follow. Then she realized that with her broken wing she would be no help whatsoever. She felt bad that she couldn't take part, but in truth she really wanted to go over to Storm Front, who was still assisting Hoarfrost with her broken back, and get some medical attention. She was about to mosey on over when Typhoon stopped her by putting a hoof on her shoulder.

"What?" Spitfire asked her sister. Typhoon smirked and ruffled her mane, something she usually found annoying.

"You've done something incredible today. You know that, don't you?" she asked. Spitfire smiled softly to herself.

"I guess I have… but you need to give yourself some credit too. If it wasn't for you I'd look like Nimbus… or worse," she replied. Typhoon pulled her into another hug, resting her head on her sister's.

"We make a pretty good team," she commented. Spitfire felt relaxed by the sound of her sister's heartbeat, kind of like the same way a baby would be soothed by its mother's.

"We do," she agreed lazily, nuzzling her sister's chest fur. Typhoon sniffled and lifted her head up.

"You're the greatest sister I could ever have," she bent down and gave Spitfire a kiss on the forehead. "And **the most amazing pegasus ever to take to the skies**."

Suddenly, Spitfire's ears perked up at a weird crackling noise. "What was that?" she asked, looked behind her at the inferno. It seemed to be coming from the house nearest to them.

And then the blasted roof fell off!

The flaming roof fell down towards the sisters, casting a shadow over them. The two of them started to run, but it just wasn't working. Spitfire heard Surprise shriek hers and Typhoon's names out before the roof crashed down on top of them. She felt the terrible sensation of stinging all over her and everything went up in flames, nothing but fire. She couldn't move at all and her body was being crushed into the ground. She wanted to call out for Typhoon but it was like she couldn't control herself anymore. Then things went from blazing and painful to numb and dark.

And then Equestria vanished.

* * *

_Beep… beep… beep…_

The first thing Spitfire saw was whiteness. Literally everything was white. Was she dead? She didn't feel dead? But were you supposed to feel like you were dead if you were dead?

_Beep… beep… beep…_

And what the heck was that noise?! She was sure that she could hear ponies talking, but she couldn't understand a word they were saying, like she was submerged in water trying to figure out what the ponies on the surface were talking about.

_Beep… beep… beep…_

She tried to sit up but she couldn't feel… anything. She tried to lift her head but it wouldn't budge, her legs were limp and her eyelids were heavy. She felt like all she could do was lie there, but when had she ever just given up… okay there was that time- never mind!

Beep, beep, beep, beep.

She wanted that awful sound to stop more than anything, keep her… wherever she was forever, but shut down that cacophony! And then she could finally move. She was in some kind of bed… not hers, but a bed nonetheless. She looked to her right and was a little freaked out by the weird machine there. What was with all the wires… and that weird jumpy line-thingy on the screen? And why was there a bunch of things attached to her? They hadn't been there before. She moved a hoof up to rub her eyes found that it didn't feel quite right. She realized with a jolt that there wasn't any fur on her hoof. Oh Celestia! Please don't be bald! She lifted up the sheets and looked frantically under them. She didn't know how to react.

For one thing she wasn't covered in blood anymore, that was an improvement, and she wasn't wearing her flight suit anymore, but she had stitches in several places, her fur had been shaven off in more places than she could mention exposing some admittedly gross looking wounds, and her right wing was bandaged and strapped round her middle. Oh this must be a hospital. Whew, thank Celestia- she didn't want to go to the EverAfter looking like this. She wasn't usually concerned about her appearance but if she was gonna reunite with her parents she should have been in one piece at least.

"Oh you're awake!"

"GAH!" Spitfire jumped and that beeping sped up. She clutched her chest and looked angrily at the stallion who'd made her jump. He quickly apologized.

"Oh, sorry; I wouldn't want to give you a heart attack to go with those burns," he was obviously trying to be funny about this, but Spitfire didn't find it amusing… at all. "That was no way to be woken up, especially since you've been out for three days." He cleared his throat and looked her over, while she lay there with her hooves folded.

"So, aren't you going to explain things? That's what doctors do, right?" she asked. The stallion was clearly a doctor judging by his uniform… and the name-tag that said Doctor Feelgood. He nodded and read from the clipboard he was levitating.

"Well you've got a lot of second degree burns and a couple of third degree burns, nothing that your fur can't cover though and luckily they weren't that large. You've probably gained some mental trauma through all of this, I'll name the symptoms later, but you'll need medication and a few pills. We've also contacted a therapist and you've broken your wing in three places and one of your back hooves is a little busted up.

"Wait a sec," Spitfire sat up. "You got me sessions with a _therapist_?!" she almost face hoofed. There were waaaaay worse things to focus on than seeing a variant of a doctor.

"Um… yes. Another thing to point out is that you inhaled a dangerous amount of smoke. We've had to extract some of the tar from your lungs so they may be in a bad way for a little while. You're lucky that it didn't affect your heart because then we would have had to take more drastic actions."

"Wait, does this mean I can't fly?" she asked, suddenly aware of the pain in her body. When would these burns stop, well, burning?! Doctor Feelgood sighed and looked at her with regret.

"Sadly you'll have to stay off that wing until it's fully healed, and until we're sure that you don't have any lung problems you'll have to be rooted to the ground lest you suffer from a failure while flying."

"Just great!" she let her arms fall to the side, though winced when they hit the mattress. A mattress hurt her. A _mattress_! God, she just wanted to get out of here, find Typhoon, and get back to her usual life.

Wait…

"Typhoon!" she gasped, wondering how she could have forgotten. She hadn't asked how her sister was recovering. "Where is Typhoon? I wanna see her." She said to the doctor. Doctor Feelgood gave her a long look, seemingly debating something in his head. What was there to decide? All he needed to do was send her sister in, what more was there to it?

"Um… wait one second," he left the room after that, leaving her alone with her thoughts… and her pain. She looked at her burns more carefully this time. The second degree ones were bad enough, all pink and swollen, but the third degree ones made her feel sick. They were red and blistery, like a less crispy version of Nimbus's burns. Oh no, Nimbus… Concorde… it seemed like it was all a dream by now. One second she was at the scene of the fire and then she was in a soft bed. Just like waking up from a nightmare… with a lot of burns.

And then the doctor came back in, accompanied by an older looking mare. The mare looked like she was fangirling a little since she was speaking to a Wonderbolt but held in her squees.

"It's great to see that you're doing so well, ma'am," she smiled. "You're a real fighter, ya know?" she looked astounded to be in her presence, almost shy. Spitfire wasn't used to this and she really just wanted to get right to the point with this. No beating around the bush!

"Listen I just wanna know where Typhoon is," she put on her business face to show that she was serious no matter what her conditions were. "I need to see my sister."

The mare gulped and looked up at Doctor Feelgood, who wouldn't make eye contact. She looked like she wanted to strangle him but sucked it up, almost as if she were scared of doing it in front of Spitfire. She looked back at the Wonderbolt and cleared her throat nervously.

"Um… miss; I don't really think that you understand just how serious this incident you and your sister were in was. You're lucky to still be alive," she told her.

Hold on…

No…

Spitfire felt as though she'd just been stabbed in the heart. It couldn't… no, it just… she wasn't… she practically felt all the light in her life leave her, as if some vital part of her had torn itself away from her and run away. This couldn't be happening…

"And you've made a miraculous recovery, but… the truth is…"

"No…" she choked, not sure of anything anymore. Was this happening? Was this a bad dream? Was this some kind of post-death punishment? Typhoon couldn't be… she… she didn't know what to think. All she could do was sit there numbly as the doctor told her the one thing in the world she'd hoped she'd never have to hear.

"You were the only one who survived."

* * *

The next six years passed slowly, and painfully. The Wonderbolt captain recovered well enough, her burns being covered with her golden fur and her heart and lungs turned out to be okay, too. But some wounds can't heal, no matter how long you have them. Some ponies just have to live with the scars.

Ever since Typhoon died it was like Spitfire's mind was disintegrating. Her grief was gnawing away at it, and it felt like she was slowly losing it. She would rather have suffered any other kind of pain- burn her like Nimbus, break every bone in her body, but Typhoon had been taken away from her. It hurt like her heart had been smashed with a mallet.

When she finally got well enough to start working again she rebuffed ponies who tried to comfort her. She would push Surprise away whenever she tried to give her a hug, and she no longer laughed at Soarin's jokes, just rolled her eyes and called him stupid. She avoided Silver Lining like the plague, since he brought back the most memories of her sister, and whenever she did interact with him she treated him with as much respect as she would for a fly buzzing by someone's ear, so that eventually he gave up trying to help her. She offered the position of co-captain to Soarin seeing as he was her smartest friend (a fact she was ashamed to admit). Hoarfrost was retired because of her back and Storm Front retired with her to keep her company and help her out. Contrail quit because he couldn't handle working without Concorde, and some new recruits, Rapidfire, Wave Chill and Fleetfoot were assigned to replace them.

But there was one pony that no one could ever replace- the one pony Spitfire was certain she loved. Adapting to life without Typhoon was like trying to accept that you could never walk or fly again. When she was with Typhoon she knew that amongst all the pain there was one thing that made living worthwhile: her candle in the dark. She missed being woken up at night by Typhoon after she had a bad dream, strange as it may seem. But she always used to crawl into bed next to her and they'd fall asleep together. Sometimes when Typhoon had a bad one she would make Spitfire read to her, and sometimes she kept making her read for hours at a time. But she didn't care, you never did when you loved someone that much. When you love someone like Spitfire loved Typhoon, they were a part of you; it's like they were attached by this invisible tether and no matter how far away they were from each other, they could always feel the others presence. But now whenever Spitfire reached for that tether she knew that there was nopony on the other end, and she felt like she was falling into nothingness. But then she remembered Typhoon, remembered a life led with no enemies, no resentments, no regrets, and she was inspired to get up and walk through another day. She missed Typhoon so much that it felt like part of her had been torn away. She just wanted to hug her one last time, just for ten seconds. Was that so much to ask- ten more seconds to hold and hug her? But she couldn't, and she wouldn't, and the only thing keeping her from being swallowed whole by her sadness was that Typhoon would have killed her if she did. So all she could do was miss her.

Most of the time she stayed in her new office all day crying; she couldn't do anything else. Everything reminded her of her dead sister, and too many times she found herself turning to talk to Typhoon before remembering that she would never speak to her again. There were certain times that she felt that she couldn't go on without Typhoon. And Cloudsdale was a pretty high place to fall from...

No, she couldn't do that. She thought of Honey Glaze. Did she really want to go out the same way her mother had? Just give up because she felt like there was no other option? No, she wasn't like that- she was a fighter, a survivor. She decided that the only real way to get over this was to just forget all about it; pretend that Typhoon and the fire were just bad dreams and move on. Nopony was allowed to talk about her, and if they did then Spitfire would shun them, too.

She never wanted to hurt like that again, but what the hay could she do? There seemed to be only one logical solution- shut everypony out. If she didn't care about ponies then she couldn't be hurt.

Simple.

* * *

**Three months ago- two weeks before the boot camp**

"…and that's why we should ban broccoli from academy grounds." Lightning Streak finished his explanation. He was met with a serious of groans and face hoofs before Fire Streak pulled him back into his chair. Silver Lining sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"Thank you Lightning Streak, that was definitely… a speech," he said. Lightning Streak grinned; obviously proud of himself, and his twin brother buried his face in his front hooves. "Now does anypony else have anything to say?"

Spitfire usually had nothing to say and remained silent through every blasted staff meeting, the one day of the month that everypony who worked here dreaded. She could be doing other things right now but for once she did have something to say.

"Actually, there is one thing," she spoke up, getting everyone's attention. Ponies were surprised to see her talk during a meeting since she usually just drank coffee until it was over to keep her from falling asleep. Silver nodded at her to speak.

"Yes, Captain?" he asked. Spitfire sat up, putting her coffee aside.

"For a while we're going to be short one staff member," she began. A few of the other Wonderbolts and staff started talking amongst each other, not realizing that one of the seats was empty.

"Really? What's happened?" High Winds asked, sitting up straighter.

"I really hope that you guys already know this, but our cook Marey Berry has quit," she told the others. Surprise and Misty Fly looked at each other and shrugged, clueless. Seriously, it seemed like Spitfire was the only pony who paid attention to things around here. Fleetfoot raised a hoof.

"Why would she quit?" she asked. Spitfire rolled her eyes at the thought.

"She quit because, and I quote, "My inner soul is moving me to pursue my biggest dream- being a host on the Great Equestrian Bake-off."

"Wow, she's a big dreamer," Fire Streak commented.

"No she got the position," Spitfire told him. That left him speechless. "But onto the point- we need a new cook, preferably soon!"

"And you want us to…" Rapidfire made circular motion with his hoof.

"Well we need to get out some applications I guess," she looked over at Silver. "So if somepony could-"

"Wait!" Soarin called out, clearly louder than he'd wanted to. He awkwardly looked around before folding his hooves behind his back.

"What is it, Soarin?" Spitfire asked. The pale blue pegasus cleared his throat.

"Well I was going to ask if I could go to the bathroom but then I thought of something else," he told her. Cue facehoof now.

"Go on."

"I have a friend who can cook, and he's looking for a temporary job," Soarin reported. Spitfire leaned back in her chair, interested.

"Okay, so does he have any previous catering experience?" she asked, hoping that for once Soarin had a good idea. Soarin thought for a moment.

"Well when we were at school together he did some stuff for parties I guess- oh come on, he sells food for a living," he told her. Spitfire raised a brow.

"So if he's making a living then why does he need this job?" she asked. Soarin bit his lip and looked off to the side.

"Well… he kinda botched some things up and then he got banned from selling apples, so-"

"Wait, this sounds like an earth pony's job," she should have already known. Soarin had gone to school in Fillydelphia, after all. "Wait, how could an earth pony work in Cloudsdale?" she looked at him like he was stupid. Soarin raised a hoof.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten the Best Young Flier's competition," he said. "Rainbow Dash's friends used some kind of spell-thing to let them walk on clouds. I've planned this out, don't treat me like a doof," he looked down and reached under the couch cushion, pulling something out. "Ooh, I found a bit!"

Spitfire debated his idea. It would save money and time and he seemed to be confident that this would work, and that his friend wouldn't fall to his death so…

"Ugh, he starts next week," she decided. "Soarin for the love of Celestia, don't screw things up. And if he poisons one of us then I'll make sure both of you go in the hole!"

"Do we have a hole?" she heard Surprise whisper to Misty Fly.

"Pfft, how could _I_ screw up getting my friend to Cloudsdale?" Soarin asked.

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

"Not really."

* * *

**Third day of the boot camp**

"_You overslept. When do you ever oversleep? What's wrong with you_?!"

"_Shut up, it's too early for your nagging!"_ Spitfire thought back at that voice in her head. She wasn't sure when this voice had started pestering her, but it was always there, telling her what was wrong and what was slightly less wrong. But this time she agreed entirely, there was hardly anything more wrong than waking up to find out that your alarm had already gone off an hour ago and that you were supposed to be teaching drills at that moment in time.

So that morning a very flustered pegasus had taken three hurried minutes to make herself presentable and then skipped breakfast before heading to the academy. She flew down the hall to the locker room, got her uniform on, having to go back there again when she realized she'd forgotten her tie, and then flew the rest of the way to her office. There Whiplash was waiting with that friend of Soarin's. They didn't even notice her zip over. She took a second to catch her breath before addressing them.

"Sorry I'm late, my alarm didn't go off," there was no harm in being honest with this, right? She just wanted to get out to the cadets as fast as possible, so hopefully neither of them would ask for a more detailed explanation. The earth pony looked round to face her.

"That's quite alright, ma'am, it's not yer fau-" and then he sort of… froze? What, did he run out of batteries? She raised a brow at him.

"You okay, cowboy?" she asked. He gave himself a little shake and blinked a couple of times, as if he were waking up from a nap or something. Hopefully he wouldn't make a habit out of that.

"Um… yes, ma'am," he sounded like his voice was straining. Great he was the nervous type, too. Had Fleetfoot really made the right choice here? Then again when had Fleetfoot's ideas _ever_ worked? Whiplash nodded over at the door to the training grounds.

"We'd better get outside. The cadets must be getting restless by now, Captain Spitfire." He stood straight, waiting for her to give him the signal to leave. Her ears perked up as she heard the earth pony sigh quietly. What, was he bored already? Shaking her head, she walked outside with the two stallions. She was seriously worried about the arrangements with Soarin's friend- sure he didn't have to do much, but this was a friend of her co-captain's who could mess _anything_ up. She couldn't even trust Soarin with a sandwich without him thinking it was going to explode! He probably had an entire army of dumb friends in Fillydelphia.

"So, Whiplash showed you the ropes, right?" she asked him. To her confusion the light gold stallion looked over his shoulder for a second before looking back. Yep, weird.

"Yep, Ah know exactly what Ah have t' do," he confirmed, and Spitfire gave him a nod and turned away. She suddenly realised something and looked back at him, feeling that she should know just in case.

"So, what's your name again?" no doubt she'd forget since she was terrible with names but just for today she'd acknowledge it. It wasn't like she was gonna have much use for him after today, right?

"Um… B-Braeburn, ma'am," he responded, looking down at his hooves. Huh, strange, was he this red before? She gave him another nod and kept walking.

"_Braeburn…" _the pony in her head mused. _"Did his mother not like him or something?"_

"_Just shut up," _Spitfire thought back at it, not in the mood.

And she was blissfully unaware of what was going to happen over the next few months, because after six years of bitterness and internal suffering things were going to change, even if she didn't quite know it yet. Because this earth pony that she met on a whim was going to save her.

He was her new reason for living.

He was her second chance.

* * *

**Endnote: I'm so relieved this chapter is over. It took way longer than expected and it's the longest thing I have EVER written! But if you made it to the end without getting a migraine then thank you, it means a lot to me.**

**But don't forget, the next chapter is a HAPPY one! Soarin and Dashie are gonna have their first date and it's gonna be hilarious, random and sweet. So now that you've seen the dark side of my mind I'm going to-**

Rainbow Dash: Oh sorry, is this studio B?

**No, studio B is… hey, you just wanted to be in this chapter didn't you?**

Rainbow Dash: What?! No… No!

**Yes you did.**

Rainbow Dash: Yes I did.

**Get out now, please.**

Rainbow Dash: But for the record I can do better endnotes that you.

**Dash!**

Rainbow Dash: Okay, I'm gone!

**Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to-**

Rainbow Dash: -slam my head into a wall because I'm stupid.

**OUT!**

_**Captain Nighthawk is Captain Alaska's creation. Thanks, man. ;)**_


	36. So, You Think You Can Date? Part 1

**Authors Note: OOOOOOOOOHHH!**

***cue music***

**Dashie's date is finally here**

**Doo daa, doo daa**

**Dashie's date is finally here**

**Oh de doo da day!**

**Now this is a little late, but that's only due to some family issues and an unfortunate accident involving a keyboard and a half filled glass of Pepsi… say nothing.**

Captain Alaska- Wow, I didn't know it was that good. And that was way too dark to be in a kids show, but accept it as your headcanon if you want. And I've seen you write things better than that.

Dj Storm- Ha! Wow, Rock Star you need to go easy there. They've not even been together 24 hours yet (it's been over a month in real time 0_0) and you're making plans for their wedding! WHOA! And I've always been confused by the concept of the best mares. Is it tradition to have the sister do it, can any mare do it, can there be a best stallion? I MUST KNOW!

Spiralwish- Yeah I didn't expect it to be that long. 40,000 words plus! Fun fact, the draft I wrote was only 2,000 words long! HOW DID IT GO SO FAR!? And I was thinking about the single fanfiction thing when I wrote it, because my brief and depressing experience on FimFiction taught me that if it's over 20,000 words (or in my case 33,000 words and over, but let's not go there) it will mostly get a response based on the length. I was sceptical about it but it was one of those chapters that wouldn't work in two parts. And I've been planning that chapter since waaaaay back in December and I'm pleased it went well. Another thing- Typhoon is my favourite character as well, she's sweet and funny and probably very huggable, and I did tear up a little bit when she died, something I never do when I write. I'm so heartless! I can't even cry when I kill my favourite character! SORRY! And, if you want to know, in the very early planning stages Typhoon _was_ a stallion, but that's been done over and over again to death (sorry, bad choice of words), so I made her Spitz's sister to mix things up a bit, and it made things far more interesting and fun. But I never expected her to come off as a villain, what with her being such a sweetheart, but it's a cool thought. But no, Scotch is in the big house and if he broke out it would be a very crappy prison. And you say I write battle scenes like Erin Hunter… WOW! I'm thrilled *happy dance*. And now I really wanna write a creepypasta with Typhoon as the main character; that would be fun! And I thought Surprise being chubby would just be adorable! I mean seriously, a big fat fluffy Surprise. CUTE! And Philomena was fun to write, which surprised me- I have got to make her return somehow. Sugarplum's swear word was bleeped out since I'm not comfortable with severe cursing online, something I must get used to, but I hoped that people would realise the rhyme without any assistance. Phew. Thanks for the feedback.

Guest- Ouch. But that was my intention, so thanks. :D

Guest (2)- I feared that. At least it wasn't so long you ran off screaming. ^^".

Crickett5- Oh my gosh I'm sorry, have one of my issue boxes since I have some spare left over. Heck I still have all of them since I didn't use any. I was actually the saddest when Honey Glaze died since losing a mother is probably the worst thing that could happen to anyone. But this is a happy (and funny) chapter, so bathe in what comedy I can offer.

RosaSilvermist- Good luck on your search, and as my dad always says: Life _isn't_ fair! Yeah… he's a very strange man.

Luna'snight625- Aw, thanks. It sure was sweet… mostly crappy, but a little sweet, particularly the beginning. I wuv filly Typhoon!

CrystalHeart190- No sweat, I hate me, too. And it's great to see that loads of people love Typhoon. You ever notice that in movies and books there's always one character that seems to get everyone's approval as an iconic character? Well I had high hopes that it would be Typhoon, and I think I was onto something there. And I thought my previous record of 33,000+ was long! (0_0) I've never made so many people sad with what I write, since I'm more of a comedy person than a horror/tragedy gal. But I'm so happy that this is your favourite story; that means the world to me! *cyberhugs* And Spring Song will be here right till the end, whether that's a good or bad thing is up to you.

TheMouseOfAwesomeness- There's my main mouse! And I was hoping it would be the best since I've been planning it for almost a year now (whew). It wasn't as fun to write as, say, chapter 29 or 15, but that's just 'cause I like silly things. Though I'm pleased to discover I can pull off tragedy too. And like I said this was something that couldn't be split in half. It wouldn't have had the same effect, but hopefully one long chapter makes up for a month of nothing.

Litestardt- Whoa your buddies there do like to bicker xD. And I don't recall leaving behind any hints that lead to a possible coltfriend. I did however add in Spitz being uncomfortable around Dash and Scootaloo, and acting strange around Soarin's sister Rock Star… oh, and the fact that she didn't like being asked if she was Blaze's sister.

MidnightBlaze16- I love my references! It's just so fun when people say "Oh I saw what you did there!" or "I love that movie!" it's just my thing. And there are LOADS in this chapter. And I wanna get a theory right for a change (also Starlight Glimmer's gonna go back in time and make it so the Sonic Rainboom never happened so the Mane Six never got their cutie marks. Too far out there? …I don't think so).

YoungBlood23- Oh my God I keep making people cry! And may I suggest a trip to IKEA to replace all the furniture you've probably destroyed.

SnowHurricaneBlue- Hahahaha! I laughed when reading that! Sorry to disappoint you, Snow, but I don't think we'll be hearing wedding bells for a long time, yet… but if you want my personal opinion, get Pinkie to make the treats, her Luscious Orange Velvet Éclairs (LOVE for short) are delicious! And don't call her Spit (but for the record, she'd _love_ chocolate). :P

**Now let's get started with this! And I've taken this chapter as an opportunity to give two of the Wonderbolts some more screen time. I don't know why I haven't done this before since they are two of my favourites, but it's time they had some character development! So let's get on with Soarin and Dashie's first date!**

* * *

"WHOAAAA!" Rainbow Dash fell out of bed to the sound of… an _accordion_ playing! "What the hay?" she kicked the blankets off her and sat up, the dorm room still spinning. Lullaby was sitting up in her bed as well breathing heavily from the fright. The purple pegasus grumbled and flung herself off the bed, storming over to the door and wrenching it open. Paradise threw herself inside, still playing the accordion.

"Morning sleepy heads!" she sang and she hopped up and down on her back legs. Lullaby rubbed her eyes and ran a hoof through her messed up orange and blue hair.

"Do you have to play that?" she asked while sighing. Paradise shrugged and sat on the end of her bed.

"I need to practice," she told them, before she raised one forehoof and stopped playing. "Besides, I don't think of it as playing so much as _hugging_," she then lovingly hugged the accordion before tossing it over her shoulder onto the bed. Rainbow Dash squinted up at the clock on the wall. 5:30.

"Paradise it's half past five in the morning, the bugle doesn't go off for another-"

"Enough of that, Dash, I wanna hear about it!" Paradise tugged Rainbow to her hooves, giving her a head rush. Dash rubbed the side of her face and yawned.

"About what?" she asked. Paradise rolled her eyes.

"About you and Soarin of course. Lullaby and Hinder told me about what happened."

"It's _Cinder_," Lullaby told her, though this was ignored. Rainbow Dash felt herself blush as she thought of what happened. Initially she thought that it had all been a dream, but it was too clear in her mind to be a dream. Lullaby did the explaining for her, recounting everything that had happened. Why did Lullaby know what happened? Because when Dashie and Soarin came inside after their cuddle on the clouds they had stumbled across Lullaby and Cinder spying on them from the window. The two of them had fallen over each other to get to them, gushing about how they had been watching the whole time. It was actually kind of embarrassing. Paradise wiggled her eyebrows at Rainbow Dash.

"Whoa, you're so lucky, Dash. I never would have seen you and him coming."

"I did," Lullaby butted in.

"It's no big deal," Rainbow Dash shook it off, though she was basically lying to herself. This was a _huge_ deal, one of the biggest deals she'd ever had in her life! She was so excited about all of this that she didn't know what to do!

"You're kidding right?" Paradise asked. "How is this not a big deal? One of the most popular Wonderbolts is smitten with you. That's one heck of an honor!" Paradise jumped on the bed, and Lullaby shoved her off.

"Well I know it's cool, but this isn't exactly serious. For all I know this could just be a phase," Rainbow shrugged. Lullaby sighed and rolled her eyes, muttering something about Rainbow Dash being too self-absorbed to really care about this. Dash gave Lullaby a push and she fell off the bed on top of Paradise.

"I heard that," she told the purple mare, who sighed and stood up again, trying to straighten out her mane with her hooves. The cyan mare began sauntering to the door, figuring that it was early enough that she could sneak down to the mess hall and raid the kitchen without being noticed. "Now I'm gonna get breakfast and you two can stop asking me these questions. Just think of Soarin as a normal stallion, no need to make a big fuss over it. No sweat, just an ordinary man." She opened the door.

"Amen." She added for extra effect. Lullaby smirked and pointed out the door.

"_A_ man." She said. Rainbow Dash looked behind her and saw Soarin, poised to knock on the door that was no longer within his reach.

"A man!" she exclaimed, shocked to see him there. Lullaby and Paradise started squeeing, much to the pale blue stallion's clear discomfort. Rainbow was a little embarrassed that he was seeing her with a bad case of bed head but there was nothing she could do now.

"Soarin, what're you doing here this early?" she asked. Soarin blushed and looked down.

"I um… couldn't really wait to see you," he admitted, and Paradise started breathing heavily, making Lullaby shove a pillow in her face to muffle her. Rainbow blushed as well and shot Paradise and Lullaby a glare.

"So you got up at 5:30," she chuckled. "Soarin, I think I remember you saying that the last time you were up before six in the morning was when you forgot to put the trash out."

Soarin face hoofed and started ranting. "It's not my fault that the garbage ponies changed the date for collection, and I forgot to mark it down and do you have any idea how much trash I collect over the week?" he was silenced by Rainbow Dash punching him on the shoulder and he rubbed it. "Okay I deserved that," he admitted.

"So what did you want again?" Dash asked. Paradise slowly rose up next to her, but she pushed the green cadet back down again. Soarin cleared his throat and tugged at the collar of his officers uniform.

"I was just wondering if you'd like to go out this afternoon?" he asked, sounding nervous and turning red again. "Nothing much, just the Hayburger. A 'no pressure' kinda thing?" he proposed. Lullaby popped up and put an arm around Rainbow's shoulder.

"First date in forever!" She nodded at the cyan mare, whose jaw dropped. The purple mare started speaking again. "She's desper-" Rainbow quickly pushed Lullaby to the ground again with a thud.

"Um… sure, why not?" Rainbow Dash shrugged, stepping on Lullaby's back so she couldn't stand up. Soarin chuckled at the state of the mare on the floor and looked back up at Dash.

"Great, um… 6:30?" he thought of a time. Rainbow Dash nodded to confirm and Soarin started sidling down the hall.

"Okay, see ya later then," when Dash could no longer see him she heard a yelp and then a crash. She cringed at the loud 'OW' that came after it. "I thought we talked to Feather Duster about the wet floor signs!" she could hear him complaining, and then Rainbow shut the door. Paradise started literally bouncing off the walls and then proceeded to flap up and sit on Rainbow Dash's head.

"This is so cool! Spring Song will be pleased, too!" she trailed off. "Ya know, maybe?" she made a bad poker face. Lullaby stood up once Rainbow Dash got off her and shook herself down.

"Okay, now if you need any help we're here," Lullaby looked at Paradise. "Well _I'm_ here anyway," she corrected herself. Paradise landed on the carpet beside Lullaby.

"As if I'm missing out on _this_!" she exclaimed. "I'm helping out no matter what and that's that."

"Guys this isn't a big deal, like I said. We're just going to the Hayburger," she shrugged. Paradise looked appalled at what she'd said.

"Well you need to clean up a little bit," the green pegasus ruffled Dash's mane. "I'd start by fixing that mess up personally."

Rainbow Dash groaned and grabbed her brush, running it through her mane while Lullaby and Paradise chattered behind her.

"I can't wait to hear what happens," Lullaby said.

"I can't wait for anything at all," Paradise added. "The doctors call it ADHD."

"Oh boy," Lullaby facehoofed.

* * *

"Brae, you're here!" Soarin launched himself over the serving counter, skidded across the floor, and face planted into an oven. The earth pony looked up from his position slumped on the counter.

"Hey, not now Soarin, Ah'm busy," he grumbled. Soarin rubbed his nose and peered up at his friend.

"Doing what?" he asked while pinching his snout. Braeburn gestured to a dipping bird attached to a mug of apple cider on the surface in front of him.

"Havin' a deep conversation with this dead-eyed, plastic desk toy," he replied. Soarin noticed that the stallion looked a little down, but he was too ecstatic to wait to tell him the news anymore.

"Did ya hear?" he asked, hopping up on the counter and knocking the mug off the side. "Did ya, did ya, did ya?"

"Nnope," Braeburn sighed. "But Ah'm sure yer gonna tell me."

"You bet your butt I am," Soarin confirmed. "I finally told Dashie, man! And she likes me, too, and I actually kissed her, Brae, I finally did it!" he whooped and did a backflip off the counter, doing a happy dance. "And we're going on a date later, and I'm so happy, and I seriously don't know what I'm doing, and I just stepped on something pointy!" he stopped dancing and examined a forehoof, wincing a little bit. He then noticed how silent it was.

"Well?" he asked his Appleoosan buddy.

"Hm?" Braeburn looked up. "Oh, yeah, um… great Soarin, Ah'm happy for ya," he smiled at his pegasus friend. Soarin could see that something was wrong.

"You okay?" he asked, having expected a more enthusiastic reaction from the light gold pony. Braeburn nodded.

"Eeyup," he said. "T'aint important."

"…if you insist," Soarin shrugged, suspecting something else was up, but didn't delve any deeper into it.

"So where're ya takin' 'er?" Braeburn asked. Soarin told him about his plan to go to the hayburger, and he didn't complain; Soarin wasn't a fancy restaurant kinda dude. The pegasus sulked and leaned against the counter.

"Six months ago I probably would've taken her to Freddy Fazmare's Pizza but I've vowed never to return," he huffed. Braeburn raised a brow.

"Isn't that the place where there were mur-"

"Shut up Brae, I have a flashback coming on," Soarin said before the ripple effect went into action.

***FLASHBACK***

**Six months ago**

"_That'll be eight bits, man," the stallion behind the counter said to Soarin after his pizza had been passed onto the surface. Soarin was at the pizza place for lunch but wasn't completely satisfied with what he'd been given._

"_What do you think I am, an idiot?" he sneered at the guy behind the counter, who was dressed in the weird apron uniform they had going around this place. "I'm not paying eight bits for some moldy baked bread, sauce and cheese."_

"_Those were fresh ingredients, man," the stallion pointed at the sign on the left wall. "And the prices are listed clearly on that sign."_

"_Seriously," Soarin put both hooves on the table. "Do you really think that I have the time of day to read every single sign I see in intense detail?" he asked before sighing. "Look, just give me my bread sauce cheese and I'll get out of here."_

"_Sure thing dude," the stallion held out his hoof. "Once you pay me the money."_

_Soarin snorted with laughter. "What is this, a history lesson? Can we move on to some other subject?"_

_The stallion at the counter was a little ticked by now. "Dude, I'm going to have to ask you to leave," he pointed at the double doors leading outside. Soarin gave the guy a death glare._

"_And_ I_ am going to have to ask _you_ to_ stay_!" he shot back. "What do ya think of that, huh?"_

"_That has literally no effect on me, man," the stallion replied. Soarin stamped a hoof on the tiled floor._

"_AN INSULT!" he yelled, before turning and marching out of the restaurant with his nose in the air. "I'm never eating here again!" he proclaimed as the doors swung closed. The stallion at the counter wiped the sweat from his brow._

"_For that we are eternally grateful."_

***END OF FLASHBACK***

"You're an idiot Soarin," Braeburn rubbed his forehead with a hoof. Soarin then pointed at the Wonderbolt badge he wore on his uniform.

"But I'm a rich idiot, and that's the best kind of idiot you can be," he said. Braeburn shrugged and nodded.

"Well Ah can't really argue with that," he admitted. Soarin felt proud that he was able to say something that made sense to his admittedly smarter friend. "But still, Ah wanna help ya out with yer date, so what d'ya need help with?" he asked. Soarin tapped his chin in thought.

"Welp… I was about to head down to the staff room to see if Wave Chill would help me out." This got a resounding head tilt from his wingless friend.

"Wave Chill… why?" he asked. Soarin thought back a little bit.

"Wave and I made a bet four years ago saying that if one of us dated a cadet the other had to be the slave that would help out," he explained. Braeburn didn't look like he was convinced this would work.

"Soarin, he would've forgotten all about that by now," he assured the pegasus stallion. Soarin made a 'tsk tsk' noise and made his way out the door.

"Wave is a stallion of his word; he'll remember it…"

* * *

"…You don't remember it?!" Soarin's jaw almost hit the ground. Braeburn grumbled from behind him.

"Ah should've bet money on it," he muttered to himself. Wave Chill got up from his spot between Misty Fly and High Winds on the couch and got another mug of coffee.

"We made that deal four years ago, surely it's not valid anymore," he asked. Soarin stood up straight and looked his dark blue colleague in the eye.

"You can't just go back on a deal like that; that's why it's called a deal!" he raised his voice. "I would do the same thing for you!"

"No you wouldn't!" Wave Chill retorted.

"I would too!" Soarin argued.

"Would not!"

"Would too!"

"GUYS!" Silver Lining pushed them apart.

"Where the heck did you come from?" Wave Chill asked, rubbing his head with confusion.

"It's called appropriate timing," Silver snapped. "And could you two keep it down please; this is meant to be a room for relaxing after a huge pile of paperwork gets shoved on your desk as soon as you get in for work," the eldest Wonderbolt complained. High Winds raised her hoof.

"You just got paperwork?" the white mare asked. "You'll never guess what Blaze has to do." she sniggered a little. Soarin and Wave Chill exchanged looks; neither of them knowing what was going on. "I'd actually better go check on her," High Winds was still laughing as she left the staff room.

"Well... that was weird," Braeburn broke the silence.

"Yeah," Soarin agreed. "Who in their right mind would give Blaze an important job?"

"The captain," Misty Fly answered. Soarin chuckled.

"Like I said- who in their right mind would give Blaze an important job?"

"Hey, Blaze isn't that bad," Surprise popped up in front of Soarin, almost giving him a heart attack and making him fall backwards onto his rump. "Sure, she can be a little touchy-feely but she means well."

"Oh of course she does," Misty Fly looked up from the magazine she was reading and spoke in a sarcastic tone. "I suppose that when she asked me if I wanted to bump her fur she just meant a pat on the back."

Surprise turns an incredible shade of red and holds up a sign. It reads:

'**Don't look up what that means'**

And in brackets-

**(please)**

"Can we _stop_ breaking the fourth wall please?" Braeburn said, exasperated. Misty Fly sighed and put her magazine to the side.

"I still can't believe the captain's making me organize the next air show. What did I do wrong?" Misty Fly, despite being a bit of a downer, was usually a sweet pony who was sometimes even on the shy side, but even she could get irritated, especially when it came to organization… and Surprise. Surprise usually got along with everypony she met in a matter of seconds, but Misty Fly was a different story. The day that Mist Fly met Surprise was the day of an important airshow in Neighbraska. Misty hadn't gotten to know most of the Wonderbolts and so many of them were strangers still. Surprise and Misty were put in a pair and had instantly got off to a rocky start, Surprise giving her a cheerful greeting and Misty just staring at her hooves. Then about five minutes before the performance Misty Fly had got something that Silver Lining called Airshow Anxiety and had a panic attack, and Surprise could do nothing to stop her, not even with her best jokes and reassurances. Eventually the show had to be cancelled due to a 'Bolt struggling to breathe and ever since Surprise and Misty hadn't exactly been 'buddies'.

"I can't complain," Surprise puffed up her chest. "She said that I was in charge today!"

"WHAT?!" Soarin exclaimed, his jaw dropping _again_. "You? Wait, forget Blaze, who would put _you_ in charge?"

"What's going _on_?" Wave Chill wondered out loud. "Blaze is doing something important, Misty has to do a job she hates, Surprise is in charge, Silver's worked his flanks off and it's not even twelve O'clock yet, and I'm pretty sure Lightning Streak's out of sorts with his own paperwork, if this morning was any indication."

"What happened this morning?" Misty asked, standing in between Surprise and Soarin. Surprise cleared her throat to get their attention.

"Spitz came into the staff room and made Lightning do a bucket load of paperwork," she explained. Misty shrugged.

"Well that doesn't sound too bad; paperwork's fine compared to organizing the air shows."

"Mist, this is no time for your optimism," Soarin told the youngest Wonderbolt. Surprise chuckled.

"Well… she sorta shouted it," Surprise corrected herself. "It kinda went like…" the white Wonderbolt stood stiff and shook her mane out until it was spiked, a little different from the style she used in air shows, then spoke in a deeper raspy voice.

"Lightning, I need to rent out the Canterlot stadium for next week. And by that I mean _you _need to rent the stadium! I want the paperwork finished and on my desk by 5pm and if it's one minute late I will go to the animal shelter and I will get you a kitty cat, I will let you fall in love with that kitty cat, and then on some dark, cold night I will steal away into your home and punch you in the face!"

"Wow…" Soarin scoffed. "Somepony woke up on the wrong side of the bed."

"Actually, Surprise, I think you copied her word for word," Wave Chill told her. Surprise nodded.

"I know. I just took notes from when I recorded it," she pulled a recorder out of her mane. Misty Fly's face was splattered with confusion.

"You record all of your conversations?" she asked. Surprise then pressed a button on the recorder, and Misty Fly's voice replayed what she had just said, getting an eye roll from the light tan mare.

"So Lightning has to do an important job, too?" Silver Lining called from his spot on the armchair. He hesitated a couple of seconds before standing up and leaving the room in a hurry. "Oh Celestia, he's probably making paper planes as we speak!"

"Good grief," Wave Chill exhaled. "The next thing you know Feather Duster will take over the world."

"Hey guys!"

The five chatting ponies looked over at the door where the small dusty grey mare stood wearing a hazmat suit. "Do any of you know where I can find a blow torch? I think the day of retribution is finally upon us!"

"What… Feathers, where did you get that suit?" Soarin asked. Feather Duster tugged at the suit and grinned throw the glass in the helmet.

"The emergency room! I broke into the captain's office and took the keys. Waaaaay easier than the last sixty five times I've tried." She then continued on her way, not realizing that she hadn't got her answer.

"Okay I'm starting to think that Wave's right. Something's going on; today is a total fiasco," Misty mused. Braeburn spoke meekly to Surprise.

"Is the captain alright?" he asked. Surprise shrugged.

"Well… she hasn't been this angry in forever, and she's locked herself in her office," she replied. Misty's ears perked up.

"She's done what? Aw nuts, is it her time of the season _already_?" she asked. "I thought that wasn't for another three weeks."

"What?" Surprise caught up to what Misty was implying. "Oh, no, this is something else. Don't know what, though."

"Hm… strange," Wave blinked. Soarin suddenly remembered why he was in here.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Wave, I need you to help me choose what I should wear later," he said to the dark blue Wonderbolt. Wave sighed.

"Fine, it's better than any crummy job I could get. At least things couldn't get worse."

"Hold that thought," Braeburn pelted out of the room, looking mortified. "Ah think Ah might get fired!" and then he was gone.

Soarin and the others were silent for a few moments before Surprise broke the silence… oddly.

"Shrimps." She said.

"Well let's go then," Wave Chill and Soarin headed out the door. Ignoring all the chaos that was happening, Soarin smiled at the thought of his first date with Rainbow Dash. And he hoped internally that she was just as happy as him about all this.

* * *

"That's right, cadet Dash, flex those muscles, lemme see 'em."

Rainbow Dash was _not_ happy.

"Captain…" Stargazer grunted meekly, pushing herself out of the pool of sweat on the clouds below her. "We've been doing wing ups for twenty minutes without stopping," she fell down with a splat and gasped for breath. "Can we have a break... all this stress is killing my vibe." she explained in her hippy-like voice. The golden Wonderbolt commanding them just scoffed.

"No way cadet, I wanna see those bodies buff and glistening by the time we're done here," she declined. Stargazer groaned and face planted the clouds.

"This… is… ridiculous," Lullaby panted from her spot next to Rainbow Dash. "I've never sweated this much in my life," she wrinkled her nose at her own smell.

"_You_ are a natural," Spitfire said to Paradise, sitting in front of the green cadet and nodding her head with satisfaction. Paradise looked up, her sweat ridden mane sticking to her face.

"Thanks!" she said before doing a couple more wing ups. Spitfire made her freeze midway through one when she ran a hoof along her back.

"Yeah… lovely," she chuckled. Rainbow Dash and Lullaby looked at each other, clearly uncomfortable.

"What's happening?" Lullaby mouthed and Rainbow shrugged.

"It's like the whole place has gone nuts!" she said, taking a break from her wing ups. "This morning I saw Silver Lining punching a wall, Feather Duster was saying something about a protection suit… well that's not new, but… I _did_ see Surprise bossing Fire Streak around. That's not her job. Something's up, Lullaby."

"_You're_ certainly not up," Spitfire sat next to Rainbow. "So fix that please," she clapped her hooves. Rainbow groaned and got back to work.

"_Please_ can we have a break?" she begged. A ten minute exercise was fine. Fifteen minutes were a challenge, but this was just crazy!

"Nope," Spitfire just started humming and watching the cadets. "You're all doing a good job," the captain looked over at the group of stallions on the right end of the line. "You guys could do better," she rolled her eyes. And then-

"Gotcha!"

Spitfire jumped as a tumble of water cascaded down on top of her, and every cadet gasped. Rainbow Dash saw High Winds laughing her head off and holding a bucket a few meters up in the air. Rainbow's jaw dropped when she saw that the captain's fiery cutie mark had been washed off and in its place was a flaming horseshoe.

"BLAZE?!" everypony exclaimed. Blaze, now lacking the lighter orange streak she had dyed into her mane and the false cutie mark looked up at her giggling marefriend.

"You bitch," she chuckled, whipping her now wet mane around. High Winds landed in front of the yellow mare and spoke to all of the cadets.

"Imposter!" she declared before bursting into laughter. Butternut sat on her haunches and yelled to the heavens.

"THIS. IS. **SPARTA**!" and then she fell onto her back. Rainbow Dash didn't understand Butternut; she was into these things called memes but Dash had no idea what those were.

"What was that for? I was enjoying myself," Blaze asked High Winds as she brushed some of her soggy mane out of her eyes. The small white Wonderbolt nodded over at Paradise.

"It looked like you were enjoying yourself a little _too_ much," she smirked. Paradise's face turned one of the brightest reds Rainbow Dash had ever seen, and she only got redder when Blaze strutted over and wrapped her arms around her and she froze.

"Someone's jealous," she accused High Winds before whispering in Paradise's ear. "Don't you agree?" she gave the green cadet's ear a nip and smiled triumphantly as Paradise's wings fluttered open. She looked like she wanted to fall through the clouds and die. Blaze rolled her blue eyes under the shades she was wearing and moved back towards High Winds, whisking her tail under her chin as she went. That was the final straw for Paradise and she fainted clean away. Lullaby could be heard chuckling as this happened, and Rainbow had to do the same. Blaze sure did know what she was doing.

"Stop playing around with these poor cadets," High Winds said to her marefriend who shoved the bucket she had been holding away with her back leg.

"I will. Sheesh. But there was no need to chuck a tonne of water over me," she sneered playfully. High Winds scoffed.

"Well, I did," she took off Blaze's shades and put them on her own muzzle. "Deal with it."

"Ah, you," Blaze chuckled. High winds ran a hoof through the yellow mare's mane.

"Besides," she smirked. "You know how much I love you with a wet mane."

It was then Blaze's turn to blush and she coiled her hooves around her marefriend's back, kissing her uncharacteristically softly. "You have a weird way with words that makes me shudder," she slurred with lidded eyes. Rainbow Dash had a feeling that this was going to go too far if nopony interceded, but thankfully Surprise chose that moment to swoop down from the sky.

"What the- Blaze! I thought I told you to wear your disguise. This is important ya know?" the yellow maned mare landed a few feet away from the embracing couple. Blaze made a 'pssh' noise and flicked a hoof.

"I _don't_ know. You came up to me this morning and told me to dress as Spitz. I just assumed that this was some kind of prank and went for it. It sure was fun," she winked in Paradise's direction, and snickered when she saw the unconscious mare.

"This isn't a prank," Surprise cocked a brow and Blaze snorted again.

"Really? Wow, 'cause I was about to say just how cool an idea this was," she said and High Winds agreed.

"So… what's happening?" Beau raised her voice to get the three Wonderbolt's attention. Blaze shrugged.

"Like I said- no idea."

"It's… not important," Surprise clopped her hooves together. High Winds butted in.

"But you said that it _was_ important like ten seconds ago," she said. Surprise rounded on her and gave her a wide-eyed glare, and High Winds nervously moved to stand behind Blaze.

"It's not- I lied. It's just…" she exhaled. "You two go inside, I'll take over drills," Surprise dismissed her two friends and took the shades off of High Winds and put them on her own muzzle.

"I look so bad-ass," Surprise smiled, puffing up her chest and making High Winds giggle.

"Well good luck with that Surprise; we'll see ya later," she and Blaze flew off. Surprise stood there examining the cadets, and Rainbow Dash looked to the left and whispered to Lullaby.

"Are we supposed to say something?" she wondered. Lullaby shrugged.

"She looks like she has no idea what to do."

"Um, Surprise?" Rainbow called to the white Wonderbolt.

"Hm?" Surprise asked. Rainbow had never known the excitable Wonderbolt to be so calm. Something must have been stressing her out.

"Should we… do some cloud busting?" Lullaby suggested, choosing a relatively easy task. Surprise nodded.

"Yeah, go for it," she whistled and the cadets all flew off into the clouds (except Paradise, who was still unconscious on the ground), most of them lying down onto one of the clouds to catch a breather, not that Surprise complained.

"Okay now that… _that's_ over," Lullaby sat down next to Dash on one of the clouds, wiping some sweat from her brow. "what're you gonna wear for your date?"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Nothing," she replied. She remembered back in her high school days that whenever a social event was going on ponies would always be asking each other what they were going to be wearing. She never really understood why it was such a big deal, so she just said that she didn't know yet and hoped that whoever it was moved on to pester somepony else. Well now she supposed that that trait never left ponies even in adulthood. "We're just going to the Hayburger."

Lullaby shrugged. "True. Now that I think about it, it'd be a little weird if you went to a place like that looking all fancy and dolled up," the purple cadet giggled at the thought and wiped her blue and orange mane to the side since it had stuck to her face.

"So… what exactly happens on dates?" Rainbow asked curiously. She had been on dates before, but those were just to old school events, and even then she had just gone with close friends since she didn't want the hassle of waiting for a random stallion to ask her out in the halls. Lullaby looked confused that she'd asked but didn't dwell on it.

"Well… you go somewhere," she tapped her chin and then shrugged. "And then you talk, I guess."

"'Bout what?" Dash asked a second question, wanting to be prepared.

"Well… yourselves," Lullaby started, and Rainbow Dash thought that she could handle that. There was a lot to talk about when it came to herself after all. Not everypony could be this awesome. "Um… you talk about what you like and don't like and… well just general stuff I suppose."

"Sounds easy enough," Rainbow smiled. No sweat.

"Aren't you nervous?" Lullaby asked and Dash scoffed.

"Nervous? About what?" she rolled her eyes. "It's Soarin; I've hung around with him almost daily for the past couple of months. This is basically the same thing- I wasn't nervous then, and I'm not now."

"Wow… I've never met a pony with as much confidence as you," Lullaby commented. Rainbow folded her arms behind her head and lounged on the cloud.

"Well it's hard not to have confidence when you're as cool as me," she was surprised when Lullaby slanted her eyes away, frowning. She blinked and eyed her friend for a few seconds. "Lullaby, are you okay?" she expected a nod, or at least a 'yeah' from her, but what she said made her baffled beyond what she thought possible.

"Why are you friends with me, Dash?"

"Huh?" Rainbow couldn't reply. There were a lot of things she had theorized Lullaby saying to her at that moment, but that wasn't on the list. She could only sit there with her eyes glued to her purple pal, who stared back, her face expressionless as she waited for an answer that Dash didn't have.

"Well?"

Rainbow looked down at her hooves. "Why would you ask that?" she could tell that Lullaby wasn't all that pleased to have her question answered with another question, but Dash couldn't think of anything else to say.

"You're just so cool and self-assured. That's the kind of attitude that all the popular ponies back in school had," Lullaby explained. Dash, being Dash, took the moment to gloat.

"I _was_ pretty popular. No surprises, though."

"Case in point," Lullaby gestured at her cyan furred companion. "But you're the kind of pony that would take one look at a pony like me and think that they weren't worth their time," she sighed and looked up at Dash with big golden eyes. "So why are you different?"

Rainbow understood her curiosity now. She had hung around with those types of ponies in school, and she really couldn't understand their way of thinking. Why would they be mean or ignore a pony like Lullaby or Fluttershy? She didn't see the point. Calling ponies ugly wouldn't make them prettier; saying a pony was stupid didn't make them smarter, so what was there to gain from it, instead of making someone else sad? Did they enjoy seeing ponies upset? Did it give them some kind of pleasure that only they could understand?

"Because I, unlike those kinds of goons, can see past ponies' flaws," Dash chuckled. "You've met Fluttershy, my best friend, so you know just how connected I can be to ponies who wouldn't qualify as cool."

Lullaby nodded and sighed. Dash put a hoof on her friend's shoulder. "I'm going to be honest with you, Lulls, you're not cool," she said. Lullaby scoffed and folded her arms.

"Thanks, Dash, I feel so good now," she said sarcastically. Dash tittered and gave her a shove.

"I wasn't finished. You might not be the coolest pony, but there's a whole bunch of other stuff about you that makes you great. You're smart and kind and you helped me out of a pickle yesterday," she recalled the event that she would really rather forget. "So there ya have it, you're cool in your own way." She hesitated. "But I've gotta ask. What make you ask this in the first place?"

Lullaby sighed again. "Well… you're just so… successful," she said. Rainbow Dash cocked an eyebrow.

"What's wrong with that?" she asked. Lullaby leaned back and looked straight up.

"You're just… perfect. You're the best cadet here, you're an Element of Harmony, you won the Best Young Fliers competition, you've competed in the Equestria Games, you've fought monsters and lived, you're a Wonderbolt Reserve, you're great at tricks, speed and combat, you're going on a date with the Wonderbolt co-captain, and yet your qualifications are almost exactly the same as mine," she made a long list off the top of her head.

"You forgot that I also have my own fan club," Rainbow butted in. Lullaby sat up straight.

"You have your own _fan club_?!" she exclaimed with raised eyebrows, and Rainbow nodded.

"Yeah, my little sis, Scootaloo is its founder, and her whole school and a bunch of other ponies are a part of it."

"See? This is exactly what I mean," Lullaby raised her voice to get Dash's attention back. "You have all of this stuff going on, and you're pulling it off as if the only way to success is to be confident and flawless."

Rainbow felt a little displeased by this. Was this how Lullaby viewed her? A pony who made her feel like the only way to be the best is to _believe_ you're the best. Because Rainbow Dash knew that she wasn't perfect, nopony was. Actually, looking at her achievements now she could see what Lullaby meant. Oh well, she needed to put her mind at rest.

"Lulls, there are countless things that I suck at," Rainbow Dash began to list those things. "My roommate turned to be a snake, I lost a fight to said roommate, I left a party looking like a walking buffet, I was humiliated in the mess hall in front of everyone, I stayed in bed for a week because I was afraid of being humiliated… I could list a bunch more but we'll be here for a year. My point is that even when ponies seem perfect, there's always something wrong. My friend Twilight is the Princess of Friendship, and even _she_ has some flaws." Lullaby's eyes widened. When she had met Twilight the first time the two of them had hit it off immediately and struck up a conversation about psychology and arcane science, something that interested Lullaby immensely. It seemed hard to believe that a Princess could be in any way… not perfect. "She's controlling and picky… and freaks out over nothing a lot. See, we all have quirks. But they make us who we are."

Lullaby giggled for a little while.

"I guess you can add motivational speeches to the long list of thing's you're good at," she gave Dash a hug, which the blue pegasus returned immediately.

"Heh… I can."

* * *

"Are ya almost done yet, Soar?" Braeburn called into Soarin's bedroom in his house. He was waiting in the hall outside with Wave Chill, and they were waiting to inspect Soarin's choice of attire for his date with Rainbow Dash.

"Nearly!" Soarin called back. "I just need to make this thing a little bit bigger!"

Wave Chill looked at Braeburn and sighed. "Please tell me it's not just me who thinks this will end badly."

"Nope, Ah'm sure ya have a right t' be worried." He took off his stetson and twirled it around one hoof, rolling his eyes up as he heard a thud from within Soarin's room. They had been here for twenty minutes waiting for Soarin to finish changing and come out. Usually he would have got bored and wandered off by now, but he wanted to take his mind off the problem he was having. He was trying his best not to think about it too much, but he had the sneaking suspicion that the reason things were going haywire at the Academy was all his fault. He hadn't told anyone (except the plastic dipping bird) about what had happened last night with the captain, but he had clearly upset her and this must have thrown her off or something. He hadn't seen her all day and when he went down to her office to try and convince her not to fire him and apologize she hadn't opened up, which he understood. Mostly he just wanted to know what he'd done wrong. He'd _complimented_ her, for Celestia's sake, but she'd reacted as if he'd just attacked her or something. He was just so confused! So he was doing everything in his power to keep his mind off of things, even if he had been a tad worried when he, Soarin and Wave Chill were allowed to leave in the middle of working hours without being dismissed properly.

"Okay I'm ready!" Soarin declared from inside his room. Soarin's room was one of the four he had, and even then he had a whole bunch of other rooms. That's the perk of being the Wonderbolt co-captain for you.

"Finally," Wave Chill stood straight, which seemed to be his neutral way to stand. "Come on out and show us then."

The door swung open and Soarin stepped out wearing…

Oh no…

"Soarin, why are you wearing a bathmat?" Wave asked, looking Soarin up and down. Braeburn buried his face in his hoof and shook his head, praying to Luna that this was just a joke. Soarin was wearing a yellow green and red patterned bathmat around his neck. He was smiling like a goof in a way that made it seem like he had completely lost his mind.

"Ya… ya can't wear that. This is a prank, right?" Braeburn asked. Soarin's face fell and he looked his attire over, not seeing any issues with it. Braeburn sighed. "This is the real world, Soar, ya hafta wear real clothes."

Soarin smirked. "Tell a Marexican this isn't real clothing," he said with a smartass tone. Wave groaned and placed his forehead against the wall.

"How the hay were you smart enough to be made co-captain?" he asked and Soarin thought for a few seconds, his green eyes going into a derp position as he did so. When he spoke again they snapped back into place.

"Not sure." He replied. Braeburn had been discussing the prospect of going to a real clothes store with Wave while Soarin had been changing, and now seemed the right time to propose it.

"Soarin, maybe we should go down t' the clothin' emporium an' see if they've got anythin' you'd wear that ain't retarded." To his surprise, Soarin just scoffed.

"You must be kidding right? Even _I_ know that's a bad idea; Brae, I'm wearing a _bathmat_." Soarin had never liked shopping, not even for groceries. He usually had to drag himself down to the market to do it or bribe somepony else into doing it for him. "Can you at least see my second outfit?"

Wave and Braeburn looked at each other and then shrugged. "Fine." They both said.

"As long as you don't come out wearing a lampshade hat!" Wave called after him as he closed the door behind him. Thankfully they only had to wait a minute this time round before Soarin burst out wearing…

"Oh my gosh, sir, are those shower curtains?" Wave asked. Soarin raised his chest up high.

"Not anymore, baby, it's a cape!" he swished it around. "Ladies love capes, and now I'm just like Supermare," he added. Gosh, Soarin needed to stop watching so many superhero movies.

"Please don't tell me ya thought that thing would give ya magic powers," Braeburn rubbed the side of his head. Soarin snorted and nodded.

"I can read minds now," he stated and Wave let out an agonized whinny.

"You _can't_ read minds," he argued. Soarin shook his head.

"Yes I can, watch," he put a hoof on Wave's head and spoke in a bad imitation of the dark blue pony's voice. "_I wish I had a cape like Soarin_."

Wave Chill pushed his hoof away and groaned. "Listen, sir," Wave always addressed those with a higher rank like that. "I'm not one to order ponies around, but we're getting you some real clothes and that's that."

"Maybe I just shouldn't wear anything," Soarin shrugged. Wave shook his head.

"I thought you wanted to impress Dash," he said. Soarin shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm impressive enough already right; maybe I should just go in my uniform, don't mare's like that kind of thing?" he asked. Wave put a hoof to his chin.

"Um… yeah, they do. Or so I've heard, but aren't suits and ties the way to go with this?"

Soarin stared at him blankly, recalling what his entire uniform was made up of.

"Okay, lemme talk," Braeburn butted it. "We'll go find Soarin some stuff t' wear, an' if he don't like anythin' then he can just wear his uniform. 'Kay?"

Soarin rolled his eyes and shook the shower curtain off. "_Fine._ But I'm not gonna like any of that stuff," he walked down the stairs without another word and his two friends followed him.

* * *

"_Ethereal_, huh?" Braeburn looked up at the evening-wear store. It was in the middle of the market. "Weird name fer a clothin' store."

He looked behind him to see that he was on his own. What? How long had the others been gone?

"Soarin? Wave?" he looked around. After standing there (trying to act casual so nopony would think he was nuts all by himself) for a few minutes he finally saw Wave Chill dragging Soarin down the street by his ear. To his surprise, Soarin was carrying a large bag in his teeth.

"What happened?" Braeburn asked Wave, who released Soarin's ear and let the pale blue stallion rub the pain away.

"Soarin wandered into a costume shop and I went after him. I'm sorry; I thought you followed us," Wave apologized to him. The earth pony had a feeling that it was just going to be one of those days so he shrugged it off. He nodded down at the bag Soarin was holding.

"What've ya got there?" he asked. Soarin took out the contents and hummed some introduction trumpet fanfare.

"Why do you need a police pony costume?" Braeburn asked skeptically. Soarin looked the costume over. It looked exactly like the uniform the police wore, and it even came with a (squeaky) truncheon.

"Don't tell me you don't think it looks cool," Soarin looked at his friend expectantly. Man, Braeburn hated that he agreed with him.

"Can we just get this over with?" Braeburn waited for Soarin to put his costume back in its bag and then the two of them and Wave walked into _Ethereal_.

* * *

"Wait, what. Was that a break already?" Soarin heard Braeburn exclaim from behind him. He shrugged.

"Yeah, this is from my view," Soarin felt pleased that all the attention was focused on him. Braeburn just seemed annoyed.

"But just then- that was the first scene from muh view since like the beginnin' o' chapter twenty-nine!" he was pouting. "Why? Why is that; that's just messed up!"

"'Cause you're boring," Soarin told his earth pony friend. Braeburn humphed and slugged Soarin in the shoulder, making him yelp as pain shot through his right front leg.

"That was just cold," the Appleoosan pony huffed. "Ah deserve some attention too, right? Someone has t' agree!"

"Well the fact remains that I'm just more important than you, so therefore I have a right to have at least 40% of scenes focused on me," he trailed off before adding. "I'm also funnier than you."

"Ya know what, this has gone on long enough, let's just get back t' this dumb shoppin' trip," Braeburn looked ahead, still irritated that his fleeting moment in the spotlight was gone, and Soarin looked around at the store, feeling instantly… scared.

The store was very big and _very_ dark. There were dim lights illuminating it and all around them were young mares and stallions moving around and browsing while dancing along to the beat of the loud music that blared from the speakers. Wave and Braeburn seemed to think this was fine, but truth be told, Soarin had a bit of a fear of youth. As he always said, teenagers are like bears- when one approaches you don't know whether to run, climb a tree, or play dead.

"What's wrong with this place?" Soarin asked nopony in particular, side stepping out the way of a young stallion who looked like a stereotypical disco addict. He caught up to Braeburn and stuck close to his side, noticing that Wave Chill was nodding his head to the beat of this song… he knew it was from some kind of colt-band but had no idea what the name of it was.

"Brae, I don't like this," he looked anxiously around again. "What is this, a shop or a disco; it's like a Disc-op." He was so nervous that he was making up words now… well he did that when he was feeling okay as well, so it was really just business as usual. "Nope, I can't do this, I feel old here," he turned to leave but Braeburn pulled him back.

"Hey, don't embarrass us in public again," he hissed. Soarin snorted.

"When have I ever done that?" he asked.

"The last staff meeting," Braeburn reminded him.

***FLASHBACK***

"…_and that's why we should have more security," Silver Lining finished his lecture and looked around at the others for approval. Everypony was nodding; expect one pegasus, who was sitting on the couch next to Braeburn stuffing his face with pie._

"_Well, what do you think, Soarin?" Silver asked. Soarin looked up from his pie, his face stained with blackberry juice and crumbs and his mouth still full. He looked around at everypony, their attention focused on him as he swallowed his pie. He wasn't listening so he said something random._

"_Um… I think that when my thighs are sweaty and I stand up it sounds like I've done a fart," he said. Braeburn buried his face in the couch cushion while Soarin sat there grinning._

***END OF FLASHBACK***

"Let's not bring that up," Soarin walked up to Wave Chill, who was examining a shelf of wallets. He saw a mannequin a few feet away and decided to do something funny. He moved up to it and leaned against it.

"Hey Wave, check out my marefriend," he nodded at the mannequin… which then turned its head to look him in the eye. Soarin jumped back in alarm. "Real pony!" he exclaimed. Wave chuckled and looked sympathetically at the co-captain. He slowly backed away from the lingerie-model-pony-mannequin-that-wasn't-really-a-mannequin and moved down the aisle, doing his best to mimic the nods that the ponies these days counted as 'dancing'.

"Shop 'n bop," he muttered to himself as he moved. Luckily these ponies were too busy with their own business to ask for autographs, either that or they didn't recognize Soarin in his blue officers uniform, though Wave Chill, who was wearing his flight suit since he had come in from training when Soarin asked for his help, was getting a bit of attention. He was still baffled by the dancing the ponies were doing. It was no secret that Soarin couldn't dance to save his life; in fact the only time he had ever gotten serious on the dance floor was one time in high school when he had done a dance move he'd made up himself which consisted of him standing on two legs and pushing his arms out into the air, then shuffling to the side and pushing his arms down to the ground. Though when he had done this a bunch of ponies had come over to see if he was okay, and when he asked them why they said, and he quoted, that 'they thought he was waving for help because somepony was dead on the floor'. So, no, Soarin was _not_ a dancer.

After a few more minutes of browsing, Braeburn and Wave Chill finally found a suit that seemed fitting for Soarin.

"Hey, this looks okay," Braeburn held up the suit. Soarin had to admit that it looked pretty snazzy, so he'd give it a chance. Wave nodded in the direction of the changing rooms.

"Go try it on," he told Soarin, who took the new suit and went in. After he had put it on it took him about a second and a half to figure out that the thing was too tight. He came out of the changing rooms and looked around for his friends.

"Brae, I need a bigger size!" he called out. He couldn't see Braeburn or Wave Chill so he just headed over to the trolley displaying the suits and attempted to take the one he was wearing off. Unfortunately, due to its tightness his hooves got stuck over his head and then he couldn't fathom which as his left or right one. His head got wedged in between them and when he tried to pull it out it just got even more stuck. He decided to put it back on and get help from Braeburn or Wave, put when he put his head through the hole at the top he was surprised to find that it was tighter than before… probably because he'd put his head through one of the sleeves by mistake. Okay, now he was panicking… and ponies were giving him weird looks as he sat there with his arms still in the suit and his head in the sleeve. He was like a sitting freak show.

"Soarin, why you?" Braeburn finally found him sitting there, though he stayed a few feet away lest anypony think he was nuts, too.

"Brae, help me out!" Soarin tried to tug himself out but just fell on his face. Wave Chill rushed over and gasped.

"What are you doing?!" he asked Soarin with wide eyes. His expression of shock changed to one of amusement as he tried to withhold his chuckles. Soarin finally managed to get his left hoof out of the other sleeve and stood up as best he could.

"I'm… just modelling," he started hobbling down the aisle, swaying his hips from side to side as he walked. "This is the new… Spastic Chic Collection," he started head-bobbing to the beat of the song, standing beside the model-mannequin-mare-that-wasn't-really-a-mannequin from earlier. Suddenly there was an announcement over the speaker, and Soarin could see a young mare at the cash register speaking into a microphone with some familiar items on the counter next to her.

"Somepony has left a bag with a police uniform in it, and a clown outfit in the changing rooms."

"THOSE ARE MINE!" Soarin forgot about getting the suit off and rushed over to cash register to get his stuff. Once he'd checked everything was there he shoved the mare aside and angrily spoke into the microphone.

"Stop the music, please!" as he said it the store went completely silent except for his voice booming through it. Braeburn and Wave Chill were standing a few meters away, looking mortified, and every pair of eyes was on Soarin. "And can you stop bopping, please? We are meant to be _shopping_, not _bopping_!" he would normally have been amused by his rhyme but even he had to take the time to be serious every once in a while.

"And for your information…" he held up his uniform while using his back leg to keep himself balanced on the counter. "This is _not_ a clown outfit. I know it's fairly big, but that's because it's worn by the type of pony who sports something you might not have heard of, called FLESH!" He pronounced it very clearly. "That's _flesh._ Because we like something called _CAKE_! _Cake_; you should try it!" he was seething into the microphone by now. He removed his hind leg from the counter before adding something onto his speech. "Oh, and if you're young enough for fast metabolisms, IT WON'T LAST!" he made that point extra clear. Wave Chill looked down at the ground and Braeburn hid his face in his hat.

"Can everypony just leave, please?" Soarin nodded in the direction of the exit. "If you're heavy enough to make the automatic doors work, that is- huddle together, jump as one!" then a pair of security ponies came over to grab him. They took hold of him and began dragging him away when Soarin stopped them.

"Wait, one more thing," he grabbed the microphone and spoke into it in a cheery voice. "Cashier four, please. I've always wanted to do that," he then let the security ponies drag him away.

* * *

"So remind me again why ya put henna on?" Braeburn asked Soarin. The two of them were in the kitchen, Soarin with a towel wrapped around him since he'd had a shower. He had rushed down to the kitchen for Braeburn's help after he'd discovered that the bottle he'd picked up to use for some facial hair aid… wasn't for that specific purpose. Braeburn lowered the frying pan he was looking at his reflection in and showed his earth pony friend the problem.

"I used the wrong bottle; I thought it was mustache bleach," he frowned. The space above his upper lip was a raw red color. It looked pretty hilarious to anyone who wasn't Soarin. Braeburn looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Because yer a teenage filly?" he asked. Soarin huffed and folded his arms.

"Shut up, Brae; I told you that I'd go to extreme measures to make sure I looked good for this date and I meant it!"

"Just cover it up," Braeburn reached under his hat and pulled out a fake mustache, sticking it over the red spot above Soarin's mouth. Soarin stared blankly at him for a few seconds before saying something.

"How does this help?" he asked. "And why the heck did you have it in your hat?"

Braeburn bit his lip. "Well… it's not weird t' wonder what ya look like with a mustache," Soarin shrugged. He wasn't wrong. "Not sure it suits _you_ though," he added.

"Some stallions just can't make facial hair work," Soarin said. "And by the way, I don't think it would suit _you_ either."

"Yeah, it didn't really look right," Braeburn agreed. "Ah guess we're just naturally handsome," he suggested, and Soarin nodded with agreement. He got up, noticing that he still had a towel wrapped around him and was dripping water over the floor. If he hurried maybe he could make it back to the shower rooms before Braeburn noticed and made him mop it up.

"Welp, I'll just finish getting ready and fix this mess and then this date can commence!" he opened the door and was surprised to see a familiar grey pegasus standing there with a clipboard, her hoof raised as if she were about to knock. There was an awkward silence as Derpy stared at Soarin, clad in his towel (which while we're at it was patterned with little ducks) with a bushy mustache above his agape mouth. You could cut through the cumbersome silence with a knife!

"Um… I've got this month's food supply in the van," she pointed to the doors to the training grounds, though she never took her eyes off of Soarin. Normally he wouldn't be able to tell with her wall eyes but for once they were straight and staring right at him. Soarin felt a bead of sweat run down his face and he gave a single nod.

"Great…" he did his best to grin, but it was clearly a cringe. Derpy cleared her throat, her gold eyes finally crossing.

"So… what's with the towel?" she asked. Soarin tugged at his towel and darted his eyes from side to side.

"Um… this… oh, I'm wearing this because I just got back from… scuba diving," he lied. Derpy stayed silent for about a minute before she smiled.

"Oh, that makes sense," she chirped. Phew. Soarin wiped his brow and thanked Celestia that his dignity was mostly still intact… after he'd recovered it for the sixth, maybe seventh time that week. "So I'll open up the van for you two," she headed off back to the door, waving over her shoulder.

"Okay," Soarin called after her before shutting the door. He then turned on his heels and seized up, gritting his teeth and walking slowly and stiffly. "Cringe walk!" he dubbed the walk, before gasping and standing straight, prodding his mustache with a hoof "I had _this_ on!" he realised with horror.

* * *

Soarin and Rainbow Dash walked into the Hayburger, the exact same one they went to the day after Dash's accident in the storm clouds. Nothing had gone wrong _yet_, but Soarin was still cautious.

Rainbow had gone to the kitchen to get Soarin, who was initially surprised to see that she wasn't dressed up. He hadn't expected her to, of course, since she wasn't your ordinary mare, but all his knowledge of dating prior to this had come from trashy romance novels, where the lady had always worn some ridiculously expensive outfit and the stallion looked like a God. Well this is not a story, _this is real life_! **(Somewhere an author was chuckling at that sentence)**

Dash seemed calm about the whole thing, and then again so did Soarin. This was his friend Rainbow Dash, the same Rainbow Dash he had hung out with nearly every day for the past month or two. He wasn't sure if he should call her his marefriend yet, he didn't want to freak her out, or himself for that matter.

The two of them entered the fast food restaurant casually, and since most of the ponies at the place were regulars there was no need for any of them to rush over to Soarin and ask him for an autograph. There was a seat right by the door and Rainbow Dash settled into it. Soarin was ignoring the fact that this was a date, just in case the realization leapt at him and made him do something stupid, and so far it was working. He hadn't done anything dumb so far and he planned to keep it that way. He might as well start by being a gentleman.

"I'll get the dinner milady," Soarin bowed and chuckled in a Trottingham accent (and a bad one at that). This at least made Rainbow Dash laugh and she spoke in a better accent.

"You're too kind Mr Skies," this resulted in laughter from both of them which lasted for half a minute before they ceased all giggles, guffaws, snorts, etc.

They had decided what they were going to order before they got to the restaurant so Soarin knew what to do. Soarin had learned from his many years of going to this place that it was best to find out what you're going to eat _before_ you get to the front of the line, because it could be irritating whether there were ponies behind you bugging you to hurry up, or if_ you _were the poor sap stuck behind the guy ordering, listening to him saying that he'd order one thing before changing his mind and then going on to repeat the process over and over again while the pony behind the counter stared blankly at the guy while wishing he or she could just knock them out with the 'Buy Two Meals and Get a Free Cookie' sign.

But much to his luck there was no cue so he could just go ahead and order; hopefully this was a sign that the rest of the date would go well, too. He relayed his order of two large hayburgers with horseshoe fries, onion rings, carrot colas, and tomato sauce. He even managed to get back to the table without anything getting screwed up (dropped). Heh… this was actually pretty easy.

Once he and Dash had settled in, they got to the talking part of the date. It went a little something like this…

"So…" Soarin began.

"Yeah…" Rainbow hummed.

"How's the food?"

"Oh, um… yummy."

"Great."

"Great."

This was followed by some silence. Fortunately this was only a short silence since Soarin figured out that it was relatively simple to talk to Rainbow Dash. He wasn't going to screw things up by doing the cliché First Date Uncomfortable Quietness thingamajig.

"Hey, Dashie, how are you and Spring Song doing?" He asked. From the way Rainbow Dash looked at him you would have thought that Soarin had just asked her how many back legs she had.

"Need I say anything?" Rainbow asked rhetorically as she swallowed her mouthful of food. Soarin gave her a nod and a smirk.

"That would certainly be useful," he told her, being rewarded with an eye roll from his cyan companion. Maybe this wasn't something that they should discuss over a meal- Dash did have a temper when it came to Spring Song, and Soarin had seen many a movie where the angry diner flips the table in frustration. He didn't really feel like having to wipe up a tonne of salad off the floor.

"Um... she's... whatever," Dash shrugged, staring into her box of fries. "She's kinda been ignoring me for a while. She's probably just leaving me alone because the Ray thing's over now."

Soarin felt embarrassed at the mention of the whole Ray incident that had happened last week. He would be grateful if that entire day was wiped from existence... he was still struggling to go places without somepony pointing at him and saying 'Look, it's the doof from the magazines!' It hadn't taken him and the others long to figure out who had sent in the information, and they were going to be punished soon.

"Hey, um... about Ray," Soarin nervously started, debating whether or not it was acceptable to talk about his kind of thing on a date. Probably not, but it was too late to turn back now. "You didn't have any... _special feelings_ for him did you?"

Rainbow was quiet for a few seconds, and Soarin got that feeling in his brain that he really needed to search for appropriate dinner conversations on the internet. And then Dash started laughing.

"Ha! Soarin, you're really thinking that I had a thing for Ray? Somepony's possessive! Don't ya think we need a couple more dates before you start getting all clingy?" Rainbow teased him, and Soarin felt his face go red, a fact that was not ignored by Rainbow Dash. "Oh my gosh, your face!" She looked like she was having the time of her life pointing out his discomfort. Soarin had no idea if this was weird or not but he absolutely loved Rainbow's laugh. It reminded him of a mix between an over-excited filly and an evil psychopath. Odd as that sounded, it was what Soarin liked.

"You're mean," Soarin made a pouty face, which just made Rainbow laugh even harder. If she had been drinking her carrot cola while this was happening it would have been all over the place by now. Again, not really the most pleasant of thoughts. Rainbow Dash huffed and folded her arms, raising her nose into the air and looking away in fake disgust.

"Well then, I was going to pay for dessert but now I've changed my mind," she told him, not being able to keep the corners of her mouth from turning up. Soarin decided to tease her back.

"Ya know there's a word for ponies like you," he started telling her, only to get cut off when Rainbow Dash finished the sentence for him.

"Awesome?" She suggested, clearly picking what she thought to be the most obvious choice. Soarin shook his head.

"Nope."

"Astounding?"

"Meh..."

"Gorgeous?"

"Very true, but that's not the answer I was looking for," Soarin felt pleased to see Rainbow blush this time. And Braeburn said that he didn't have any charm.

"Well, what's the word then?" Dash asked once her face was less pink and more blue. Soarin suddenly realised something.

"I, um… forgot," he looked down with embarrassment. Rainbow Dash sighed and shook her head at him, which was to be expected. But then Soarin thought of a way he could turn things around and use his forgetfulness as an advantage.

"How about we just stick with gorgeous?" he suggested. Rainbow's blush was one of the cutest things he had ever seen, though she was shifting uncomfortably. Was this not something you did on a first date? Okay, no more of these flirts.

"Hey," Soarin made sure she was looking away and did something silly. When Rainbow Dash looked back at him she snorted with laughter. "Have you seen where my hayburger went?" he asked, looking around with the burger on his head. He called this attempt at humor a success! Suddenly-

"Rainbow Dash!"

Soarin and Rainbow looked in the direction of the voice, seeing three mares at a table waving at them. He was surprised to recognize two out of three ponies. Derpy was there, along with the mare who had sold him the police pony costume at the fancy dress store. She was a small pink pegasus with a short gold mane and a curled tail. The other pegasus mare was somepony that Soarin had never met, but she seemed to know Rainbow Dash very well. Rainbow gasped and moved over to the three mares.

"Hey, what're you three doing here?" she asked. Derpy spoke up first.

"Why else? Dinner!" she happily licked her lips and bit into her hayburger, ketchup smearing her muzzle. Rainbow looked at the pink mare.

"Endless Clouds, I haven't seen you since school," she smiled cheerfully at the pegasus. Endless Clouds got up and hugged Dash.

"Yeah, how've you been? I ain't seen you in ages." She slugged the rainbow maned pegasus on the shoulder playfully. Soarin just sat at the table, trying to blend in since the three mares hadn't seemed to have noticed him.

"Meh, I've been okay. How about you?" she asked in return. Endless Clouds shrugged her shoulders.

"I opened up a store last month so I'm fine, too," she said proudly. The mare Soarin didn't know cleared her throat.

"You didn't forget about me right, Dash?" she asked. Rainbow shook her head and hugged her old friend.

"How could I forget you, Golden Glory? I can't forget my number one lab partner. Still working at the Weather Factory?" she questioned the mare. Golden Glory was a lemon yellow pegasus with turquoise eyes and a light and dark maroon mane and tail. Her cutie mark was a green laurel wreath.

"Yeah, I just got a promotion and now I'm only one space away from Head of the Winter Department," she announced. Rainbow Dash tapped her chin in thought.

"Ya know, I thought you would have done something different with that Cutie Mark," she said. Golden Glory shook her head.

"Nah, making wreaths is more of a hobby," she said. "Besides, working in the Weather Factory is kind of a family tradition."

"Fair enough," Dash shrugged. "So, Derpy, just finished work?"

The bubbly grey pegasus nodded her head. "Yeah, I've had a real busy afternoon. I stopped by the Wonderbolts Academy about an hour ago. Crazy place, huh?"

Rainbow Dash chuckled. "You have no idea."

"What about you, Dash?" Endless Clouds nodded at Rainbow's flank. "What're you doing with that Speedsters Cutie Mark of yours? Professional racer or somethin'?"

"Nah, I'm just a weather pony; but I'm training for the Wonderbolts, and I'm in the Reserves, too," she explained. Golden Glory gasped and sat up straighter.

"That's so cool! Have you been in any airshows yet?" she asked, buzzing in her seat. Rainbow shook her head.

"Not yet, but it's only a matter of time," Rainbow sounded pretty determined. "Um… Derpy?" she got the grey mare's attention. She lifted her head and (sort of) gazed at Rainbow Dash with her crossed eyes. "You've got a little…"

Derpy felt her muzzle, discovering a fry stuck to the side of her muzzle. "Oh, thanks Dash," she chirped before gulping it down.

"So Dash…" Endless Clouds twirled her straw around in her milkshake and looked slyly up at Rainbow Dash. "Seeing anypony?"

Rainbow Dash's blush was visible from Soarin's seat and she nodded over at him. "I'm actually on a date right now," the others looked in Soarin's direction. Golden Glory gasped and slapped her hooves over her mouth.

"That's… S-s-s-s…. it's..." she then started hyperventilating, and Derpy had to help her calm down. Endless Clouds beckoned him over.

"What're you sittin' there for, come on over," she told him, and Soarin obeyed, knowing that this could help Rainbow's image. Derpy gave him a smile.

"Hi Soarin, I see you shaved," she smiled. Rainbow raised a brow at him.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing," Soarin shook his head rapidly. Golden Glory suddenly popped up next to him, hugging him.

"Oh my gosh, I'm hugging Soarin the Wonderbolt," she inhaled deeply. "The rumors are true- he _does_ smell like peaches," she gushed.

"Peaches?" Endless Clouds looked at him with a teasing glint in her eyes. Soarin stood his ground and spoke in a defensive tone.

"Guys can smell like peaches, too!" he had said this to his colleagues many times in the past and most likely will again… a lot. Derpy looked pleasantly surprised.

"I didn't know that you and Soarin were dating, Rainbow Dash. When did this happen?" she asked. Rainbow turned red at the memories.

"Yesterday, actually." she replied. "This is our first date."

"Wow… never thought you'd manage to bag a Wonderbolt, Dash," Endless Clouds leaned back in her seat. Derpy gasped.

"Oh my gosh wait until Fluttershy and the others hear about this!"

Soarin was surprised when Rainbow Dash shook her head and waved her hooves frantically.

"NO! Nononononono," she said. "I'm… not ready for them to know yet," she admitted. "Can I wait a little while?" she asked. Soarin was a little confused like this. He was thrilled about his new status with Rainbow Dash, and he'd tell literally everypony he knew if the situation arose. He would even resort to standing at the top of the highest building and yelling '_I'm dating Rainbow Dash_!' through a megaphone. So why didn't Rainbow Dash feel the same. Was she embarrassed of him? But he was a Wonderbolt…

"Oh, okay then," Derpy shrugged, looking as if she would struggle to keep this to herself. Golden Glory squeed and returned to her seat.

"I haven't been this surprised since I won that diving trip last month," the yellow pegasus squealed, seemingly forgetting that she had food in front of her. Her appetite had been completely replaced by excitement. Derpy swallowed her mouthful of Pegapsi and pointed at Soarin.

"You should tell Soarin about it. _He_ scuba dives," she said. Rainbow Dash looked up at him.

"Does he?" she asked.

"Yes." Soarin said quickly, faking a smile.

"Awesome," Golden Glory rested her chin on her hooves. "Where do you go diving?" she asked. Soarin hesitated for a second before replying.

"In the sea," he said simply, rubbing the back of his neck. Golden Glory thought of a suggestion.

"Seychelles?" she said a random location.

"Shells," Soarin did as he was told… kinda.

Golden Glory looked him up and down, particularly at his uniform. Just when Soarin was beginning to feel uncomfortable she said something that made his blood freeze in his veins.

"Hey, I know where I saw you today," her eyes lit up with realization. "I was shopping with my brother earlier, you're that… Spastic Model or something…" she tried to think of the name Soarin had made up earlier.

"Is he?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yes." Soarin hurriedly said.

Thankfully they moved on after that.

"So Dash, did you hear about what happened down in Ponyville a couple of days ago?" Derpy asked. Rainbow nodded. During her slump Dash hadn't kept in contact with her friends. Yesterday she had written her first letter to them in a week, and had gotten a long scroll in return from Pinkie Pie saying how much she missed her and _literally_ everything that had gone on in Ponyville for the past week.

"But can you be more specific?" Rainbow asked. Derpy ate another fry before continuing.

"Somepony tried to burgle Twilight's castle," she explained. Rainbow gasped.

"Really? Who?"

Derpy chuckled. "Well it wasn't exactly a burglary… it was just Lyra climbing through the top window because she wanted to check out that 'portal to the human world' Pinkie told her and Bon Bon about. As if there's such a thing as that," Derpy scoffed. Soarin laughed, too. What a ridiculous idea.

"So it was just Lyra being Lyra?" Rainbow sighed. Derpy nodded.

"You should have seen it though. The police were called and everything," Derpy finished her box of fries and moved onto her blueberry muffin. Endless Clouds cleared her throat and nodded at Soarin.

"Soarin was in my store earlier buying a police costume," the pink pegasus spoke directly to him then. "Remember, I gave it to you half off because you're doing a special volunteer police job."

Soarin had… kinda lied because he didn't want to spend too many bits on the costume in case he did end up getting a suit. He really could have just paid full price since he didn't get one in the end, and he had plenty of bits to spare, being a celebrity and all, but hey, more money for him.

"Is he?" Rainbow asked again.

"Yes." Soarin said in a rush. Why him?

"Impressive," Golden Glory commented.

"So, man…" Endless Clouds asked him a question. "…you'd know. What would the Cloudsdale police think of Ponyville problems?"

"Yeah, what would the police say?" Derpy asked. He thought for a second.

"Well they'd probably say…" oh dear. "Every breath you take, every move you make, I'll be watching you."

Rainbow Dash looked down at the ground and sighed. "Don't sing," she pleaded. But it was too late and Soarin began singing the chorus of the song.

"_Oh can't you see,_

_You belong to me._

_My poor heart aches…"_

"Soarin stop," Rainbow hissed.

"I can't," Soarin was sweating now and he skipped to another part of the song.

"_Since you've been gone_

_I've been lost without a trace-_"

"Everybody!" Soarin began backing towards the door as he continued singing. Everypony in the restaurant was staring at him now, but he was unable to quit singing.

"_I dream at night_

_I can only see your face!_

_I look around _

_And it's you I can't replace_

_I feel so cold_

_And I long for your embrace_

"Nopony's joining in," he said, mostly to himself. Almost to the door…

"_I keep crying_

_Baby, baby, PLEEEEEEAAAASE!_"

He struck a pose as he finished singing and looked around at the now completely silent diner. Gulping, he tapped a hoof on the ground. "I… I had to get to that bit," he explained. He opened the door and began stepping through.

"Don't worry about dessert, Dashie, I… I understand that it's hard to be in public with this," he started galloping on the spot much to everyone's confusion, including his. "Giddy up!" he said out of the blue.

And then he galloped out the door.

* * *

**Endnote: And here ends the first half of Soarin's Dating Nightmare. Poor guy… but seriously I need to count all the times he's sung. It's kinda like a running gag. **

**So the next chapter will hopefully have a more acceptable ending since the past three have been crappy, and then we move onto the next story arc. Thank Celestia for that!**

**Now to count the references in this chapter, we have things from… Inside Out, Five Nights at Freddy's, Glee, Megamind, and 300. If you spot all of them you're awesome!**

**But MidnightBlaze16 is right. I use waaaaay too many references, but if they add humour I'll take 'em, 'cause I love me some comedy. Surprise, surprise.**

**Also, I'm going to end this with a question, and it's a pretty weird one. Which actress would best suit Surprise's voice? Since she has no speaking lines in the show we can imagine whatever we want. I mean at first I just heard Pinkie Pie's voice when I wrote her, then I heard Brenda Song, but ever since I saw Inside Out in theaters I've been hearing her lines in Amy Poehler's voice. So who is right for our over-excited Wonderbolt?**

**See you in the next chapter!**

**The song 'Every Breath You Take' is by the rock band The Police.**


	37. So, You Think You Can Date? Part 2

**MILD ALCOHOL AND CIGARETTE WARNING!**

**Captain Alaska: It **_**is**_** the best Police song, hands down. And since in real life when people faint they are usually only out for a few minutes Paradise probably got up and flew into the clouds not long after Dash and Lullaby's conversation ended, but I think that Paradise can still act a little woozy about the experience. And thank you because now I have a hilarious image of Iago the parrot from Aladdin speaking Surprise's lines! As for Soarin's fart-thigh thing, I only have one thing to say and that is "It's true!"**

**CrystalHeart190- Yeah, Soarin is the biggest doofus out there, at least in my view; if only the show portrayed him like this then my life would be complete. I've read about a lot of people hearing Surprise's voice as like a deeper Pinkie Pie, but that just doesn't seem right… damn you Hasbro for not making her talk! Whoa, someone's excited for some SoarinDash action, not that I blame you- but just read the chapter and see how things go. It's unpredictable! And PinkBitch is showing up towards the end! **

**RosaSilvermist- Sometimes moving on can be tough, but we all try at least. And Surprise sounding like Pinkie reminds me of the early days in chapter 15 where a white furred Pinkie Pie with wings burst through a door and threw confetti everywhere.**

**Dj Storm- Yeah I'm a huge fan of FNAF. Rock Star, I'm sure Soarin would appreciate you being in charge of the music, but like I said, it's still early days and a wedding is the furthest thing from Soarin's mind. The only thing he's thinking of right now is a hole- so he can bury himself in it to hide from his humiliation. **

**MidnightBlaze16- I hoped that a lot of people would appreciate that. Ya gotta love Freddy's.**

**Spiralwish- Great, now I'm thinking of Soarin working the night shift. And there was an old scene that I cut out where Soarin walks past the animatronics and muses on how creepy they are… and then Bonnie stares at him so he leaves.**

**Litestardt- I'm hiring a fourth wall repair guy to fix that situation. And Lightning gives good hugs. ^^**

**Luna'snight625- Soarin's the typical inexperienced goofball. And I for one am **_**not**_** sure everyone would like this on FIMFiction. I posted a story on there once, one that everyone on this site enjoyed, and I got flamed… a lot. It was about the length of it mostly, but some of the things that the people said hurt me a lot. I deleted it after less than a day. There was even a page on it on Rage Reviews, and when I read it I burst into tears before the halfway point. So I don't trust FIMFiction at **_**all. **_

**YoungBlood23- Oh, you saw that YouTube video, too. Holy Celestia was that funny! xD**

**Guest: Glad it lived up to your expectations.**

**Stardust- I am inspired by a lot of comedy farces so that's probably why you can see it as a plot. Also it was chapter 29 where Soarin spilled the beans.**

**Dshk- Well I've never actually played Battlefield but it's cool you spotted a reference that even **_**I**_** didn't know about. GASP! My cutie mark should have something to do with making references! Though this is some pretty accurate (not to mention dark) stuff. But just so we're clear, that's not how the finale goes but I like the way ya think. And I thought I saw a Boone quote in there- I'm not an idiot after all! And that's a clever name for their foal, though being the huge geek I am I've already put a lot of thought into names for that purpose. ^^"**

**SnowHurricaneBlue- I LOVE London… both kinds of London's! I can totally imagine Surprise having a lot of London's traits... and her dad. Hehe. And Surprise, there is **_**never**_** a bad time for cake- especially a giant cake. ^^**

* * *

"And yer exit move was…?" Braeburn looked up from rolling some dough at Soarin, who was standing by the door, mimicking his still-gallop from the previous evening.

"This little half trot, half gallop thing," he admitted with his tone full of shame. It was the morning after the incident at the Hayburger and he hadn't heard from Rainbow Dash. He had figured that she'd decided that he was a huge nuisance and was ignoring him… but this was Rainbow; she'd come around.

"Oh no," was all Braeburn had to say to this, returning his attention to the pastry on the surface before him. Soarin was a little annoyed that he wasn't paying more attention to his predicament but carried on talking anyway.

"I just really fancy her, Brae and now I've screwed it up. Do you have any idea how much that hurts?" he just got a sigh from his friend.

"Soar, can ya just shut up?" he asked. Soarin was appalled at this? What right did Braeburn have to tell him to keep his mouth closed when he was having troubles with his dream mare?

"Well up yours, Brae. And screw you!" Soarin moved over to a sink and fiddled with a colander. "Ya know, forget you; I'm sure I can fix this somehow… I'll be the perfect stallion, her knight in shining armor or whatever the saying is," he put the colander on his head and started strutting back and forth like a noble knight.

"Yes Princess," he bowed to an imaginary Celestia, enjoying pretending to be a knight. "I'll do anything to make sure you are safe and happy," he laughed, remembering his colthood where he loved playing knights and dragons with his friends… though most of the time he was made to be a dragon and got poked with the sticks they were using as swords.

"Well that's good to hear," a spunky voice made Soarin jump and fling the colander off his head… which then hit Braeburn in the face and knocked him off his seat with a thud. Soarin would have asked if he was alright had Rainbow Dash not been there. Though Braeburn didn't get up, and that was usually not a good sign.

"Um… nice hat?" Rainbow squinted with confusion, and Soarin nervously chuckled.

"It's a… wh-what are you doing here?" he asked. It was almost time for the cadets to start their drills, which Silver Lining was taking over for a mysterious reason, and so Dash was dressed in her cadet uniform with her goggles balanced on her head.

"Yeah, last night _was_ kind of weird," she spoke the obvious, making Soarin flush with embarrassment. It's all fun and games until someone gets humiliated in a restaurant- he probably wouldn't return there for a while in case anyone recognised him. "But I just really _need_ to figure you out. Call me Sherclop Pones," she referenced the famous fictitious detective.

"Sherclop Pones," Soarin called her exactly that, which was clearly something Dash had not expected since she rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, I had an idea. How about we try that date again only… here," she gestured around her at the kitchen. "We can have some pie and just chill," she shrugged. Soarin liked the way she thought.

"Well then milady your knight will prepare a soirée with apple pie and Pegapsi. Nothing fancy but my sword is drawn and thou will enjoyeth thith evening… ha, I sounded like Fleetfoot there," he laughed at his inability to speak in medieval… things. By then Braeburn had got up, a purple bruise on his forehead.

"Another date?" he asked, wobbling as if he was struggling to stand. Soarin nodded happily.

"Yep! The detective and knight shall dine," he grinned. Braeburn blinked a few times before trudging over to the fridge.

"That's it, Ah'm hearin' stupid stuff. Where's the ice?" he didn't hear Soarin chuckle at his friend.

"So I will make sure that nothing goes wrong," Soarin vowed and put his hoof over his heart. "Word of a Wonderbolt," he recited the phrase that every Wonderbolt would use when they made a big promise. "And I'll dig out my suit and tie and meet you here at four O'clock."

Suit and tie?" Rainbow echoed, looking skeptical. "Well okay then. This isn't exactly a fancy event but if that's what you want…" she hesitated a moment before reaching forward and pecking Soarin on the cheek before she turned and speed-walked out of the kitchen, blushing insanely bright. Soarin grinned so wide that he thought that his face might split in half and turned towards Braeburn.

"Got a second date," he chanted, and Braeburn joined in. "Got a second date."

"Inadvertently played a blinder," Soarin changed the chant.

"Inadvertently played… it's too hard," they went back to the original chant.

"Got a second date. Got a second date."

Braeburn led him over to the counter he was at a little while ago and forced him onto a seat. "Right, Ah'm gonna help ya out this time so ya won't slip up," he decided.

"Thanks…" Soarin didn't feel like arguing, even though Braeburn was probably the last pony in Equestria he wanted to take advice from.

"So… ya wanna have an amusin' story fer yer date t' show ya have an interestin' life," Braeburn explained. Soarin scoffed and tugged at his tie.

"Wonderbolt. Duh!" He stuck his tongue out and crossed his eyes before sitting up straight. "But I have a funny anecdote anyway. Wanna hear it?" When Braeburn nodded Soarin suppressed a giggle and twisted round to face his friend.

"Okay, so one time I got a phone call, so I picked the phone up and the guy on the other end said '_Mr Skies?' _so I said '_Yes?'_ and then he said _'I've got your curtains.'_" He paused as he bit his lip to keep from laughing. "Anyway I thought '_Weird. What curtains?'_" as Braeburn nodded to show that he was keeping up, Soarin finished his story and burst into a fit of laughter. "It was a wrong number. They weren't my curtains!" he was clutching his ribs due to his cackling now, and he wheezed to try and calm down when he saw that Braeburn just looked confused. "They were somepony else's curtains!" he said as if it were the punchline. Suddenly the pale blue stallion remembered something.

Soarin gasped and froze. "Oh crud, I told her I'd get the suit and tie. Ack! I'm too scared to go back to those gangling boppy shoppers," he grabbed Braeburn and shook him by the shoulders. "How will I get it? How? HOW?!"

"FOCUS!" Braeburn slapped Soarin round the face, and suddenly it seemed as if he'd knocked an idea into his skull. Soarin put a serious and determined look on his face.

"I've got it!"

* * *

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Don't come in," came the gruff reply.

"Couldn't if I wanted to; the thing's locked," the Horstrian accent gave away who the stallion was. The captain wasn't expecting him, and by no means wanted to let him inside her office. Rapidfire always came down here for the same reason anyway, and every time they had the same conversation, so she might as well just sit there until he got bored and left.

The office was a state anyway. Paperwork was scattered over the desk with some on the floor, crumpled sheets filled the wastepaper basket to the brim to the point of overflowing and there was a new espresso machine on the desk within hooves reach so she could get some whenever she needed an extra boost of energy.

There was a box of red wine underneath the desk where nopony could see it from the other side. There were more in the cupboards just in case she ran out along with migraine pills and other medications. If anypony didn't know the captain they would assume she was a wild slob.

"Cap, lemme in, please."

"Nope," Spitfire took a gulp of wine, wrinkling her nose as it burned her throat. This was, in truth, not the first time the golden pegasus had turned to alcohol for support in this sort of situation, but that didn't help her like the taste any more. She found that red wine was better than white wine because of the added sweet, fruity flavor… even if it still felt like swallowing poison sometimes. Oh well, alcohol wasn't meant for everyone.

"Why not?" Rapidfire knocked on the door again.

"Because I said so," Spitfire wondered if she should have just pretended she wasn't there… she could have climbed out the window at least… but that would mean standing up… and the last time she'd tried that she'd fallen over. Nope, the chair was good enough. After a minute or two Rapidfire stopped banging on the door, and she took that as a sign that he had wandered off. Good.

"Spitz!" Now there was a voice she… tolerated. "Oh, the knock- I forgot."

"You don't have to do the secret knock; I didn't even _want_ a secret knock," Spitfire groaned, rubbing her forehead.

"But I _love_ the secret knock!" Surprise did it anyway, to the beat of Blue (Da Ba Dee) by Eifel 65 (_**YOU**_** try ponifying that!)**

"Ugh, fine," Spitfire got up from her swivel chair, waited for the room to stop feeling fuzzy, and then made her way to the door. She unlocked it and opened it, seeing Surprise standing before her-

-with Rapidfire _and_ Misty Fly!

"Gah!" Spitfire grabbed Surprise and pulled her into the room. Surprise didn't have time to question the captain's motives as she spun her round and slammed her into the door, pressing herself against her friend to keep her from moving.

"What?" Surprise asked. Spitfire strained from slapping the white pegasus round the face.

"I said that I don't wanna see anypony, so you bring Mist and Rapid here?" she asked, her eyes blazing with anger that ceased to go away. Surprise gulped."

"Well if it helps, Rapidfire was already here," she said nervously.

"Of course it doesn't help!" she bit her lip to keep herself from yelling.

'_Maybe you should shove _her_ out the window?' _the pony in Spitfire's head rubbed its hooves together with a cunning smirk.

'_Not now.'_

'_Yeah, you're right. We're on the ground floor so it wouldn't be all that painful… and she'd land on clouds.'_

"I-is everything okay in there?" Misty Fly's distinct voice came from the other side of the door followed by Rapidfire's deeper voice.

"Yeah, I wanna talk!"

"Rapidfire, for the last time I'm _not_ making you co-captain!" Spitfire shoved Surprise aside and shouted through the door.

"But… I paid you!" Rapidfire tried to convince her. "Soarin's getting more unreliable ya know. Now he's dating that Rainbow Dash cadet he's gonna be swooning so much that she'll have to drag him around with a leash..." Rapidfire then chuckled. "Kinky." He added.

"Shut up!" was the captain's only response to that.

"C'mon, I gave you the bits!" he continued bickering. Rolling her eyes behind her shades, Spitfire moved over to the swivel chair and placed a hoof on the button to turn the coffee machine on; she did so and it made a loud whirring noise.

"152 BITS, WOMAN!" Rapidfire yelled over the noise. Spitfire pushed the button again and the noise stopped.

"Sorry, what was that?" she asked, kicking the side of the desk absentmindedly.

"I said that I gave you 152 bits so you could pay Soarin to quit the position-"

"-and I said I would do no such thing," Spitfire called through the door, catching sight of Surprise inching towards it and stopping her with a scowl.

"And ya kept the cash anyway-" halfway through his sentence, Spitfire turned the coffee maker back on, making Rapidfire raise his voice. "-WHICH IS ABOUT THE SAME PRICE AS AN ESPRESSO MACHINE!"

Spitfire turned it off. "Sorry, I didn't hear a word you said," this was the way their conversations usually went, though it was a lot more enjoyable with a coffee maker.

"Soarin's not with it anymore! He's a stupid, immature dingbat!"

"Soarin's perfectly capable of his job," Spitfire argued. Rapidfire raised his voice a little more.

"Yesterday I caught him in the kitchen eating a _sponge_ to see if it tasted like cake!" he yelled.

"Goodbye Rapidfire!" Spitfire said with finality, switching on the machine again. Rapidfire could be heard yelling one more time.

"HE PUT JELLY ON IT, BUT IT WAS STILL A SPONGE!"

That left Spitfire and Surprise alone in the office… she would have preferred to be _alone_ alone, but with Surprise there wasn't much further she could get. After all, her white furred friend liked to be 'alone together'.

"So…"

"No," Spitfire silenced her friend, choosing coffee over some wine this time round. There was no way she was going to sleep, so she needed as much caffeine as was physically possible. Surprise's ears drooped and she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"I… didn't finish my sentence," she stated the apparent, and the look on her face she got afterwards suggested that she had no idea whether this was a good choice or not. It wasn't.

"And you just said something dumb. Look at us, we're the Obvious Twins," she snarled. Surprise didn't like it when her friend was like this. It hadn't been occurring as much as it used to, but when Spitfire had her 'episodes' nowadays it was usually a seriously bad one. It messed with her mind, and sometimes she couldn't even recognize she was talking to the same mare.

"Spitz, you have to tell me what's wrong," Surprise knew that something bad had set her off this time. Luckily Surprise was skilled when it came to these sorts of situations so she had a relatively wide range of knowledge about what to do when faced with a pony suffering with this kind of mental disorder. Of course Spitfire would cool down eventually, but Surprise liked to do whatever she could to hurry the process along, even if it meant getting her feelings hurt in the process. When you cared for a pony the way Surprise cared for the captain then your feelings didn't matter- just their well-being. Surprise didn't even care that the point of view in this scene had somehow been switched over to her… she quite liked it, really.

"Just the wonders of Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder," Spitfire threw her hooves into the air and spun in her chair, which come to think of it was probably not the best thing to do after drinking three glasses wine before 2 O'clock. Surprise then asked what had to be the most pointless question ever.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"There's nothing to talk about," the golden mare replied curtly, reaching for the box of wine again. Man this was getting out of hoof already.

"C'mon, Spitz, smile for me won't ya?" Surprise put her head on the desk and looked expectantly up at her friend… though the frown remained. Surprise sighed and slunk over to the door.

"I just wanna help," she lamented in an uncharacteristically depressed tone. She dared not say it out loud but she pitied her friend for the life she'd had. Nopony should have to lose that many friends and family members. In a way it was like Surprise herself had lost a part of her own family that day with the fire… the amazing blue pony she had admired since her childhood was taken away… and she was pretty sure that the Spitfire she had grown up with had died with her.

Surprise had a lot going on inside her head, which everypony knew, but underneath the random ball of laughs there was a pretty wise pony just sitting there and obsessing over life. She was worried for her friend and wished that there was something she could do… and she'd tried! She could sometimes make her grin or laugh but she'd always slink back into that dark hole of depression she'd burrowed inside her head. She was most worried that the hole would just collapse on Spitfire completely and she'd lose herself for good… so Surprise needed to keep her happy. Somehow…

She'd promised after all.

Suddenly-

Knock, knock, knock,

"Surprise and Spitfire."

Knock, knock, knock,

"Surprise and Spitfire."

Knock, knock, knock,

"Surprise and Spitfire."

Surprise groaned and gritted her teeth. Misty Fly was definitely the pony she got along with least because their personalities just clashed into a big ugly mess, and because of this, little quirks that Surprise would normally find hilarious irritated her. For instance, Misty Fly liked to knock on doors three times and then say the names of whoever is inside, repeat, and then repeat again. Was this how Spitfire felt when Surprise threw confetti all over her? She needed to apologize for that.

"What, Misty?" Spitfire called through the door.

"I want to help," she said simply. Surprise wanted to scoff and say that there was no way she'd be let inside, but she told herself to stay optimistic, especially in the presence of Spitfire.

"Hmm…" The golden mare hummed. At some point she had got up to stare out the window. Surprise moved away from the door and stood next to her friend, following her line of sight to see a group of grey clouds gathering by the Weather Factory. Great, it was gonna rain…

"Let her in," Spitfire said shortly. Surprise's jaw almost hit the floor… why did she need Misty? _She_ was Spitfire's sole confidant and best friend, though she had often noticed the flame maned mare chatting to Misty Fly in the staff room. She seemed to get along with Misty Fly pretty well, and asked her for advice a lot. Sometimes Spitfire would even work Misty Fly into the conversations they were having when she wasn't even around. Somehow the youngest Wonderbolt had entered Spitfire's soft spot, and Surprise was irked by that. Their conversations about Misty would often annoy Surprise to the point of her not listening anymore.

"Fine," Surprise opened the door and Misty Fly walked in, giving Surprise a small smile as she did so. Ugh! Why did Misty have to be so sweet?

"What's happening, Spitfire?" Misty asked. Great, they weren't calling each other by their positions either? Surprise stuck close to Spitfire's side after that point.

"Have you seen Soarin today?" she asked. Misty Fly wrinkled her muzzle as she thought and looked off to the side.

"I think he just left with a bag," she replied. Spitfire blinked behind her shades.

"What…?" she asked bluntly. Misty Fly shrugged.

"No idea," was all she said, showing that she was used to Soarin's idiocy by now, too. Spitfire cleared her throat to get the tan mare's attention back.

"Well for you that's good news… I think," she was using an emotionless tone. "Since Surprise is acting as a substitute captain for the time being and Soarin isn't here, you are the new temporary Lieutenant.

"R-really?" Misty asked with wide eyes, a shade of pink dusting her cheeks. "Y-you trust me _that_ much?"

"Of course I do," Spitfire shrugged. Surprise hated that grin Misty got when she was proud. It curled too much for her liking, and she got this look in her eyes whenever she was praised like she had just won the award for being the most incredible pony- and if that pony praising her was the captain, there might have even been a squee in there- oh there it went.

"Um… why is this happening?" Surprise looked at Spitfire so that Misty couldn't see her face. Her tone was calm but her eyes screamed 'what the heck are you doing?!'

Spitfire sat back at her desk and got some more coffee. "It's been on the agenda for a while, but I think now is the time to launch an investigation to figure out who put the horseshoe in the storm cloud cluster. This has gone on far enough and no new evidence has come forward as to who did it, so the only way we're going to catch the culprit is if we go and look for some kind of clue."

"So…" Surprise gulped, fearing the answer. "what have _we_ got to do with it?"

"You two are going to be the investigators."

"I had a _horrible_ feeling you were going to say that." Surprise hated the idea of going into the storm clouds. An idea she hated even more was going into the storm clouds with a pony she only barely _tolerated_.

"Well the sooner we figure out who did it then the sooner you can go back to sitting on your lard-ass," the captain lowered her shades to glare at Surprise. Then Misty giggled and put a hoof to her chin.

"Oh Spitfire, that was priceless," she laughed. "Lard-ass…"

"Let's do this!" Surprise smashed a hoof on the desk with anticipation. This wasn't an investigation anymore- this was a competition! She was going to prove to Spitfire that she was the best friend a pony could ever have- there was no need for the Misty Fly Buddy 3000… it sounds funnier with the number at the end… right?

"Surprise," Spitfire said silently. The white mare leaned forward eagerly.

"Yes?" she asked with wide purple eyes. Spitfire gave her a small shove.

"What did I tell you about slamming your hooves on my desk?" she asked. Surprise swallowed hard and tittered nervously.

"Ya know what; Misty Fly and I should really get started with this clue hunt. We'll be back with some cool evidence before you even know it!" she started heading for the door with Misty. Spitfire sighed with relief and leaned back in her chair.

"Thanks," she said with a slightly melancholy note in her voice. She was staring down at her desk again now, and Surprise figured it was best if she was left by herself for a while. She'd heard that misery loved company… but sometimes company could just become forced and tainted.

"Please Celestia, make her happy," Surprise murmured under her breath as she walked down the hall side by side with Misty Fly.

* * *

The stallion in the police costume strutted down the market street, giving everypony he saw a stink eye as he passed them, enjoying the power that came with wearing this uniform.

"Move along please," Soarin declared in a bold voice, his chest puffed out and his tummy sucked in to make him look more masculine. "can't bear a street dawdler." He ushered a couple of stallions in the middle of the street to the side. "Move over if you want to chat, don't ruin the flow." This was so cool! Like this he could change everything that bothered him about everyday life… okay maybe not TV commercials, but still! The power!

"Should ya really be doing this?" Braeburn rushed to catch up with him. Soarin had brought him along for the ride purely so he could observe how wearing a police uniform could change the world… or at least the street! "Ah mean, you've already ordered a billboard be taken down and made a school close for the day to please the kids. This is gettin' outta hoof."

"Oh you're just jealous my lowly civilian friend." Soarin raised his nose to the air. "The police uniform is perfection with sleeves- I can literally do whatever I want and nopony would care! Heck I could just stand on my hind legs right now and yell "pancakes" at the top of my voice and everypony would think it's some weird police thing."

"Ya do that anyway," Braeburn sighed. Soarin scoffed and picked up the pace since they were almost at _Ethereal_.

"Hurry up Brae, ya slow poke. We're gonna get it right this time."

Braeburn sighed and sloped along, and by what he said next Soarin was assuming that he was remembering when the time he was first assigned to be Soarin's 'mentor'. "You'll be guidin' Soarin Skies, they said. It'll be_ easy_, they said." He spoke to himself.

Soarin saw a mob protesting by Freddy Fazmare's Pizza, a bunch of ponies yelling and waving signs around. Soarin didn't really look at them but he caught sight of one of the signs saying something like 'close this place for good'. Oh well, he didn't blame them. That place had always smelt a little.

"Hey Brae, check this out," Soarin chuckled mischievously and strode over to the crowd, yelling as loud as he could to get their attention. "Move aside please, you're causing a breach of the peace. I will use my powers of arrest-"

And then two pegasi, a mare and a stallion, appeared on either side of Soarin and put a hoof on each of his shoulders. The strange thing was that both of them were wearing police uniforms, too.

"You're under arrest, sir," the stallion said. Soarin laughed and smiled at each of them.

"Good one," he guffawed. "Where did you get your costumes from; it's fun, right?"

"We are arresting you on suspicion of impersonating a police pony," the stallion told him and suddenly Soarin's face lost its childlike glow.

"It's less fun now." He mumbled, praying to Celestia that this was just some kind of cruel joke that he was the victim of. Soarin grabbed the truncheon the stallion had attached to his uniform and squished it, not denting it at all. "Oh, your truncheon doesn't squeak." The police stallion kept on talking while the mare gave Soarin a glare that could silence a banshee.

"You do not have to say anything but it may harm your defense if you fail to mention when questioned something which you may later rely on in court."

"Real arrest!" Soarin exclaimed with wide eyes. He was sweating by now, and to make matter slightly more uncomfortable, Braeburn was standing a relatively far distance away just rolling his eyes and shaking his head. "I don't know if this is exciting or scary…"

And then he noticed the mare's weapon.

"Gun! Scary!"

And then the stallion snapped his hooves in cuffs and tied his wings behind his back.

"GAH! Scary!" He yelled again before trailing his eyes to the mare. "Though the mare in uniform's quite exciting…" he tried to lighten the mood but then the two pegasi started dragging him away down the street.

"Nope it's scary." He came to a conclusion. "BRAE!"

* * *

"So you're saying that this is a fancy dress costume?" the stallion asked, writing stuff down on some paper. Soarin nodded and hurriedly explained.

"Yes, I bought it yesterday at that new store in the market," he just wanted to get the hell out of there. The room they were in was small and dimly lit, and all that was in it was a desk that the two police ponies were sitting behind, and two small chairs, one of which Soarin was sitting in at the other side. He then voiced something out loud, which most of the time was never a good thing for him to do.

"Sorry, but does this officer ever speak?" He asked, nodding at the mare. "Because the silent stare is really off-putting." he gulped as the mare lowered her eyelids and sneered at him. Had it suddenly gone cold in here? "Are you suddenly gonna shine a light in my face and I'll go 'You ain't getting nothin' out of me, buster, I'm not snitchin'!"

Suddenly the door to the interrogation room opened and Soarin's earth pony friend entered. "Ah'm actin' as mah friends counsel." He announced and Soarin buzzed in his seat.

"Yay Brae!" He sing-songed in a high, happy voice. Braeburn put his front hooves on the desk and looked down at the cops.

"Officers Ah plead t' yer hearts- this guy's got a second date," he moved around and ruffled Soarin's mane while he made a derp-face. "_these_ don't get second dates."

"Um… thank you?" Soarin wasn't sure what to say to that. Braeburn looked back at the police pegasi.

"So just take pity on 'im. He needs t' be outta here by four O'clock." He made some puppy dog eyes and Soarin joined in, unaware that the two of them looked like a freak show with tails and ears. The stallion officer pushed forward some papers.

"Okay just check to see if all of these have the correct details." He said and Braeburn smiled.

"Nice, we're filin' quickly. And then bail?" He asked. The police pony who thus far had done all the talking spoke again.

"Most likely."

"Most likely?" Braeburn repeated. "But he's never been arrested before… at least not in the past eight years."

"That's not strictly true," the police pony disagreed and looked at Soarin. "You do have form."

Soarin found himself turning a tad red. "Well thank you very much." He beamed, enjoying having his body praised. Braeburn face hoofed and groaned.

"Not a compliment sir!" The mare finally spoke in a powerful and fiery voice that made Soarin freeze in terror. The police stallion gestured for his female colleague to leave.

"Go get some tea." He told her, and she left the room. The stallion then read the papers that were in front of him on the desk. "Quote: _I feel confident as Knight Soarin, and flirty as Model Soarin_."

Braeburn gave his friend a look, and Soarin let his eyes travel the other way. The police stallion sighed and stood up. "I'm gonna see if I can get our sergeant to talk to you." And then he left. Instantly Braeburn tapped Soarin on the shoulder.

"Quick, Soar. Switch clothes with me," he said hurriedly. Soarin stepped back.

"No! I'm not going around looking like an extra in _The Pone Ranger_." He supposed that there wasn't really another choice now, though.

"Just do it!" Braeburn began shaking his vest off, and Soarin huffed before taking off his costume. The earth pony told his friend the plan as he whipped his hat off his head. "Ah'll say it was me who was arrested t' the sergeant."

"Brae, you can't!" Soarin was at crossroads. He felt the need to get both of them out of this, but he hadn't got a plan for that! UGH!

"Hey, at least you'll have a funny story fer yer date," Braeburn reminded him of their conversation from earlier and Soarin agreed that he had a valid point. He had to argue though, for the sake of his friend.

"But if you get arrested then you could lose your job." He pointed out.

"Your love life is more important!" Braeburn declared dramatically and Soarin felt tears welling up to fit the mood.

"Oh Braeburn!" he fell to his knees for some reason before taking off the rest of his costume.

"This second date can't go wrong!" Braeburn made another dramatic announcement as he struggled into the costume and Soarin tried to figure out which way round the stetson went on his head. They heard hoofsteps approaching and they quickly dove to sit down in their seats.

Another police stallion, a huge buff one at that, came through and looked awkwardly at the sight. Two stallions in chairs, the pegasus with his vest on back to front and his hat hanging off one ear, and the earth pony wearing a police uniform that hadn't been buttoned up with the tie loosely dangling from his neck. Braeburn, not quite knowing what else to do, spoke in a bad cockney accent.

"Sarge, it was me wot dunnit," he gestured for Soarin to make the next move. The pegasus stood up and strutted out the door.

"You're not getting me to talk cop!" he raised himself to his full height.

"Go kid, go!" Braeburn yelled and Soarin left. Braeburn, remaining in character, leaned back in his chair, beginning to understand why Soarin enjoyed this little roleplay thing. "Now Sarge, I want a weed. I 'ave rights!" he gulped as the police pony gave him a glare.

"Or… not…"

* * *

"So… what are we supposed to be doing now?" Misty Fly asked Surprise as the two of them stood underneath the Tempest Clouds. Surprise hummed and looked down at her blank notepad. She really hadn't thought this through at all, and she seriously realised now that she needed to! At first she and Misty had scanned the grounds for possible clues left behind, but any fallen feathers would have been blown away by now.

"I'm working on it, just give me a minute," Surprise hated all of this responsibility. She was supposed to be goofing around and coming up with wacky stunts, not this stuff! She was no captain!

"Fine," Misty sighed and sat down next to her. Misty always had a pouch hanging around her neck and she reached into it now, pulling out a cigarette and a lighter. Holding the cig in her mouth she flicked on the switch and lit it before putting the lighter back in the pouch. Surprise watched out the corner of her eye as Misty inhaled, paused and then breathed the smoke out again, seeming to relax. Surprise had absolutely no idea why Misty chose to smoke, especially since it was typically a thing that tougher ponies did and Mist wouldn't hurt a fly unless she was provoked. Maybe it was something to do with stress? Surprise remembered one time when she was younger when a group of stupid fillies had offered her a cigarette; she'd taken one puff and thrown up, so cigs were a big no-no for her.

"So… wanna fly up there?" Surprise asked, realizing that she was attempting to make small-talk with Misty. UGH! Why the hay couldn't Misty just be… likable?!

"Not especially," Misty answered honestly. "Do you?"

"Eh… no," Surprise admitted, not really in the mood for a flight into a dangerous electric storm. "Ugh there's no way I'm going up there after what happened."

"Oh…" Misty Fly said blankly. Surprise tried to look on the bright side.

"Which... is a _good_ thing, because it gives us an excuse to question everypony before we're forced up there!" she made jazz-hooves and smiled. Misty just stared and took a puff of her cigarette again, when she exhaled she looked off to the side.

"Well where do we start then?" she asked. Surprise raised a hoof and opened her mouth to answer, before she remembered a crucial thing.

"I have _no_ idea!" she sat on her flanks, and Misty Fly slouched down a little more, almost as if she were uncomfortable to be in Surprise's presence. Then again Surprise didn't really blame her- she hadn't exactly been friendly towards her, since she liked to limit their interactions, but maybe this could change that. Surprise loved making new friends, and maybe Misty Fly was the perfect candidate for a new buddy. Right?

"So… has Spring Song been questioned yet?" Misty asked. Surprise's face went expressionless as she processed what Mist had just suggested. How the heck had she not thought of that… why hadn't _Spitfire_ thought of that?! It was so painfully obvious that she felt like a huge idiot for not thinking about it like three hours ago!

"Tell ya what, why don't we question Spring Song?" Surprise shrugged innocently.

"Great idea, Surprise," Misty sighed, her wings dropping to her sides. Surprise smiled at her.

"Thanks," she had completely forgotten that it wasn't her idea in the first place. She grabbed Misty by one of her wings and began dragging her along as she blew out another cloud of smoke. "now let's get started on finding Spring Song, and we'll have our answers before we know it. This'll be easy. This is working!"

* * *

"To staying inside and avoiding public humiliation," Rainbow Dash clinked her can of Colta Cola against Soarin's. She was actually surprised at how well things were going, and it seemed a lot better to be doing this in a place where they were used to hanging out. Man it seemed like a lot of important stuff had happened in this kitchen over the past couple of months… and Rainbow suddenly realised that it had almost been _three_ _months_! Wow, only a month left and then it would be over… what would happen then? Oh well, she'd cross that bridge when she came to it.

"Anyway, you look cool," she complimented Soarin. He was just wearing his normal officers uniform, but he had slicked his mane back little to make it look cooler, though knowing Soarin he had been trying to go with something a lot more complex and had just settled for this. Soarin turned a little pink.

"Yeah, I didn't get the suit and tie but hopefully this passes as acceptable attire," he spoke in a posh voice as he finished his sentence, and Rainbow laughed as she realised that he almost sounded like _Rarity_! "Okay, I have a funny story to tell you, but first how was your day?" Soarin asked, similarly to the way a mother would ask her foal about how their day at school was.

"Drills were cool, I guess. Silver's a little bossy but we got stuff done today- he made us do the air obstacle course in formation. When we went through the Wind Maker it botched things up and when that happened Silver made us start all over again! It was so annoying, but I had fun anyway. Nothing better than giving your wings that good ol' burn; I'll be feeling that in the morning," Rainbow Dash explained. She then remembered something that had happened while she was brushing her mane to make herself presentable for Soarin. "You'll never guess what else."

"What?" Soarin asked, putting his can of Cola down on the table as he listened with interest. That was one thing Dash liked about Soarin- he was a great listener.

"Lullaby was telling me about some idiot on the news that got arrested for impersonating a police officer," she was surprised when Soarin didn't laugh but shook it off since she was too busy telling her story. "I mean, Lulls and I were just like '_Local Nutcase Alert!'_"

"Uh-huh…" Soarin chuckled silently. Dash took another sip of her Cola.

"But anyway, what's your story?" she asked, knowing that Soarin probably had a great sense of humour. The pale blue pegasus made several incoherent noises before finally settling on one thing to say.

"They weren't my curtains."

"What?" Dash laughed anyway since it was so random. Maybe that was the trick, make Rainbow expect something gut-bustingly hilarious and then spring something wacky on her.

"Long story," Soarin replied, looking red all over again. Rainbow Dash began to wonder just how red Soarin could go, and with his fur being a very light color it just made him look like he was burning up way more than it would on a pony with darker fur like her. So how red could he get… was it possible for his whole face to go red. Deciding she wanted to find out (and wanted an excuse to do this) she reached to the side and kissed Soarin on the cheek, not a peck, but one that lasted a few seconds before she pulled away. The response she got from Soarin had to be one of the most amusing things she'd ever seen. His hoof was still raised, holding onto his can of Cola but his face was blank apart from the pink hue it was gaining as the seconds passed. Oh Celestia this was just too good! He finally said something after a couple of minutes of staring straight ahead.

"Was the curtain thing really_ that_ good?" He asked, and Rainbow Dash couldn't keep her laughs in. Oh, how could one pony make her laugh so much?

"Not at all," Rainbow replied with a straight face and a shake of her head, and Soarin grinned, proud of himself anyway for getting a laugh out of the mare. "Anyway this is cool. I love hanging out with you like this," she chuckled. "I remember Rarity discussing stuff like this with Twilight when she started getting a thing for… I don't remember his name; Flash something… real idiot if you ask me." She bitterly thought of the orange pegasus. At least she didn't fancy _The_ Flash- nopony was faster than The Flash, and she'd hate for Twilight to have a thing for someone faster than her. Dumb Flash. "But anyway, Rarity made this sound so complicated, poor Twilight had a nervous breakdown from all the stuff Rarity was telling her about dating," she took a moment to laugh at the memory of her purple alicorn friend breathing heavily and fanning herself with a book. The book, ironically, had been titled '_Color Me Calm_'. "but this is nowhere near as tough as she made it sound- she said it was meant to be uncomfortable but it's just hanging out. I've gotta write to Twilight and tell her that she…" Rainbow trailed off, getting a lump in her throat.

"Something wrong?" Soarin asked, getting a worried look on his face. A look of concern didn't suit the pegasus who was almost always smiling at some joke he'd cracked or pun he'd made. Rainbow felt a little guilty and looked straight down at the table.

"I'm just a little anxious, that's all," Dash shrugged.

"About what?"

Oh, she'd had a terrible sense that he'd ask that. She just didn't want to accidentally hurt his feelings.

"I don't want my friends to know that I'm dating you." She admitted, feeling bad the moment the sentence was out. She saw that Soarin looked a little hurt and waved her hooves, shaking her head hurriedly. "No, it's not that I'm ashamed of you or anything- it's the opposite really, it's so cool that I'm dating you- I just don't want them to perceive me differently."

Soarin raised a brow. "Why would they think of you differently? They've known you for years now, right?"

Rainbow nodded. "Yeah, but they've never seen me in a relationship before. I'm just worried that they'll treat me differently once they know we're a thing. I've always been Rainbow "Danger" Dash, the pony that struck out alone. She doesn't need anypony to shower her with dumb mushy love crap 'cause she knows she's awesome anyway, and a tougher pegasus has never set hoof in Ponyville before her!" She had borrowed the last bit of that rant from Scootaloo.

"Wow." Soarin commented, though Dash hadn't finished yet.

"My point is that if they find out that there's a stallion who's more than just my friend then they'll start… saying things and treating me like… not like me," she really couldn't think of a way to describe this, but then again Rainbow Dash was never really a pony who was skilled with words. "Rarity will start talking with me about lame crushy stuff, Fluttershy won't stop gushing about it, Twilight would start giving me lectures on proper marefriend behavior, Applejack… well I guess Applejack wouldn't care, but Pinkie would probably start planning our wedding the second she finds out!"

"What?!" Soarin's jaw dropped. Rainbow snorted with laughter.

"Chill out, Soarin, it's just a Pinkie thing." She wished she could take a picture of Soarin's face right then- it was just priceless. But he really had nothing to worry about, Rainbow wasn't sure that she was a marriage kind of mare; in her opinion _'marriage is the death of all freedom'._

"I just don't want them to treat me differently because I'm dating you. I'm still the same Rainbow Dash but I'm afraid they'll forget that and freak if they find out." It felt good to get that out. Rainbow cared about her reputation immensely, and she wasn't sure how ponies would react if they found out that she'd let herself get involved in something as silly and marely as a relationship. She had often told her friends that stallions were a waste of time and served no apparent purpose in life, and it would kinda be like she was going against a belief of hers by telling them that she was dating the Wonderbolt co-captain. On the other hoof they could be amazed with her and tell her that they were all proud… it wouldn't stop Pinkie from picking out a wedding gift for them but it was the more preferred option of the possible outcomes.

"Well… I don't know what to say," Soarin admitted. "But if you wanna wait to tell them, it's okay with me."

"Thank you," Rainbow moved over and hugged him, grateful for his support. The last thing she wanted was for him to be upset that she didn't want ponies to know she liked him. In a heat of the moment kind of move, and also because she wanted to see him turn red again, she leaned towards him and planted a light kiss on his lips. Soarin tensed up again, and kept turning redder and redder the longer Rainbow held the kiss. It must have been at least ten seconds before she pulled away, and as soon as she did she burst into laughter and fell off her chair. Soarin would have normally been concerned but at that point in time his brain wasn't really working properly, all the energy in his body seemed to have been transferred to his face, which was almost as red as the apples in Sweet Apple Acres.

Rainbow managed to calm down and stood up, walking over to Soarin and petting him on the shoulder. "You okay in there?" she asked, wondering if Soarin could break the record for the brightest blush. Soarin spoke after a few seconds, though he didn't move any other part of his body as he did, keeping it in its rigid position.

"Soarin is not here right now. Please leave a message after the beep. Beep."

Dash chuckled as Soarin stopped talking and patted him on the back. "Okay, here's my message," she rolled her magenta eyes and then pressed her lips to Soarin's cheek. Dash heard him whimper and briefly wondered if he had got any redder. Answer: he had! Finally Soarin moved, turning his head around to face her and gazing at her questionably. Dash snorted with laughter.

"What?" she asked. "If we're gonna do this dating thing then you'll have to expect that from me."

Soarin blinked a couple of times as he processed what she was saying. "Which part, you kissing me or the part where you make me black out?"

Rainbow was about to answer when she suddenly changed her mind on what the answer was. She had originally been referring to the kissing but this situation opened a new door for her to take.

"Why not both?" she asked with a cheeky grin. Soarin returned to drinking his Cola to cool down his blush and Rainbow sat next to him, basking in the amusement she got from flustering Soarin like that. This dating thing was kinda fun if you did it right. The pale blue stallion looked over at her, his cheeks still tinted pink.

"I'm just relieved that you don't think I'm insane after last night." He referred to the Hayburger incident. Rainbow shook her head.

"How about we just forget that it ever happened," she suggested. "_This_ date's going fine, so why should we need to think about the last one?"

And then the cruel bitch that was fate struck again!

A massive police pony flung the door to the kitchen open, Braeburn in a police costume being held by his scruff in his mouth. "Sir, you're _still_ under arrest for impersonating a police officer." he announced. Rainbow whipped round to face Soarin, who looked positively mortified at that moment in time.

"_You _were the impersonator?" She asked, her jaw dropping in shock. Soarin shrugged.

"I'm absolutely sure I'm not the one who _wasn't _the impersonator." He used a double-negative to try and confuse her. It didn't work. The police pony dropped Braeburn to the ground and the earth pony let out a grunt as he made contact with the hard floor.

"_And _for escaping custody; yeah, we _did_ notice that you'd switched places with your friend." He nodded down at Braeburn, who merely grinned sheepishly. After that the only noise in the kitchen was the ticking of the clock and Soarin's heavy breathing. At least things couldn't get any more awkward.

"For the last time, I don't want to get strapped to a table!"

Everyone looked over the counter as Spring Song burst into the Mess Hall, Paradise at her side. They were being pursued by Surprise, who was holding some duct tape in her mouth, and Misty Fly, who looked exhausted by now.

"But that's how questioning works!" Surprise chased the two mares outside. Misty Fly halted when she saw the four ponies staring at her from over the counter and gulped.

"Um… don't worry everyone. This is all under control," she nodded and backed towards the door. "I'll just go get Surprise and-" she dashed out the door before she finished her sentence, clearly uncomfortable in the presence of the police. The remaining ponies were quiet again, and Soarin found that everyone was staring directly at him. Rainbow, finding the whole thing funny rather than degrading, started laughing at his situation.

"Oh Soarin, ya doof." She cackled, thanking Celestia again that she had got a crush on a pony who could make her laugh the way he did. He was such an unpredictable pony but that's what she liked about him the most. Soarin just sighs and shakes his head, looking out at you through your screen.

"Why me?" he asks, but smiles anyway.

* * *

**Endnote: And this two-parter is done! Now I'm not going to write how Soarin gets out of this situation with the police, but the point is he **_**does**_**, so it's up to you how he figured that out. **

**Also this is a little late I know (because my one chapter a week rule is _so_ reliable) but I have a good reason... actually it's not that good at all. I never thought I'd say this but I got distracted by binge-watching a cartoon! I seriously spent like three days watching the entire Steven Universe series since it was popping up everywhere I went and wanted to check it out. Long story short I went two days without sleeping and SU became my favourite TV show other than MLP. Any fans of Steven Universe out there? :D**

_**Next time on Dashing and Soaring…**_

"_I will be a new me!"_

_**Can Soarin become a mature stallion?**_

"_Behold! I am stallion… and phoenix. Both! But not in a mutant-like way."_

_**Will Spring Song survive?**_

"_Subject refuses to talk, Cap."_

"_That's because you've taped her mouth closed!"_

_**What's Cinder hiding?**_

"_I need to confess something…"_

"_Don't we all?"_

_**In the next update…**_

"_Soarin, check out what Ah found!"_

"_Your brain? It's been so long!"_

_**Questions…**_

"_TELL ME!"_

_**Will be…**_

"_I feel like I'm at crossroads."_

_**Answered.**_

"_WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"_

_**Chapter 38: The New Me**_

_**Check it out for some more horsing around.**_

"…_and yes, I have indeed lost my train of thought."_

_**Only on **_**FanFiction!**


	38. The New Me, part 1

**Authors Note: AND THE PONY HIATUS IS OVER AT LAST! So let's commence with the first review of Season 5 part 2 after the replies.  
**

**Captain Alaska: Trailers are awesome, and they're so freaking fun to write! I like teasing my readers with little bits of what's to come, and I totally see what you mean with the Let's Be Cops thing. Oh God I'm imagining a hilarious thingy where Soarin and Brae really do pretend to be cops and get caught up in a real case. HA! Comedy gold there for ya! And as my dad likes to put it "Alcohol is the liquid gateway to relief. It's an illusion of the mind that makes you believe that things can get better… hangover is just reality crashing back down on you." And somehow **_**I'm**_** the dramatic one? And I plan to make Rapidfire's desire to be co-captain a recurring joke; no idea when it'll pop up again, though. **

**RosaSilvermist- And the horseshoe mystery is finally going to be solved. I've held it off long enough due to other things but the pieces will finally come together soon. As for Cinder's confession… I'm not sure that any of you saw it coming- a few of you guys might have but this is something that would probably have escaped 98% of people's list of possibilities.**

**Amellia Rose- Well she's not exactly in a good condition right now. And it's hard to pull yourself together when some of you has gone missing… snap, now I need a hug!**

**CrystalHeart190- Writing a softy Rainbow Dash is kina like solving a crossword puzzle with vague clues- it's possible but it makes your brain hurt if you try too hard. To be honest I was just winging it (pun not intended) and didn't even realise that it was acceptable until I'd completed the chapter. Lucky if you ask me. I don't find the horseshoe mystery very fun to write to be honest, but it must be solved so let's get it over with. And Spitz **_**does**_** need to get over this… but honestly, in her position I think a lot of people would do exactly the same thing as her. **

**Thebeastinsideusall- First off, awesome username! Second, Soarin gave me the impression of being a huge doofus back when I first saw him on the show and that's never left me- he's a dork! He just needs to get into this a little more and then I bet he'll be more confident. And in all honestly the lack of SpitBurn is killing me- I need them so I can survive! And Spitz isn't much of a physical contact kinda pony, but there's always room to change. ^^**

**Luna'snight65- You're SOARINDASH1 aren't ya! I saw that story and checked it out when it first popped up on the site. Nice work, by the way. I'll just finish it on here and see how things go. There are a lot of aspects of this story that people on FIM wouldn't approve of, though.**

**Dshk- Thank you for making me get the song 'Hero' stuck in my head. Now if you're unsure as to why Soarin doesn't have a good history with the police I suggest going back to chapter 25 where he reveals a little about his past. What is it with me and backstories? I'll just finish this story and see how I feel- I've literally never been so distraught as when I got those flame reviews… I've also never drank as much, but I don't like talking about that. Heh… ^^"**

**MidnightBlaze16- You totally should- you will **_**not**_** regret it! Anecdote for you: SU was getting on my nerves with it popping up on Tumblr, DA, you name it. Even MLP was getting swarmed by ancient polymorphic sentient rocks from space! So I watched the first episode to see what the fuss was about, then the second, the third… and within a few days I'd watched the whole series and I LOVE IT! Watching that was one of the best decisions I've made, I think. And it only seems right that Surprise should get a Joy line since I can't stop reading her lines in Joy's voice.**

**Uniformed Squid- Thanks for reading! And I'm glad you like my rather unique pairing- it deserves more fans and I'm glad that you're among them now. Favorite fanfic ever?! Wowzers, that's just made my day... seriously I feel really warm and fuzzy now. And who says I don't have a plot twist... I don't... or DO I? And I think this story has enough OC's... characters made by the author tend to ward readers off according to statistics. And Braeburn really does just need to, excuse me, grow a pair and fix this mess! I think what he needs is a little nudge in the right direction.**

**Marevelous- OMG THANKS FOR READING! :D**

**Snow Hurricane Blue- Clever way to avoid actually reviewing. Heh. But in answer to your question there are two answers, one from me and one from Spitz. Spitty would say something like "I don't love him, I just hate him slightly less than every other stallion! Now get the buck outta here!" _and I_ would say that she doesn't exactly _love_ him. After all, this is all new to her and she doesn't _want_ to love him. That's the thing- you can't love someone unless you actually _let _yourself, otherwise it isn't love at all. But things can change, so you never know. We just need a miracle here.**

**MY REVIEW FOR CANTERLOT BOUTIQUE  
**

**(SPOILERS AHEAD- YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!)  
**

So this episode... it wasn't exactly... I kinda have mixed feeling about it. If you ask me it was a disappointing way to open up the second half of the season, especially since I spent the whole Summer yearning for new episodes that I couldn't have. Grr, this episode was even worse than Princess Spike!

Okay, maybe that's just because I have biased issues, and unless you haven't watched the episode (in which case why are you reading this? Did you not see the massive bold spoiler warning a few lines up?) you probably understand why already. So let's kick off with my favorite part- at the very beginning there was a scene with Pinkie being her hyperactive lovable, goofy self. That was the best part for me- just Pinkie being herself. Right that was quick, now let's carry on with the actual critique.

The episode begins with the same thing that happens at the beginning of nearly every Rarity episode (most of which I'm not that fond of anyway, except Suited for Success, Rarity Takes Manehattan and Sisterhooves Social), Rarity designing stuff. She's waiting for some mail, which we will later learn contains the acceptance of her own boutique in Canterlot (title reference) And then Pinkie Pie comes to liven things up, along with (gross) cupcakes and a whole mass of alliteration. Pinkie then reveals that she has the mail due to giving the mailpony food poisoning- it wasn't Derpy but that poor stallion mailhorse need a break! Poor guy. Rarity then reads the letter and finds out that she got the boutique- then the bad parts begin... and barely stop from then on in.

The mane six all go visit Rarity and admire the boutique (which does look a little cool I admit. Then again, most pony houses are cool). Twilight and the others then meet Rarity's new manager. Her name is _Sassy_ Saddles.

...

If you're wondering why that ellipsis is above this line then that was just signalling the point where I got up from my chair and screamed into a pillow. I mean what the hell did I do to deserve this?! Sassy is a stuck-up stereotypical Canterlot (British) pony who looks like a bad OC recolor of Fleur Dis Lee and is portrayed as a complete *insert whatever bad word you want here*. But WAIT! Who else do you people know who is named Sassy? Who else named Sassy is British? Who do you know who is absolutely furious right now at going around and finding sentences like 'Sassy sucks'. If you haven't figured it out, you've been reading her story and- oh screw it, it's me! Oh, you already knew? Whoops. I mean I know the hate isn't directed at me, but it just hurts that I finally share my name with a pony and she's an _awful _character! The only thing this Sassy has that I want is the extra height! And I _despise_ that freaking accent (WHY HASBRO? WHY MUST YOU MAKE ME FEEL THIS FURY?! **ARE YOU HAPPY YET?!**)

So for this review, to help me get through seeing everything as a negative I'm going to change Sassy's name to... BluePony. Yeah, that'll help me heighten my expectation, so deal with it. Back to the review!

"then move on to the unveiling of the 'Princess Dress' (must have put a lot of thought into that name, right? #sarcasm). In the bit leading up to that Rarity mentions that in every poll Sassy made Twilight was voted the most popular Princess... I think the fandom can disagree with that personally, since Luna probably takes the cake for that position. But I've gotta admit that the Princess Dress does actually look kind of cool, and that's coming from someone who hates girly stuff, and I think that it would have sold perfectly fine even without Twilight wearing it first... actually while we're on the subject, Twilight was really the only character that needed to be there. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, Fluttershy and Applejack had no use whatsoever in this episode.

Then we get some returns from old faces like Jet Set, Uppercrust, and Fleur. We also get some new characters... some of which are completely annoying. Fashion Plate was one of them (by his face he could be related to Party Favor) his voice was irritating, he smiled too much, and he used alliteration in a way that Pinkie Pie would be ashamed of! The puns were cool as usual, like waterfilly and Cosmare Magazine. BluePony then takes over and shows everyone the Princess Dress, and they wind up with 100 orders for it (too specific, Hasbro!) followed by Rarity calling out BluePony on what she did, to which BluePony says that Rarity's name for the dress was confusing and unappealing (THAT IS BULLSHIT!). Rarity then agrees to make 100 dresses and starts to become a sad-sack 50% of the way through the episode.

Then we get a song from Rarity... it didn't appeal to me, and I could easily confuse it for Art of the Dress. It's basically used for the exact same reason as it was in Suited for Success, only it isn't stress that's making Rarity all discombobulated this time. It gets slower and more miserable as the song proceeds, and then it stops. We then have a rather hurtful scene where somepony criticizes Rarity for making subtle changes to the Princess Dress, and orders that she get a dress like all the others. Personally I liked Rarity's changes better, but this episode just wants me to roll my eyes til I'm dizzy. The song then starts again for only one verse and finishes on a gloomy note... and cue next scene.

BluePony shows up with 100 more orders (AGAIN, SPECIFIC) and the issue of Cosmare Magazine... which is just as hard to read as the real life ones. Rarity then laments over how she's finally achieved her dream (something that I've been waiting for her to do right from the start) but she's not happy with it. I want to interrupt this to point out that Rarity says her store is the most popular one in Canterlot... more important than grocery stores? Are the dresses more popular than food? Is everyone wasting their money on this expensive stuff other than half-price muffins? Are these Canterlot ponies simply too _posh_ to eat?! Back- Rarity laments, blah blah blah, she's sad. BluePony then tells her that she has no reason to be sad, along with a bunch of other stuff I can't quite figure out and then finishes her speech by calling the place _her _boutique. WAS THAT REALLY NECESSARY!?

Rarity then sets up a closing sale, and BluePony says hat she can't be part of _another failed boutique_, which says a lot about her character... either than or she at some point worked for Suri Polomare- oh crap, now I have a new story idea. Damn you, brain! The sale introduces a lot of new ponies, like Moonlight Raven and Sunshine Smiles (who I bet people are already shipping despite Amy Keating Rogers tweeting that they were meant to be sisters representing Luna and Celestia). Moonlight Raven sounds like Raven from Teen Titans while we're at it. Rarity sings for the third time after that... man you can count on me not listening to that song. Marshmallow Pony (Rarity) then realizes that showing off all her designs to ponies and helping them find what's right for them is what she had dreamed about the whole time and announces that her boutique won't close after all.

BluePony then apologizes for what she's done and tells Rarity that she has learnt her lesson before telling her that she will apply what she has learnt at her next job. But our Rarity tells Sassy (using the name now... feels weird) that she will let her manage the boutique while she is in Ponyville. They hug and that's where I expected the episode to end.

NO!

I laughed my head off for the first time in an agonizing twenty minutes when an obese pony entered the boutique! Oh my gosh that was the most surprising appearance of a pony since Bulk Biceps first came on screen (if you re-watch Tanks for the Memories you'll see that the same pony had her picture on a locker at the Weather Factory), and the episode finally ends with Rarity and Sassy humorously telling this pony that they do not have any Princess Dresses before she shrugs and walks off to browse.

Okay now that I've written it out I find that it's not exactly a bad episode- the moral was cool (similar to Wonderbolts Academy if you ask me), there were some new characters for us to enjoy... you guys can finish this list for me. I think this episode has been added to the list of ones that I watch once and don't watch again (this list includes Inspiration Manifestation, Friend in Deed, Spike at Your Service, and The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well, with more I can't remember) but it wasn't terrible... it did give me an idea for a new story, one that I might actually consider making if I build on it enough, and it let us see one of the main character finally reach their goal in life. I do like Rarity, but her episodes seem to be the ones I don't particularly enjoy as much as others. I feel like there could have been a different lesson in all of this, but there's no changing the script once it's done, so we're stuck with this now. All in all I think that this was one of the few 'mehpisodes' of the season thus far, and I hope that next weeks is a little better... it's a Rarity episode though, so I won't get my hopes up.

And who agrees with me here? Could Sassy Saddles be one of the 'Life-Changer Ponies' as I like to call them, like Moondancer and Gilda? I hope I've got this theory right otherwise I'll just look like a jackass. But anyway, what did _you guys_ think of the episode? I'm curious to find out your thoughts.

And no, I won't be changing my username because of this. Instead I'll wait til Thursday for the next episode of Steven Universe, which focuses on another character with my real name who happens to be adorable. PEACE!

**(SPOILERS END HERE!)**

**Now let's get going with this because I spent two days writing a review and neglecting this!**

* * *

"Hey Brae!" Soarin sang as he flapped over the counter and landed on his back legs and did jazz-hooves. Braeburn sighed and looked up from the book her was reading at the table.

"Soar, we've talked about this; use the door so your feathers don't fall off in the food!" he repeated the same thing he'd told Soarin time and time again. Soarin tutted and headed over to his friend, sitting on the other side of the table.

"Stop being such a spoil-sport, buddy," he booped Braeburn on the nose, making his friend grunt with irritation. "ya know what your problem is Brae?"

"Nnnope," Braeburn groaned. "but Ah'm sure yer gonna tell me."

"Correct!" Soarin proclaimed, raising a hoof to the air. "You rely too much on the rules to have any fun- you ignore your instincts!"

"Ah happen t' like rules," Braeburn looked up from his book. "and fer your information ignorin' muh instincts is the only reason Ah'm still friends with you."

"Harsh," Soarin pouted and put his chin down on the table. From here if he looked straight ahead he could see the title of whatever it was Braeburn was reading. "you're kidding me, right?" He asked, sitting up and taking the book from his friend.

"What now?" Braeburn asked, exasperated. Soarin put the book down on the table so that the cover was facing up.

"You're reading this _again_?" it was the same book that he'd been reading a couple of months ago, and the same one that had hit Soarin in the stomach- _100 things to know about crushes that you were afraid to ask_.

"Why not?" Braeburn took it back, facing sideways in his seat this time so Soarin couldn't snatch it back. Soarin shook his head and propped his head up on his arms.

"Brae, what more d'ya need to know about this?" he peered over his friends shoulder at the section he was reading. "_You're doing everything wrong_?" he read the title of the chapter out loud. Braeburn humphed and slammed a hoof on the tale surface.

"Soarin don't ya have anythin' better t' do than annoy me?" He asked. Soarin thought for a few seconds before shrugging.

"Not really," he replied honestly. "And you don't need a bunch of paper to know about mares; what does that book know about Spit that we don't? And please for the love of Celestia, don't tell her I called her Spit." He added, looking around as if somepony were watching him. Braeburn sighed again and stood up.

"Ah won't," he trotted over to a drawer and shoved the book inside. "Believe me, Ah won't." He repeated, rummaging through the contents of the drawer for seemingly no apparent reason. Soarin looked away from his friend and craned his neck around so he could look out the window to the training grounds. It was Wave Chill's turn to train the cadets so Silver could catch a break and from this spot Soarin could see Rainbow Dash chasing Tempest around, the orange stallion laughing while Rainbow had a challenging smirk on her face. He must have ticked her off or something.

He felt the blush return to his face as he imagined Rainbow Dash kissing him again- he often imagined that when he needed to calm down. There was something soothing about thinking about it that he couldn't quite put his hoof on; maybe it was just the satisfaction of having someone feel that way about you? Well there was a lot of stuff he didn't know about this sort of thing, but he was sure he'd find out eventually.

"Soarin, check out what Ah found!" Braeburn exclaimed, suddenly sitting back at the table and putting two sheets of paper down on the table. Soarin spun round, a joke coming on.

"Your brain?" He guessed, putting on a big smile as his friend frowned. "It's been so long!"

Braeburn folded his arms. "Ha ha ha. Listen to muh genuine laughter." He was quiet for a minute before gesturing around with a hoof, making sure that he had got his point across with the silence. He then pushed one of the sheets forward so Soarin could see it. "Just look at these- our bucket lists!" He struck a memory within Soarin.

"Oh yeah, didn't we write these a couple months back when we were bored?" He asked. Braeburn had been the one to suggest the idea, and he had taken the opportunity to get creative. But he decided that for once he'd forget about himself and find out what Braeburn had put on his list. "Well then, what does yours say?" he asked, sitting up in his chair and staring at his friend with interest. Braeburn gazed down at his list and cleared his throat.

"Okay... number one: Marry Spitfire..." he trailed off and turned a faint red. Soarin chuckled at his friends flustered state. "Um... Ah'm sure Ah put somethin' much more manageable on the list," he started reading again.

"Number two: Have... foals with Spitfire," he kneaded his temples with his hooves as Soarin snickered again. Wow, Braeburn sure liked to aim high. The earth pony just sighed and moved on.

"Number three... Oh, travel t' the Crystal Empire..." his voice faded once again. "...with Spitfire." He finished the sentence with a grumble. Soarin felt a little sorry for his friend at that point.

"Okay, number four! Help Soarin in an airshow!"

"Done!" The two stallions hoof-bumped over the table. Braeburn grinned as he read the next one.

"Number five: If somepony calls me 'miss' kick them in the face."

"You didn't!" Soarin sounded mortified at that, his eyes popping wide and his jaw dropping.

"No..." Braeburn denied, though Soarin could have sworn that he heard his golden furred friend mutter 'done' under his breath. "Okay, there's only one left," he revealed. "Stay up past midnight stargazin'..."

Soarin let out an 'aww' at that. WHAT?! Even _he_ had a soft side. Soarin was baffled when Braeburn frowned down at his list.

"...with Spitfire." He was silent for a little while before looking over at Soarin. "Well let's not dally, what does yours say?" He asked in a hurry. Soarin smirked at his lists contents and read what the paper said out loud.

**"Soarin Skies' Bucket List"**

**"**_1\. Ice  
_

_2\. Fire_

_3\. Sick_

_4\. -and spade_

_5\. Mop and-"_

Braeburn gave him a befuddled look for a bit and blinked at his friend, wondering if this was meant to make any sense. "That's... that's not a bucket list. That's just a list o' buckets." Braeburn said the obvious. Soarin chuckled at his list again.

"Well it's _my_ bucket list," he told Braeburn. "ya see, I wanna make sure that I have one of each before I _kick the bucket_!" He let out a loud bark of laughter. "I just came up with that now!" He revealed, hysterical at this point. Braeburn shook his head and sighed with agony at his friends joke.

"Ah just don't know what t' think of ya anymore," he leaned back in his chair and glanced up at the clock to check the time. "yer just such a child."

"Pardon me?" Soarin whipped his head round, looking appalled. He folded his arms and made a pouty face. "I am _not _childish. Give me some examples of how I could possibly be childish."

"Okay..." Braeburn tapped his hoof on the tabletop for every reason he thought of. "Ya sleep with a stuff animal every night."

"HEY! You leave Oliver alone!" Soarin sniffled, thinking about the fuzzy stuffed frog he kept on his pillow. What was wrong with sleeping with a plushie- it helped him sleep and that was what mattered, right? Braeburn could go and shove his beliefs about stuffed toys up his exit hole!

"What else..." Braeburn clicked his tongue as he wondered before thinking of something. "...yer a really immature joker."

"Am _not_!" Soarin said. He then remembered something. "Hey Brae, I was watching SpewTube videos the other day and this guy arm-farted to the tune of _More Than a Feeling_ by Horseton. Check it out!" Soarin put his hoof in his armpit, but suddenly realized that what he was doing was precisely what Braeburn was criticizing him for. He sat up straighter and flicked a hoof. "And by that I mean that you should just totally check out that video for yourself. It's hilarious." He said in his most mature voice.

"Ah have one more reason... out of many," Braeburn waited for Soarin to stop sticking his tongue out at him before telling him. "yer a huge crybaby."

"That is deplorable!" Soarin declared. "I'm too tough to cry!"

Braeburn sighed and stared at his friend bluntly. "Just yesterday you were cryin' about snakes."

"They don't have any arms!" Soarin whimpered, sticking out his bottom lip. He then sighed and decided to admit defeat. "Maybe you're right. I guess I am a little bit of a child at times," he suddenly felt the urge to use the little colts room- no, the _stallion's_ room! Get it right, Soar! "I could change," he told himself. "yeah, I'll show you Brae, I will be a new me!" He stood up on the table.

"Soarin, I just cleaned this!" Braeburn explained, though his words fell on deaf ears. Soarin began a rather uncharacteristically strong monologue.

"I will get fit, lose weight. A new me shall reign!" He began, raising himself to his full height, pretending that the light glimmering off the pots and pans were spotlights aimed directly at him and he was speaking out from the top of the world down below to the whole of Equestria, and maybe even the lands outside of it.

"I'm going to be the kind of stallion who leaps out of bed and just does this-" he flipped his mane "-and his hair looks like perfection! He then grabs a home made cookie out of his self-crafted tin and heads to work, the sleeves of his uniform rolled up with a pair of awesome blue shades on just to show how much power he has. He will have a potted plant that doesn't die on him, and his fruit bowl won't be full of two month old rotting peaches because he actually eats the fruit! He'd have a designer wallet with his name in diamonds on it, he will grab a wheatgerm smoothie every time he has a break at work because that's enough to keep him going, even though at lunch he had an intense weight lifting session, and enjoyed it, because he doesn't have flesh that moves independently to his main frame. And finally, he has easy access to pens to finish a crossword at a bar where the mare he decides to take as a lover says to him, '_Hey, yesterdays date was awesome!_'.

"I'll be _that_ kind of stallion!" Soarin finished and looked down at Braeburn. "Were you playing Flappy Bird the entire time I was speaking?!" He asked angrily, his wings dropping to his side as he caught sight of Braeburn blankly tapping away at an iPhone that he got from Celestia knows where. Braeburn's ears perked up and he angled his head so he could look at Soarin.

"Sorry, did ya say somethin'?" He asked. Soarin face-hoofed and hopped down from the table.

"You're an ass." He found himself telling the earth pony for what felt like the billionth time in his life. "I'll show you and everypony else that I can be mature. I'll be like a phoenix emerging from the ashes of my old life and soaring away to begin anew. Behold! I am stallion... and phoenix. Both! But not in a mutant-like way..." he trailed off, his mind suddenly clear of literally anything that made sense. "...and yes, I have indeed lost my train of thought."

"Well good luck with that," Braeburn said dismissively.

Soarin groaned and left the kitchen in a huff, figuring that while he was cooling down from his moment in the light he should get some of the paperwork he'd been given over with. He hadn't even known that so much paper existed in the world until a stack had been piled on his desk that morning. What in the world had he done to deserve such a punishment!

* * *

"Nice job cadets," Wave Chill congratulated the training pegasi at the end of a particularly grueling paired flight examination. His grin made all of the cadets feel as if they had accomplished something since the most thanks they got from their previous instructors were the occasional 'nice work' or 'not bad'. Secretly Rainbow was sad that it was over, because for some reason she couldn't explain that days events had not been problematic at all, something that she wasn't used to around here, what with something always seeming to go on, no matter how stupid.

"Dismissed!" Was all Wave said, and he waved them off. Rainbow waited until Lullaby was beside her before beginning to head to the Mess Hall.

"WHOO! That was a blast!" Dash cheered, tossing her mane with her head held high. Since Lullaby didn't reply, Rainbow voiced the thing that had been on her mind most of the day. "Ya know, Lullaby, I can't put my hoof on it but things seem so peaceful and relaxing today."

Lullaby cleared her throat to get Dash to look at her. "Let _m_e put your hoof on it," she offered, and Dash nodded for her to speak. "Spitfire, Silver Lining and Blaze aren't making us sweat our lives out, and Spring Song and Paradise are nowhere to be found."

Rainbow was silent, just staring and not making any movement aside from her ear making a single twitch. Lullaby let out an 'ugh' sound. "You didn't notice, did you?" she asked, and Rainbow slowly shook her head. Lullaby let out a longer groan and began ranting.

"Shouldn't we tell somepony that two cadets haven't been seen since last night? Better yet, why didn't we have a roll call this morning? What is going on in this Celestia forsaken Academy- oh."

Rainbow looked over her shoulder at her friend, who had suddenly become quiet and stopped in her tracks. Following her gaze, Dash saw that she was staring at Cinder, traipsing along behind the other cadets, her head dipped down so that her purple and black pigtails are close to scraping the clouds below. Lullaby, being the kind pony she was, headed over to her right away.

"Cinder?" Lullaby asked, and although she was quiet, Cinder still jumped. Her golden eyes were wide and watering a little, and she hid her face immediately so that the others wouldn't notice- it was too late for that of course. "What's the matter?" Lullaby sat next to Cinder, who had plonked herself down on her hindquarters, and wrapped a wing around her like a blanket. The small uniformed cadet leaned into the purple pegasus pony's embrace and sniveled into her fur.

"It's nothing... just stupid stuff," Cinder tried to show that she wasn't upset, but anypony with half a brain could figure out that that wasn't the case. Rainbow stood in front of the two hugging pegasi.

"C'mon Cinder, spill the beans," she prompted the tiny mare. "it can't be _that _stupid." She hoped that she was right. Cinder sighed and pushed Lullaby away, getting up and starting to walk away towards the Mess Hall.

"Really, I just need time to think," she insisted. Rainbow and Lullaby mirrored each others facial expressions, catching up with Cinder easily, the little blue pony letting out an irritated sigh at their return.

"Cinder, you can tell us anything," Lullaby smiled down at her warmly. Cinder shook her head.

"You'll be mad at me!" She said in a voice higher than she had probably intended for it to be. Rainbow raised a brow and rubbed her forehead, not really one for a serious conversation. Lullaby rubbed Cinder's back, something that she probably did with her younger siblings when they were distressed.

"Please tell us..." Lullaby said in a voice so kind that even Fluttershy would be impressed. Cinder stared back at Lullaby for a few moments more before looking straight down, sniffling and letting her wings wall to her sides. The tiny pegasus clapped her hooves together nervously, clearly contemplating whether she should say this or not.

"Promise you won't tell anypony?" She asked in that sweet little voice of hers, and Lullaby nodded instantly, never losing that soft smile of hers. She gave Rainbow Dash a glance that was clearly instructing her to nod too, so she did. Cinder sighed one last time and looked around to make sure that nopony else was in earshot.

"Go ahead..." Dash prompted, trying to ignore the smells wafting outside from the Mess Hall and the gnawing hunger in her tummy. Cinder gulped and twirled one of her pigtails around one hoof.

"Okay, I have to say this before I burst..." she let one single tear roll down her cheek before saying a sentence that Rainbow Dash would usually associate with a nightmare.

"I don't wanna be a Wonderbolt."

If Dash had been drinking she would have done a spit-take, and it took all of her willpower not to yell 'WHAT!?' at the top of her lungs. Why the heck would Cinder not want to be a Wonderbolt? Who wouldn't wanna be a Wonderbolt? What the hay was going ON?!

"E-excuse me?" Lullaby blinked a couple of times, her mouth making an O shape. Cinder sniffled and wiped her eyes and nose with a hoof.

"You heard me... I don't wanna be in the Wonderbolts." She confessed, her scrunched up face suggesting that this was painful for her.

"Then... why did you sign up for this?" Rainbow Dash's hunger was now completely forgotten and replaced with curiosity. _Intense_ curiosity! "Why would you spend four months training to become a Wonderbolt if you never wanted to be one in the first place?"

"I _had_ to!" Cinder raised her voice and looked up at the sky. "I needed to do this to prove to everypony that someone like me could amount to something."

Lullaby gave Dash a baffled look, looking a little frustrated to say the least that Rainbow wasn't showing any concern. Well she _was_ concerned, but she was too busy staring blankly at Cinder to show it.

"Do you... wanna talk about it?" Rainbow didn't mind that Lullaby was doing all the talking here. She was practically speechless anyway, so she was pretty much useless in this situation. Cinder nodded solemnly and shifted a little making herself comfortable as if preparing to tell a long story.

"Don't you wanna go inside?" she stopped herself before she started explaining, probably attempting to get out of this; but Lullaby was persistent.

"We've got time, right Dash?" She smiled gratefully at the rainbow maned mare as she nodded. Cinder ran a hoof down her face and sighed, folding her wings tightly to her sides and staring up into Lullaby's warm gaze.

"I..." she recoiled and stood up, all her previous confidence gone. "I can't take the pressure!" She started breathing heavily. "I'm so scared, guys... it's hurting me!"

Lullaby gasped and stood up, wings out in case she had to get help. Cinder was hyperventilating and shivering despite the warm weather, and she had a manic look in her eyes similar to that of a crazed animal. "Cinder, calm down," Lullaby soothed in a voice like honey. "just tell us what's wrong."

"I can't... it's stupid. It's personal!" She was desperate and frantically grabbed Lullaby by her shoulders, looking at her with pleading eyes. Lullaby looked like she wanted to argue- she wanted to help, that Dash knew. Lullaby was dedicated to helping out ponies in need, and Cinder was no different. She was a pegasus in need, therefore Lullaby would be in action. However Lullaby just sighed and stroked one of Cinder's pigtails to calm her down. She did seem to grow less tense at Lullaby's touch.

"Okay..." the purple mare said with a small smile. "have it your way. But if you ever want to talk, I'm here for you, and so is Rainbow Dash."

Cinder looked over her shoulder at Rainbow Dash, who had been standing awkwardly for a little while as the scene played out. She wasn't into this sentimental 'problem' stuff. That was Lullaby's thing if anypony's, but she would lend a hoof if she had to.

"She's right Cinder," the cyan mare grinned. "I've got your back."

Cinder managed a weak smile before stand up and wiping her eyes. "I'm better now," she sounded relieved. "come on, let's go and eat."

"Now _that_ sounds like a plan." Rainbow smacked her lips and lead her friends inside, just pleased that Cinder was smiling. Lullaby however was _not_ smiling... and if Dash knew Lullaby then she was gonna make this whole issue with Cinder some new project of hers. Why did she have a feeling that this could only end badly?

* * *

"MMMM! MMM MMMMMMMMMM!"

"Gooooooooood morning!" Surprise sang as she opened up the supply closet, Misty Fly close behind her and Feather Duster a few feet back, swinging a ring of keys around one hoof. Spring Song and Paradise were tied and gagged in the closet.

"Let us go!" Paradise had managed to shake her gag off overnight. "I can't feel anything below my shoulders anymore!"

"Surprise... we really should untie them. This was a stupid idea to begin with." Misty Fly agreed, stepping up to stand beside her white furred colleague. Surprise scoffed at that.

"Stupid? I don't know about you but chasing them down was the most fun I'd had in years!" Surprise giggled manically. Misty sighed and rolled her eyes, giving Surprise a disapproving look.

"You were completely out of breath and resorted to letting them escape to let your 'fun' continue," she made quotation marks with her hooves at 'fun'.

"Firstly, when ponies do this-" Surprise did the quotation marks. "-I don't know what it means. And secondly, we caught them in the end!"

Misty grumbled and gestured at the small janitor who was staring intently at the keys behind them in a slightly crazed manner. "That's only because Feather Duster loaded a tranquilizer gun and shot them from the roof!" She raised her voice. Feather Duster chuckled and leaned against the opposite wall.

"And the captain said that there was no use for one of those things." She then raised herself to her full height and smirked. "Feather Duster- Master of Weapons!"

"Ugggggh," Misty roughly rubbed the sides of her head. "I'm surrounded by morons..."

"Right back at ya," Surprise said in a cheerful voice, grabbing Spring Song and dragging her out by her tail, making the pink pegasus whack her head on a bucket on the way out of the closet. However instead of untying her, Surprise yanked her upright and slammed her against the wall, getting a muffled squeal out of the pink gagged pegasus.

"Surprise, what are you doing?! Misty gasped, dropping the tied up Paradise, whom she had been dragging out of the closet, on her face. Surprise didn't answer and pulled a walkie talkie out of her mane, pushing a button and speaking into it.

"This is Curly Fry to Rubber Duck, do you copy?"

"Don't call me that- we agreed to drop the names!" Came the reply on the other end. "What are you doing?"

"That's what I just asked!" Misty interrupted, only to be ignored again.

"We've got the Buttered Popcorn cornered in the Western Station, preparing to initiate my SlapChat101 training." Surprise said back in a serious voice. Spitfire could be heard groaning on the other side of the line.

"Will you stop with the dumb codes?" She snapped. "Where the heck are you?!"

Surprise sighed and rolled her eyes. "At the cleaning closet," she said. Feather Duster fluttered to Surprise's level and spoke into the walkie.

"And you're taking all the fun out of pulling off an investigation." She accused.

"This isn't meant to be fun! This is serious!" Spitfire emphasized the word 'serious'.

"And I _seriously_ wanna get as much fun out of this as possible," Feather Duster replied.

"Feather Duster, I swear if you don't leave right now I will knock you out, dress you as a lettuce and feed you to some snails. It'll be a very slow death." Came the captain's threat.

"Great, so I can have the rest of the day off? Thanks Cap, see ya!" Feather Duster saluted before strolling away, tossing the keys over her shoulder with such accuracy that the ring landed on Misty Fly's nose, giving her a bit of a surprise.

"No, wait Feather Duster, don't you dare leave! I swear to Celestia I will- she's gone isn't she?" The sound of flesh making contact with flesh suggested that Spitfire had face-hoofed.

"Yep-a-rooni." Surprise confirmed and for a moment it sounded like Spitfire had face-planted her desk.

"Okay, just bring Spring Song here." Her voice was muffled, confirming that it was indeed pressed against her desk. Surprise shook her head.

"No need, I was just about to question her now." Surprise looked at the still gagged Spring Song. "Okay, answer me honestly and I'll let you and your friend go. WHY DID YOU PUT THE HORSESHOE IN THE CLOUD?!"

Spring Song stayed frozen with fear, though a few strained noises came from her taped-closed mouth. Surprise made a humming noise and brought the walkie back up.

"Subject refuses to speak, Cap." She reported. Misty Fly spoke from behind her.

"That's because you've taped her mouth closed!"

"Wait, WHAT?! Surprise what's going on?!"

"That was a little unnecessary, Mist," Surprise seethed over her shoulder. Misty huffed and folded her front hooves.

"You're one to speak, tying up a couple of cadets. That's not just unnecessary, it's downright cruel!"

"You're a real piece of work, ya know that?!" Surprise turned round and stepped towards Misty.

"And I suppose you could handle being the voice of reason better than I could?"

"Darn right I could!"

"Well you've got the 'voice' part of 'voice of reason' covered. Half your life is talking!"

"And the other half is dealing with your ignorance!"

The two pegasi nattered on at each other for a little while Spring Song and Paradise observed, Spring Song leaned up against the wall and Paradise on her side on the floor. The two Wonderbolt mares were arguing at the top of their voices and the two cadets watching them could barely hear what they were saying. They caught a few things like 'disappointing'. 'can't stand you', 'drank my coffee', 'no wonder you're single', 'this was a stupid plan', 'they're listening, Surprise!', 'you said this', 'you said that', 'I'll tell Spitfire!', 'don't bring her into this', and it carried on until Surprise yelled 'HOT TUB!' as loud as she could. They could finally hear a weird noise coming from the walkie.

"WHISTLE! WHISTLE! WHISTLE!" Spitfire yelled over and over. It was quiet for a little while before Misty leaned down and spoke into it.

"What are you doing?" She asked. Spitfire sighed with a hint of relief.

"I was trying to get your attention but I neither have my whistle or know how to whistle," she explained. "Ugh, never mind that, just get the cadet down here!"

Surprise did as she was told without protest, flinging Spring Song across her back while Misty Fly dragged Paradise along by her bonds. It took them a while to get to the office, getting a few weird looks from some of the other Wonderbolts as they went past the staff room. Finally, Surprise performed the secret knock and Spitfire unlocked the door, and as soon as the captain caught sight of the whole circus this had become she gasped and her jaw dropped.

* * *

"Holy Luna's mooncheeks, Surprise!" She clamped a hoof over her own muzzle, muffling her voice. "How long have they been tied up?"

"Oh... not that long," Surprise bit her lip and put on her best poker face.

"We were in the closet all night, ma'am," Paradise piped up, and Surprise made some incoherent grunts of agony. Spitfire didn't hesitate to untie Paradise.

"Misty Fly, get Spring Song," she commanded, and Misty nodded, grabbing the end of the tape over Spring Song's mouth. Spring Song made some panicked whimpering noises and Misty Fly shushed her.

"Calm down, I'm just gonna rip it off quickly okay. On the count of three..." Spring Song tensed. "One, two-" and then she ripped the tape off, getting a loud shriek of pain from the pink pegasus. Misty Fly pressed her mouth into a think line and looked off to the side. "...three." She finished. Surprise then moved to untie the ropes around her at the same time, and upon realizing this they both backed away from each other, leaving an angry Spitfire to do the work for them.

"I swear it's like I work with toddlers." She muttered under her breath and she loosened the ropes around Spring Song. Paradise, who was now free, started rolling on the floor.

"Ahhhhh... I can feel my legs again!" She breathed with content. "Oh that feels so goooood!"

Spitfire looked over at Misty Fly. "Did you find anything out prior to this?"

Misty shook her head, making her mane toss. "No, ma'am, I didn't get much of a say in any of this as you can plainly see," the custard mare looked behind her at Surprise who was leaning against a wall. Paradise lay on her back on the floor, and Spring Song had both hooves over her mouth, looking like she was in quite a fair amount of pain by this point.

"Surprise, I thought you and Misty were in this together? I specifically told you that." The captain accused her friend, who shrugged.

"You never said that," she argued. "you just said that the two of us should find out what we could... no _together's_ were mentioned until about ten seconds ago." Spitfire felt her blood beginning to boil.

"Well I thought you'd understand without me having to spell it out for you!" She clenched her jaw hard, feeling her heart rate increase with the frustration she was feeling. "And you had the nerve to actually chase down these two cadets, tie them up, and throw them in a closet overnight. This is a new level of stupidity, even for you!"

"There's just no pleasing you!" Surprise raised her voice, and Spitfire just looked away.

"Shut up! Just shut up!" She needed silence now. Misty Fly moved to stand next to her, and Spitfire felt grateful that she was there. Misty Fly was a good pony, and while Spitfire didn't trust her as well as her friends from when Typhoon was still alive, she was definitely one of the closer ponies to her among those who weren't quite aware of her trauma.

"I'm so sorry about this, Captain; I really didn't mean to let you down," she said in a small voice. One of the few things Spitfire did not like about Misty was how she always managed to get her pity with that voice of hers and those big blue eyes- Misty could make a freaking bugbear go soft.

"It's fine..." Spitfire sighed, although that was clearly not true. If anypony found out that two Wonderbolts (and the janitor) had shoved a pair of innocent mares in a tight space overnight then a real shit-storm could go down. Misty Fly had a frantic look on her face, and it only took a moment to figure out that she was clearly thinking the same thing about them getting in trouble if anypony discovered what had happened to Spring Song and Paradise. Hopefully they could be persuaded to keep quiet about the whole ordeal... somehow.

"Well... what do we do now?" Misty asked with a gulp. Surprise smoke up from the other side of the room.

"Maybe you should freak out some more; that'll definitely help us out." she said with a chuckle. Misty growled and Spitfire resisted the urge to facehoof. Surprise did not like Misty Fly for some reason, and in all honestly seeing Surprise act like this towards another living thing made her wonder if she'd walked into an alternate dimension when she left the house.

"I can't believe your attitude, Surprise," Misty stormed over to Surprise. "and now you're just slouching over here doing nothing!"

"Hey it's not my fault that this whole investigation is going on!" Surprise straightened herself up so she towered over Misty Fly a little. "Why do you have to make things even more painful by squawking at me?!"

"I am _not_ squawking!"

"Yes you are! You're squawking at me and making fun of my posture!"

"THIS is squawking. SQUAWK, SQUAWK!"

Spitfire sunk into her spinning chair and exhaled, Paradise and Spring Song standing side by side in front of the desk, looking around awkwardly and probably wondering if they could leave. Spitfire angled her left ear to the side, listening in on Misty and Surprise's argument and wishing that she had a shotgun.

"ENOUGH!" Spitfire slammed her hooves on the desk, getting everyone's attention and sending an admittedly scary echo around the room. Misty and Surprise looked over at her with round, frightened eyes, signalling that she had done a good job of getting them to focus on her.

"This is getting _ridiculous_!" The captain used her lecture-voice. "I picked you two for this because I trust you and the least could do to help out is get along, but somehow you're arguing, yelling, and tying up ponies, and this is not what I signed you up to do, and if you cared even the slightest about anything that is happening you would drop the act, get a grip and just deal with one another for a few days. How hard is that?"

"Well..." Misty Fly didn't get a chance to reply as Spitfire started speaking again.

"Surprise, how could you let this happen?"

Surprise scoffed. "I think a better question to ask would be why Misty won't stop bugging me."

Misty reached into the pouch she wore around her neck and pulled out a cigarette, though she didn't light it, speaking in slow, pronounced words. "Be-cause I am try-ing to act nor-mal and get this job done. O-KAY?!" She raised her voice on the last word. Surprise did the same thing.

"But she is be-ing a to-tal tail-hole, Cap-tain. O-KAY?! She pushed her nose against Misty's. Misty dropped her cigarette and grabbed Surprise's shoulder, staring so hard into her eyes that it looked like she was about to murder the white mare.

"I swear, you are-"

"STOP!" Spitfire yelled again, noticing that by this point Paradise and Spring Song had backed towards the door a little, though they came back forward with a single glance their way.

"This is so typical of you two! Why don't the pair of you go and do some angry... _stuff_ together!" She meant it as a joke but the absence of any humor in her voice made it sound like she was being serious, resulting in a furious Surprise and a flustered looking Misty Fly.

"I have standards!" Surprise announced and Spitfire buried her face in her arms on the desk, being treated to an audio version of Surprise and Misty's ridiculous argument.

"Oh please," Misty snorted. "Ya know after spending time with you I can see why you live alone!"

"Well _I_ can see why _you_ live alone!"

"I do not live alone! I live with Chantalle!"

"She's a cat!"

"I know she's a cat, but she's far better company than you!"

"Well I understand why you enjoy her company so much- she doesn't answer back so you can just drone on and on and on-"

Misty spoke over her. "Oh, listen to you going on and on and on and on!"

Surprise then addressed Spitfire, who looked up from her position with her ears drooping, slowly losing the will to live. "You have no idea what it's like Spitz, she's such a goody-four-hooves!"

"And you are ridiculously selfish!" Misty raised her chest and spread her wings.

"SHUT UP!" Spitfire shouted for the third time. "You're both as bad as each other. This kind of barbarism is utterly objectionable!"

Surprise looked confused at all the big words Spitfire was using, and Misty raised a brow, signalling that she too had no idea what the captain had just said.

"_Seriously, buy a dictionary, dirtbags,' _Spitfire thought before coming up with a plan.

"Okay, let me put this in terms that 'the kids' would understand," she then spoke in a stereotypical teen voice. "Are you starin' a ting?" She looked at Surprise. "Are you startin' a ting?" She looked at Misty, and then spoke to both of them. "Coz if you startin' a ting I'mma bust ya up. Dis ain't no joke. I'm a cold-ass bi-atch. A thugged up, gang-bangin' hustla. One mo' battle, yo' headin' for the dirt-nap. Right back up yo' ass. Ya get me?"

Misty and Surprise slowly nodded, giving each other a look of confusion (once again by Spitfire's choice of wording, but of course for a completely different reason this time).

"Now get outta mi room... seriously Misty Fly, go wait outside the office; Surprise you stay in here. Paradise, you're free to go."

Misty Fly gave Surprise one more hurt look before striding out of the room, holding the door open for Paradise as she hurried on her way (and not forgetting to pick up her cigarette on the way out). Spring Song sat still, staring straight at the floor. (**Whoa, a lot of alliteration there. Pinkie might be proud. ^^**)

"Okay, is everypony calm now?" Spitfire said, though she was basically asking herself this most of all. She hated it when her fellow Wonderbolts didn't get along because harmony was important within a team, so this kinda felt like she was failing at her job... well there was no time to think about that. They had some questioning to do.

"We're cool now, Cap," Surprise was smiling now, thank Celestia, and she stood at Spitfire's side, her chest raised like a noble guard dog or something. Spitfire folded her hooves across her chest and stared through her sunglasses at the pink mare sitting on her rear before her. Her head was tilted down so that her bob-cut blonde mane tumbled down her cheeks, but somehow completely avoiding her bright green eyes.

"Alright Spring Song, what I'm asking of you is simple." She used a stern voice to make the younger mare meet her gaze... then again nopony could really make eye contact with spitfire if they couldn't see her eyes. But then again, that was why she wore her shades in the first place; ponies' eyes held too much emotion. For example she could see the worry in Spring Song's own eyes, there was also concern, anxiety, and desperation. She wanted to leave... but that might have just been from Misty Fly and Surprise's argument a little while back rather than the possibility that she was the culprit. After all, she had been the one in the clouds with Rainbow Dash when the lightning struck her so it was highly unlikely that she was the one responsible for putting it there. But every single piece of information she gave could bring them one step closer to finally figuring out what caused all this and allow them to finally shut this whole mystery down.

"Why did you put the horseshoe in the cloud?" Surprise repeated her question from earlier and Spitfire grabbed a sticky note, posting it against her white furred friend's mouth to shut her up.

"That's not the question. I just want to hear what you were doing before, during, and after the storm cloud incident. Got it?" The captain asked. Spring Song sighed and nodded.

"Yes ma'am." She confirmed.

"Then go ahead, but I want the truth and nothing but the truth, and I'll have you know that my colleague here is a living lie detector," Spitfire slugged Surprise on the shoulder a little harder that she had anticipated, but Surprise seemed okay with it anyway. The white mare sunk down below the desk and the popped up again next to Spring Song, frightening the heck out of her.

"Yep-a-rooni. One wrong word and we could end your life!" Surprise warned, her eyes mad.

"We're not gonna hurt you," Spitfire said through another sigh. "though I can make exceptions for other ponies." she looked at Surprise but she was secretly thinking of numerous ponies. The list was not important and she just didn't want to think about it, so she focused instead on the thing keeping her distracted from all the crap going on in her life at that point: The mystery.

"So go ahead, cadet," Spitfire reached under her desk for another glass of wine. She had grown quite used to the bittersweet taste at this point, and was drinking more glasses than she had been the previous day. Every time she took a sip her brain would be flooded with the strange but genuinely syrupy aroma of the stuff, and when the taste faded she needed more.

"Well..." Spring Song clicked her tongue, thinking for a second. "The morning of the... thing, I was just doing what I do every morning. I wake up, have a shower, put on my make-up, kick Paradise out of bed... though back then i had to kick her out of her _own_ bed every night," she grumbled. Spitfire and Surprise looked at each other with a baffled expression on their faces, and Spring Song caught on right away.

"Did I say that out loud?" She asked, and Surprise nodded sympathetically. Spring Song flushed a bit at that, but it only lasted a millisecond before she continued her story.

"Yeah, shower, eye shadow, Paradise, ah! Okay, I went outside with the others and lined up. Then you explained the rules of the game, then we were put in teams... and then we split up into gold and silver."

"Get to the stuff I don't know, please," Spitfire snapped. Sure it was a little unnecessary, but as we all knew, Spitfire wasn't a patient pony at _all_. Spring Song's voice strained now, as if she were scared of tripping over her words for fear of being beheaded or something.

"Um... well I..." she gulped and rubbed one front leg with the other. Surprise grabbed her by the shoulder and looked into her eyes with a look akin to that of a maniac.

"What? What is it; what did you do?!" She asked. Spring Song started stuttering (**Another alliteration bomb!**) and looked down at the ground again.

"I tried to trick Paradise into helping our team- please don't hurt me!" She said hurriedly. Spitfire sighed, knowing that this was not important at all.

"Cadet, this is all in the past. You cheating doesn't matter anymore, just tell the story so we can move on with our lives," she heard Spring Song sigh with relief before resuming her tale.

"Okay, after that I took charge and sent our team off in pairs, me on my own because I'm too tough for that teamwork shtick." She grinned. Spitfire sat up straighter; this is why she had issues with Spring Song- she failed to see that sometimes teamwork is important in a group and has clearly let her inability to maintain friendships with ponies ruin things more than once. Heck, Spitfire remembered when Spring Song and Rainbow Dash were friends in the first few days of the boot camp; that seemed like such a long time ago...

"I remember Butternut was talking about all these stupid strategies, and she wouldn't shut up- not even when I threw some clouds at her face," she spoke of Butternut as if she were the one being the bad one in the situation. Spitfire felt her hooves clench as the cadet in front of her spoke of her acts as if they were acceptable- there was obnoxious and then there was just plain being a bitch.

"Anything else?" Spitfire prompted Spring Song to continue when she didn't speak for a little while. The pink cadet groaned again and slumped lower in her spot.

"That little mare, um... Thinder-"

"Cinder," Surprise corrected her.

"Yes, her, whatever. She wouldn't shut up either and then she got all defensive when I told her to stop, the jerk. And if that's not enough I caught her yapping to... PurpleButt or whatever her name is that nopony ever pays attention to her." She then snorted with laughter. "Lullaby didn't hear her." She giggled.

_'It's not illegal to strangle cadets, right?'_

_'Unfortunately yes.'_

"After that we all left for the hunt," she was making dramatic gestures to match her story now. "I found a couple horseshoes and hid them- naturally the others were blown away by the fact that I'd found two at once, and then I spoke to Paradise about something... probably something dumb, then I went to check on Lullaby and Winder's progress."

"Just leave it," Spitfire stopped Surprise from correcting Spring Song again, and the curly maned Wonderbolt made a pouty face. Heck, _she_ could barely remember Cinder's name, so there was really no point in being mad at Spring Song for it, too.

"Anyway, the two of them were talking to Rainbow Tr-_Dash_!" She corrected herself, remembering that she was standing before the pony that held her future in her hooves. "Thankfully they stopped talking to her by the time I got down there and they'd actually found a horseshoe! Well Lullaby did anyway. Then I told Dinder to try harder and then she just few off crying. Wuss." She tutted angrily. Spitfire was fairly certain that Cinder's perspective of that would be different if they asked her.

"Anything else?" Spitfire finished her glass of wine and tried to savor the sweet after-taste in her mouth. Soon it would disappear and it would be onto the next glass- she knew it was bad for her but she would do about anything to distract herself from her own unstable mind right then.

"Um... I got into an argument with Dash about something or other and then I went back to the stash. When I got there I was just in time to see Sugar Swoop making off with our stash, so I sent Bumble, Lullaby and Butternut to get him. And... Tempest and Ray were talking about the cloud cluster... I don't know why, but now that I think about it, it's weird that they were talking about it at the same time Dash flew in there and got zapped."

"And it's strange how Paradise heard three other cadets talking about the same thing," Surprise added, stroking her chin.

"Whatever's going on here," said Spitfire. "the silver team seem to be the ones who knew about it the most. We'll have to keep questioning those ponies," she told Surprise, who nodded with a stern, business-look on her face as if she had not been more serious about anything before... and that could be a possibility, knowing Surprise. Spring Song kept telling her story.

"That's what gave me the idea to go in the cloud cluster in the first place. I didn't know Rainbow Dash would be there, and stuff went down and... I think you know the rest. Then I went back to mine and Paradise's room... I thought Rainbow Dash might... forget it, I'm done now." She ended on a melancholy note that made Surprise sniffle. For a long while after that the three mares were quiet, and Spitfire figured that there really wasn't anything more to say other than:

"You're free to go now." Spitfire dismissed Spring Song, who left without another word, looking pretty miserable and ashamed. Well that sure was a surprise- Spring Song actually felt guilty about what she did, and she had a right to do so as well.

"Welp, what should we do now, Cap?" Surprise asked as Spitfire got a cup of coffee. It probably wasn't a wise choice, mixing wine with coffee in her stomach, but at that point she didn't care if it made her get some kind of weird tummy disease or not; she just needed energy and alcohol.

"We keep on questioning ponies. Maybe we should ask Lullaby next- she seems to know Rainbow Dash the most so if anypony was out to get her she may have some idea." Spitfire plotted. Surprise saluted, crossing her eyes and sticking her tongue out. Spitfire remembered that whenever Surprise used to do that in the past she would totally crack up... when had that stopped being funny?

"Oki-doki-artichoki," Surprise turned to leave. "I'll go and get started-"

"Hold it!" Spitfire grabbed Surprise's tail with one hoof. "I want to talk to you, too."

"Aw, Spitz, are you giving me a promotion?" She asked. Spitfire blinked a couple of times.

"A promo- how can I give you a promotion without any available spaces for you to have?" She waited for whatever Surprise was going to answer that question with.

"Well you could just make something up," she suggested. "I like this one in particular: Executive Best Friend."

Spitfire sighed. "If that's what you want then it's all yours." She decided to say, relieved that Surprise would get the idea of a promotion out of her head if she did. Surprise cheered and turned to go again.

"You're the best, boss!" She cheered.

"Wait," Spitfire grabbed her by the tail again. "There's something else. I want to talk to you about Misty Fly."

Surprise stood still for a few seconds and then tried to launch herself away. "Let me go, Spitz! I have some powerful back legs and I'm not afraid to use 'em."

"Yes you are."

"Yes I am."

"Surprise, listen to me. I want to know what you've got against Misty Fly so I can help. Just say it," Spitfire wanted her two friends to get along- watching the two of them argue gave her a migraine... speaking of which, where were her pills?

"Why?" Surprise pouted like a misbehaved filly.

"Because I'm tempted to smash your heads together to knock some sense into you." That got Surprise to start talking.

"Alright, alright, I'll explain," she sighed. "When I first met Misty Fly it was before the airshow in Neighbraska."

"I know that," Spitfire wanted Surprise to skip the obvious stuff. The white mare carried on.

"As I was saying, that show was incredibly important to me," she spoke in a solemn voice, the light in her eyes fading. "you know how I have family in Neighbraska, right?"

"Where's this going?" Spitfire asked, suddenly wondering if this topic was okay to bring up.

"Well... my grandpa..." she sniveled. "...he really wanted to see me perform at least once."

_'Oh no...'_

_'Nice going Spit, now look what you've done.'_

"I was gonna show him and the others everything I trained for... and then Misty Fly ruined it. And..." She cut herself off and Spitfire could practically _hear_ Surprise's throat close up on her.

"And that's why you act like that towards Misty..." Spitfire finished her sentence, feeling real sorrow for her friend. Suddenly she didn't blame Surprise for behaving the way she did. But at the same time, Misty Fly needed some defense, too. "Surprise, Misty Fly doesn't know what she did wrong- she's just as confused about your actions as I was a minute ago. Maybe if you two talked this over things would get better." She suggested. Surprise shook her head.

"No! Every time I see Misty I... I can't stop blaming her for what happened. Don't you think I've tried?!" She raised her voice. Spitfire nodded.

"I get it, Surprise. Letting go is hard to do." She placed her chin on the desk... she knew what Surprise was going through; losing loved ones hurt more than physical pain, so what right did she have to tell Surprise to move on when _she_ couldn't.

"Okay, I can't change how you see Misty, and I'm sorry." She apologized, turning away. There was no movement for a while before Spitfire suddenly felt a pair of hooves wrap around her.

"Hey, don't go blaming yourself for this. You're right, ya know? This isn't Misty's fault, and I... I might have hurt her a little bit. ya wanna know a secret?" She asked in a lower voice.

"Not really, but you'll tell me anyway so why not?" The golden captain shrugged. Surprise rubbed her cheek against her friend's.

"I feel sad sometimes, but whenever I do I think of two very special mares." She revealed.

"Oh really?" Spitfire rolled her eyes, feeling something sappy coming in for landing.

"Yep. I think about Pinkie Pie and how she can put a smile on anyone's face. She's the happiest pony in the whole world and I admire her for grinning her troubles away and looking on the bright side no matter what. I didn't know anypony could be so optimistic before I met her." She gushed, her eyes glowing and her smile returning as she spoke of her 'Twinzie'.

"Sweet." Spitfire said simply, rolling her eyes at how her friend talked about the pink mare, despite having gotten over her previous jealousy.

"And the second pony is you, Spit."

"Don't call me- wait, what?" She asked, her ears sticking up. Why in Equestria would she keep Surprise happy? She was the most pessimistic pony she knew!

"I remember how strong you are and that inspires me." Surprise explained. Spitfire shook her head.

"Then you've got something wrong with you, Surprise. I'm not strong at all. I keep screwing up, my mind is so unstable that I feel like I could lose it at any moment... I couldn't even protect Her." Spitfire screwed her eyes shut and drank some more coffee. Distractions, distractions, distractions...

"No Spitfire, you've got it all wrong. You've been through a lot but you never let that keep you down; no matter what happens you maintain a strong demeanor and you always know what to do; that's what makes you the best captain and friend ever. It's just like Captain Nighthawk always used to tell us, strength isn't found in your wings, hooves, or horn- strength is keeping a model mind and never giving up. You are one of the most incredible ponies I've ever met, and of all the fillies I could have walked up to on the street at random, I thank the Princesses all the time that I chose you. You're strong, Spitfire; strong in the real way."

Spitfire's stomach was knotting up, which may have been because of the drinks curdling in there, but also because she was pretty choked up at that point. Almost against her will, she twisted round and hugged Surprise back, placing her head on her shoulder so she couldn't see her emotion-stricken face.

"Spitz-"

"Just shut up and hug me, Surprise," Spitfire kept her voice stern, and tried not to hug Surprise too tightly. Ugh, why did her friend have to be such a sap?

"Okay... there's always time for hugs." Surprise was sniffling now. "You're hugging me!" She squeezed Spitfire in that usual tight fashion of hers, but for once the captain didn't complain. Spitfire decided that the investigation and anything concerning Misty Fly could wait- all she wanted at that point was to just hug her best friend and release just a few of those hidden emotions of hers. She tightened her grip on the white mare just a little bit and buried her face in her fur.

Because- and this was typical of the captain- she didn't want to let go.

* * *

**Endnote: I'm not gonna lie, Surprise's monologue at the end kinda made me get that same knot in my stomach. I'm just relieved I got this done before the next episode aired. So yes, this is another two-parter, but with the time it took for this you probably just want me to post something, anything, to show that I'm still alive. But yeah, the next part focuses more on Soarin's 'becoming a new pony' plotline, and this first part was just to introduce that, get Cinder's confession out of the way and continue the Surprise/Misty Fly arc, because I just love writing those two together- they are my favorite non-main Wonderbolts, after all. Now the next chapter has more comedy in it, which after the emotional ending of this one, I really need. :'(**

**I don't think I have any references in this chapter except one from Skylanders and two from Steven Universe, one of those being the 'strong in the real way' line at the end. I can't stop watching it. GRRR! **

**See ya next time! :D**


	39. The New Me, part 2

**Authors Note: And part two is here- something cheerful to even out the depressing ending of the last one. Also, who wants to be the 300****th**** reviewer?**

**ALSO, AS OF THE 7th OF OCTOBER, THIS STORY IS ONE YEAR OLD! WOOHOO! :D**

**Amellia Rose- A weird combination, I know. ^^"**

**Captain Alaska: Well now ya know. I just want the two of them to be friends so I can write a bunch of cute and funny scenes for them! :3**

**Snow Hurricane Blue- Yeah, you have a right to fear her. SHE IS AN ETERNAL FLAME, BABY! (Guess that reference and I will hug you!) Though keeping in mind that even Surprise doesn't know what went down with Spitz and Brae, there isn't much she can say to him other than the fact that she's sulking in her office… which everypony already knows… okay, they don't know she's sulking but- okay, I see what you mean.**

**CrystalHeart190- R-really? You've been spreading my story around? I… OH MY GOSH, YOU'RE SO AWESOME! *cyberhugs* I'm so pleased that there are so many MLP fans at your school, and as usual, my review for the episode is right after the replies.**

**RosaSilvermist- We need more Sentimental Spitty in our lives. And don't worry, Cinder's situation will be explained in much more detail at a later date, and when the time comes I may... ya know, that's enough spoilers *walks out*.**

**YoungBlood23- I know right! Oh my gosh my head is a dark place at times- but this chapter is funnier so let's get started! :D**

**Ripstickmario- Patience, my friend. I really wanna get to that part too but there's still a little time. But they will interact soon… *squee***

**Litestardt- Just be grateful that Spitz isn't mixing the wine and coffee- oh my God you've just gave me an idea. Damn you! And Lightning is so cool *hugs*. And hell yeah, Flash Sentry had better back off! :P**

**Luna'snight625- Honoured huh? Whoa, I feel so flattered now *blush*. And I think that Surprise and Spitfire's interactions are some of my favourite parts to write in the story (except of course for Soarin's funny moments). And do Soarin's plans **_**usually**_** work, huh? This is basically a recipe for disaster! And my FIMFiction username is Sassymouse, like it is on here. Also, congrats for getting your art featured on the **_**Piercing the Heavens**_** art blog. ;)**

**Dshk- Crap! Fixed it now. Sorry about that; I didn't proofread the last chapter because I wanted to get it out before the new episode aired (long story) so that's why a few mistakes might be littered here and there. And Braeburn and Soarin's bucket lists were fun to write! And I decided that Soarin would have a stuffed frog purely because I love frogs- I also love John Oliver- he's one of my comedy inspirations! And I looked up what a bearcat was… I don't think Soarin would wanna sleep with something like that, but they look like cool animals. I also listened to the soundtrack you wrote about and I love it! Background music like that really helps me focus when I right and proofread, so don't be at all surprised if I listen to this in the future. Oh! A Little Push? The one where Dashie and Soarin's son is afraid of heights right; I've read it and it's so sweet! Now we just need Misty Fly and Surprise to become friends somehow so I can use my two favourite 'Bolts in sweet little situations… but how the heck is that possible? I could figure something out, but knowing me it'll turn into some kind of farce. I also forgot to do Party Pooped, but that was because they aired while I was writing chapter 35. That took me a month, as in I missed reviewing two episodes and it still wasn't done until like two weeks into the hiatus. I'll get them done eventually, but I need to keep the episodes up to date, so we'll just see if I can do one when there's a week without an episode- which always happens at least once per season.**

**DannyTheKitty- Oh my gosh, I'm so flattered. You're such a sweetheart. And I would love to become a full time writer and write a real book, so your words of encouragement brightened my day. Thank you so much. *cyberhugs* **

**MY REVIEW FOR RARITY INVESTIGATES!**

**(SPOILERS AHEAD- YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!)**

**If you have been around me and this story for at least five seconds ever you will know how much I love the Wonderbolts, and since this was a Wonderbolt episode I am honestly freaking excited to be reviewing this and it will probably get out of hand as usual so if I start going on long rant, don't worry because that's what's supposed to happen.**

**First off I spent the week after watching Canterlot Boutique reading stuff about She-Who-Shares-My-Name, and I've actually grown to **_**like**_** Sassy Saddles, so I was very pleased when she showed up at the beginning of the episode. Honestly, I thought she would be one of those characters who shows up once and is never seen again, and I'd hate for that to happen, so thank you Hasbro for doing something right. It sorta makes me wonder if this episode starts off where the last one ended…**

**Anyway, so Rarity has been inspired to make some outfits like the ones the detectives wear in the stories, and not only did this make me happy to see Sassy acting so positively to Rarity's ideas, but it also made me excited because mystery is one of my favourite genres, after comedy of course. Then Rainbow Dash shows up (knocking over Rarity's display in the process… Rarity needs to buy a more reliable door) saying that she's in Canterlot for the opening of Princess Celestia's royal garden, a fact that I missed the first time I watched the episode due to the stream I was watching it on hating me. The Wonderbolts are going to be performing and since Dash is in the reserves she is required to be there in case one of the 'Bolts cannot perform, and Rarity tells her that she will be there too before Dash leaves, proving once again that Rarity needs a new damn door (or needs to bolt down those stands)! Less than two seconds after, we get to see Persuasive Rarity again, which brings me on to a question. How is it possible for a pony to be both adorable and hot at the same time? How can it be allowed?!**

**And then we see the Wonderbolts! I was so hyped to see these guys again, and was praying with all my heart that they'd be portrayed well this time around. The strange thing was that there were some **_**new**_** Wonderbolts… they will not be in this story but I'm curious to find out their names. There's one that looks like a hybrid of High Winds and Lightning Streak; I remember that very clearly because I remember thinking to myself "Nope there's no way this is their weird spawn cuz BlazeWinds for life!" and there were others that I've forgotten about… I feel bad now. **

**Then we meet Wind Rider… I saw him, pointed at the screen and yelled "ANTAGONIST!" Subtlety, Hasbro, we've been over this… okay that's a lie, we've not been over it, I don't even know who works at Hasbro or where the name 'Hasbro' even comes from- oh great, that's one more thing for me to look up on the internet. So Wind Rider used to be this super cool Wonderbolt that Rainbow Dash idolizes, and he holds the record for something called the Mustang Marathon, which is an important thing to remember. **

**Then we witness the return of Best Pony Spitfire (who is much happier in the show than I am currently portraying her) and **_**my baby Misty Fly**_**! I'm not gonna lie, I saw the two of them together and squeed, wanting Surprise to fly on over and get some screen time with them. Seriously, if that had happened I would have passed out! We then get a little conversation about how everyone is expecting Dash to beat Wind Rider's record, and that's when it becomes clear what the outcome of the episode is going to be, leaving us with seventeen more minutes of wondering what will happen between now and the conclusion. We do get to see some adorkable fangirl Rainbow Dash and then… MISTY FLY SPOKE! *Insert Rainbow Dash themed fangirl moment here, please* It wasn't the voice that I imagine her with when I write but I like it, and it's deeper than Spitty's which I prefer over many people's theories of her having a squeaky voice… but the whole point of this rant is that Misty Fly had a speaking role and I was happy. Good? Good.**

**We then see Dash, Rarity and Spitz retire for the night in a scene I don't really have anything to say about before we cut to the next morning, where the 'Bolts are training while Rarity and Rainbow watch (also Caramel is standing with **_**another**_** new mare. Seriously, this dude…) and then we see the part that made people fangasm like wild… things. Soarin swoops down and seems to… flirt with Dash a little, which I was pleased by because it means this story isn't for nothing. Though in all honesty I see the comments for the episode and all I'm seeing is "SoarinDash is Canon!" "Ohmagerd did you see Soarin and Dash!" "This is da best episode cuz SoarinDash!" and I bet you didn't expect me to say this but SHUT UP PEOPLE! This episode is about so much more than that, so calm the frick down! This is Rainbow Falls all over again, and I'm pretty sure the only reason people like that shitty episode was because of Soarin and Dash interacting! I have a whole story I could rant about here but I'm already ranting about something so this is technically a rant within a rant, so it's time to move on! So Soarin tells Rainbow that Spitfire had to leave because she got a letter from her mother saying that she was ill and she needed to take care of her.**

***Slams head into the desk* HEADCANON DOWN PEOPLE! Everyone abandon ship! Man the lifeboats! We're going down! Seriously, that's the only part of the episode that bothered me and that's just personal since if you read through chapter 35 (and you better have) I literally killed off **_**all**_** her family members! Oh well, at least I managed to get that chapter out before this episode, right? Oh well, back to the rant. **

**Soarin then tells Dashie that she can fill in for Spitz while she's away, which Rainbow agrees to in a dash! See what I did there? Heh… yeah, that was bad. We then get an awesome Dash fangirl scene where she dances and does the classic 'ohmigoshohmigoshohmigosh!' thing! After that there's a time skip and we see Dash and Wind Rider practising and then we get to see Stormy Flare. I've gotta admit, her design is cool and she seems like a pretty good character… even if she's no Honey Glaze. Although I was right that Spitty got her colours from her mother, so **_**one**_** thing worked out for me!**

**Anyhoo, you can imagine the confused conversation that happens next with Rarity wondering why Stormy Flare is here, and Stormy wondering where her daughter's gone, then Soarin and the other Wonderbolts join in and Stormy reveals that she never sent a letter to Spitz. Then Wind Rider points out that only a pony who wanted Spitfire's place in the show would write her a fake note, and all eyes turn to Rainbow Dash.**

**Then the scene changes to the 'Bolts all crowding around Dash and interrogating her… and then BLAZE TALKS! Blaze's voice is actually pretty close to the one I imagine her with, maybe not as deep, but it was close enough that I smiled like a doof at the similarity. All the evidence seems stacked against Dash (and we get a cool fantasy from her that involves a **_**Top Gun**_** reference! :D) I did cringe a bit when Soarin threatened Dash the way he did, and there goes another of my headcanon's of Soarin being a lovable goofball. Seriously, I don't really like Soarin's personality in the show… or his voice… and I will never stop making him out to be the same silly stallion that I love to write the most out of all the characters. That's when Detective Rarity comes out to try and help clear Dash's name, all dressed up in her cool new outfit! **

**Then we get a Noir Rarity moment- the first of many- accompanied by Rarity narrating what's going on. I really love Noir stuff in movies, so this was a great moment for me, and one of the many signs that I was going to love this episode. They search Spitfire's room for clues and Rarity finds the envelope for the letter the captain was sent, which she sniffs (remember that) before uncovering some of Rainbow Dash's hair. DUN DUN DUUUUUN! After Rarity checks out the curtains, they continue their investigation by questioning the royal guards, who suddenly don't look all the same. Flash was probably getting lonely being the only orange guard… and Sugar Swoop now stands a chance. Remember their talk in chapter 12? Once again the guards put forward some evidence that Dash is guilty, and that brings us to a Sultry Rarity moment. She sweet talks the guards into giving her some more information and her tactics were very… Rarity. The guards reveal that somepony gave them cake the previous night and Rarity demands to know what kind of cake it was (important again!) before beginning a funny running gag of her doing the Noir Narration before it reveals she's talking out loud! HA! **

**Rarity and Dash then head to a bakery where they interrogate British Stereotype Pony Number… I lost count around number fifty three a few months ago… and she reveals that whoever bought the cake from her store had a deep raspy voice like Rainbow Dash's. Rarity discovers that the pony who did it got chocolate on their scarf, giving our unicorn a pretty good clue, and after an Over-Rainbow-React moment, the dynamic duo return to the Wonderbolts.**

**Rarity bursts onto the scene announcing that she knows who did it and proceeds to accuse Wind Rider. Bam! Predictable villain unmasked… oh heck, the mask was on about half a second after I first saw him. Rarity reveals that when she was checking out all the stuff, like the curtains and the envelope, she was actually looking for clues, using them to put the evidence against the former Wonderbolt. And then after little to no pushing, he just admits that he did it… WHO DOES THAT?! Rarity goes on to explain why he did it in her own very Rarity-ish manner and Rainbow Dash sets off to retrieve Spitfire from the Crystal Mountains… yeah, she definitely broke Wind Rider's record with that speed. **

**So Spitty and Dash get back in time and Rainbow Dash and Rarity have a Moral Moment, teaching us that you can always trust your friends, even if what they're doing doesn't make sense to you… kinda like the moral from Swarm of the Century if you ask me. Spitfire then gives Rainbow Dash a spot in the airshow to replace Wind Rider and then strips him of his Wonderbolt name, giving me the impression that her special talent should be badge ripping. Dash then flies with the Wonderbolts (SQUEEEEE!) and Rarity gives us one more comedic Noir reference before the episode ends, the credit song being replaced with jazz music.**

**So this episode was really good in my opinion despite the obvious turnout… seriously, this was like early Scooby Doo kind of obvious, and the clear ending keeps this as a Good episode instead of a Great episode, because if there was some kind of twist it would have made it a much better story. Heck, they could have brought back Lightning Dust… though that would have been breaking the first rule of Father Knox's Decalogue: "**_**The criminal must be someone mentioned in the early part of the story, but must not be anyone whose thoughts the reader has been allowed to follow." **_**So Lightning Dust was out of the question, plus I really want her to have a redemption story so having her as a villain would've made me a little upset since I love Lightning Dust. **

**But on the bright side, this is the first episode where we've seen Rainbow Dash and Rarity interact on this level since season one in Sonic Rainboom, and even then they didn't have all that much going on with them, so this was a good episode in that retrospect. Now if only we had an Applejack and Fluttershy episode, because those two need to spend more time together. **

**Now MMMMystery on the Friendship Express was similar to this episode but there were few differences too, and though I enjoyed this episode more there were a few things I would have mixed up a bit of those two episodes to make things better. Firstly, I would have given MOTFE the kind of interesting investigation that RI had, because when I watched that episode for the first time I just felt bored watching Twilight and Pinkie stumbling around like that, and I would have given RI the unpredictable turnout of MOTFE, since seriously, who saw the Mane Six being the culprits coming? I sure didn't.**

**So all in all this episode was one of my favourites of the season, and may have even made it into my top ten episodes. Now **_**Made in Manehattan**_** is the last episode in the so-called 'Month of Rarity', so let's all just wait and see what the writers are gonna throw at us this time around. What did you guys think of the episode, and what would you have improved if given the chance?**

**See ya next time on Sassymouse's Reviews- provider of comedic analysis since 2015.**

**(SPOILERS END HERE)**

* * *

"Soarin, what are you doing?" Silver Lining asked as he entered the staff room. Soarin was rummaging through the cupboards on the walls, clearly searching for something. He was also wearing a black baseball cap with the words _Top Bolt_ imprinted on it in yellow.

"Looking for wheatgerm." Soarin replied casually as if this was perfectly natural. Silver stood there in silence for a little while, glancing around at the otherwise empty room before returning his dark blue gaze to Soarin.

"Why in blazes are you looking for wheatgerm?" The silver stallion briefly looked like he regretted ever asking, but Soarin gave him an answer anyway.

"Because I told Braeburn that I'd start drinking wheatgerm smoothies; but after putting on my thinking cap-" he tapped the cap on his head, "-I realised two things: I'm not a thinker, I look _great_ in caps, and I have no idea what wheatgerm is."

"That's three things." Silver rolled his eyes at the pale blue stallion, who groaned.

"Ugh you're right; stupid thinking cap!" Soarin then grabbed the cap and tossed it out the window. Silver made his way over to Soarin and pulled him away from the cabinets.

"Soarin, I wanted to see you about something."

"I didn't do it!" Soarin defended himself. Silver blinked a couple of times and then slitted his eyes.

"What did you do?" He asked with a venomous voice. Soarin gulped and clapped his hooves together nervously.

"It was me who broke the shower head in the third stall," Soarin confessed. "I was throwing my arms around a little too much while I was singing _Drip Some Molasses On Me _by Blynd Cheatha_._" He confessed. Silver raised himself up to his full height.

"I knew it was you!" He proclaimed before breathing in and out a few times to calm down. "Anyway, that's not what I wanted to say. You remember Contrail right? Heck, of course you do."

Soarin perked up at this; Contrail was one of the greatest Wonderbolts in his eyes, and by far one of the toughest. Back when he was in the Wonderbolts Contrail was the take-charge pony whenever Nighthawk or Concorde weren't being serious about things, and that had inspired Soarin. It didn't stop him from being a ball of silliness, but the point is that he viewed the ex-Wonderbolt as a legend.

"Why? Is he coming here? It's been a long time!" Soarin nattered excitedly. Silver Lining nodded.

"That's right," he confirmed. "and I'm sure he'd love to see you after all this time. It's been about three years since he wanted to visit this place."

Soarin recalled Contrail's previous visit. He had been a little wary of things, since he had fairly bad PTSD, but had promised that he'd visit regularly after. If by regularly he meant like once every few years, but hey he was coming and that's what really mattered!

"Hey, maybe we could all hang out around Cloudsdale; chill out and do the fun stuff we used to do." Soarin suggested. One of his favourite memories of when he was a cadet was when Silver and Contrail (who were best friends back in the day) had taken him flying one day to teach him a little more about aerial control, so having the three of them together was like an almost déjà vu-ish moment.

"I'm sure Contrail would like the sound of that," Silver agreed. "he should be arriving shortly, so we'd better go and meet him outside."

"He's almost here?!" Soarin gasped with glee, putting his hooves on his cheeks and smiling like a lunatic. He was pretty sure that his smile was so wide that it would traumatise a few foals for life if they were to see him.

"Uh-huh, so get your act together, soldier, and let's move on out." Silver commanded Soarin like a captain would for a cadet, and Soarin wasted no time in galloping out the door and down the hall, knowing that he'd probably be out of breath by the time he reached the entrance door but not caring a single bit.

Today was the perfect day for The New Him to emerge!

* * *

"Oh my gosh, all this food…" Soarin drooled as he looked around at the small restaurant that he, Silver Lining, and Contrail were sitting in. It was almost completely full in there, and pegasi were mulling around the rectangular conveyer belt in the middle of the room, picking up little plastic dishes full of salad and digging in. Soarin had never been to this place before but Silver Lining had told him that it was pretty fancy and the food was delicious, and there was no way even in another life that Soarin would pass up an opportunity to eat yummy food.

They had met Contrail outside the Academy as planned, and Soarin was a little surprised to see how he'd changed. He had gained a tiny bit of weight by the looks of things, and his golden mane was beginning to get tinted with grey; his light blue fur was a little faded and there were noticeable wrinkles on his face, though Soarin could see past all of this and recognise the Wonderbolt he had admired for many years. They had gone to the market together, and after some browsing Soarin had got a chain necklace with a dollar sign on it because he thought it looked cool, even if he had no idea what a dollar sign was, and then they had gone to get some lunch, which was why they were currently here.

Contrail and Silver Lining were doing a crossword together, and Silver Lining had told them that they would not order anything until they had completed it, which Soarin was finding torturous since they were taking _forever_. Soarin leaned closer in their direction to his left so he could hear what they were saying; maybe if he could help them it would speed things up a little.

"Alright, fifteen across…" Contrail murmured to his silver friend. "Nine letters; deliberate exaggeration."

"Ooh! I know this one…" Soarin racked his brain to try and come up with something. The word 'lysichiton' came to mind, but he had zero idea what that meant… or how to spell it. "I can get this…"

"It's hyperbole, of course." Contrail said to him, and Soarin nodded, putting on his best poker face.

"Yeah, of course." He repeated. Contrail scribbled the word onto the paper and gave Silver a grin of accomplishment.

"Well, let's eat." He decided; it looked like no matter how old he was Contrail was still in the habit of telling other ponies what to do.

"It all looks so good…" Soarin started drooling again, only just remembering to pull his tongue into his mouth before he slobbered all over everything. Soarin waited for the two older stallions to get their dishes off the conveyer belt before he chose his own. Lettuce, tomatoes, parsley, carrots and a bunch of other stuff that Soarin was too hungry to bother naming was his choice, and he felt pleased for grabbing such a good one since he picked up a dish completely at random.

Soarin dug in, wanting to wolf the whole thing down before he noticed that Silver and Contrail were eating with smaller, more civilised bites. Wanting to be like his older heroes, he decided to do the same, flicking the green bean that was hanging from his mouth away before nibbling some lettuce, ignoring every reflex he had to just wolf the whole meal down. Stupid dinner rules… but if he wanted to become a New Him, he needed to work on his manners.

"So Soarin, how are your co-captain duties going?" Contrail asked, giving the younger pony a grin. Soarin sat up straighter.

"Well… yes, they're going fine. It's a lot of work and I'm not sure I'll ever get used to the paperwork, but as a responsible stallion I am handling my duties very well, maintaining a healthy team relationship and _not_ breaking any shower heads." He winked rather obviously at Silver Lining, who buried his face in a hoof. Contrail just chuckled and took another bite of his lunch, which was mostly made up of lettuce.

"Silver tells me that you've finally gone and got yourself a ladyfriend; that Rainbow Dash mare I've heard a lot about. The one who's friends with that Princess Twilight Sparkle, right? She must have_ really_ low standards." He shared a laugh with Silver Lining, and Soarin rolled his eyes.

"Well yes, I _am_ dating Rainbow Dash, but as co-captain of the Wonderbolts, I should suspect that her standards are rather high, thank you very much." He said stiffly, fiddling idly with the chain around his neck. Contrail smirked again and leant with one elbow on the surface they were eating off.

"Soarin I'm gonna be honest with ya, the only thing I saw you getting in a long term relationship with before now was diabetes." He joked, and Silver Lining laughed so hard that it got a few ponies' attention, not that he cared in the slightest. Soarin huffed and slumped over.

"I'm not that stupid, Contrail. I happen to be a whole New Me-" no sooner had he said this than he heard a clinking noise and was tugged forward. At first he had no idea what was going on before he angled his eyes down and saw that his chain necklace had got caught in the conveyer belt. "Oh horseapples; Silver, Contrail, get outta the way!" Soarin commanded as he was pulled out of his seat and towards the two stallions, who hastily tumbled away from him, Silver Lining falling on his face in the process. As Soarin was pulled around by his necklace, scattering a few patrons and almost getting strangled at one point, he was forced to climb onto the conveyer belt to avoid getting stuck (and decapitated) at a table.

"Just undo it!" Silver called over all the shouting that was going on.

"I can't! I'm sorry!" Soarin felt compelled to apologise, not just to Silver Lining but to literally everypony here since he was currently ruining their fun, the food, and the restaurant's property. On his way down the belt, Soarin smashed some glasses and knocked over some dishes, some of which the waiters tried to salvage. "Sorry!" Soarin called again, wishing he'd just die to save himself from this humiliation. He caught sight of Silver and Contrail on the far right of the room by now, Silver Lining with widened eyes and a hoof clasped over his mouth and Contrail trying to avert his gaze from the co-captain but not seeming to be able to. Soarin passed by a waitress and shifted the way he was sitting. "I do apologize for riding your conveyer thingy." He said as he accidentally swept a can of Pegapsi off the counter with his tail.

"Oh Soarin, you're such a dork." Contrail finally looked away with a harsh voice, missing it when Soarin mouthed 'sorry' again. Finally, he managed to tug himself free from his situation.

"I'm unstuck now!" he proclaimed, though he didn't move. "Ya know, I'm just gonna ride the whole way round." He added, since he couldn't destroy anything now that he wasn't freaking out.

"This is humiliating." Contrail whispered to Silver Lining, who tried covering his face with one wing. As one final act of stupidity, Soarin grabbed a bottle on Colta Cola and poured it into a pony's glass as he passed by her, giving her a weak smile as he rode on. Then at last he was back where he started and he clambered off the conveyer belt and returned to his seat, trying to pretend that it had never happened and it was some kind of 'daymare'.

"So where were we?" He asked, getting blank looks from Silver and Contrail. Suddenly Soarin noticed a waiter and a stallion in a suit and tie that looked suspiciously like a store manager thrust the staff room door open.

"Leaving!" Silver ushered Soarin out of his chair and the three stallions made their escape, barging through the doors and flying off, not daring to look behind them.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later Soarin, Contrail and Silver were sitting in the kitchen, Contrail musing about how he had never actually eaten in there and Silver slurping down the orange juice he'd been given. Apart from the three stallions, Cinder was the only other pony there since Braeburn had left her in charge while he went to help Wave Chill fix something in the staff room.

"Okay, I'll get you anything you want, just say it." Cinder chirped with a big grin on that adorable face of hers. Soarin had noticed that she was a lot more confident when she was in the kitchen; must be Braeburn's influence, and he was sure he had influenced her a whole lot since she had started saying 'ding dang it' whenever she spilt something just like the earth pony usually did. It was kinda sweet.

"Thanks kid," Contrail winked down at the little blue mare, getting her to smile even bigger. "Um…" he looked down that at the menu that Cinder had made especially for ponies who dined in the kitchen (she even did them in crayon! How cute could this mare get?!) "I could wolf a crumble but… just a herbal tea." Contrail placed his order and Cinder, saying that she wanted to pull this off as if it were a real diner, wrote it down on a pad she had grabbed. Silver was next.

"Um… I could just inhale a plate of fritters, but… just the apple chips, please." He told Cinder, who nodded and wrote it down. Of course Soarin tried to do the same thing his idols were doing with their orders. He cleared his throat, wanting to give The New Him another shot.

"Oh I could just scoff an apple pie… oh for the apple pie… think of the apple pie…" he paused for a few seconds. "…just the apple pie, please." He finally said, getting a giggle out of Cinder and an eye roll from Silver Lining. When Cinder left to get the stuff, Silver Lining and Contrail started talking about some political stuff that he didn't care about so he went over to Cinder to see if he could lend a hoof. The New Him was going to be a helpful pony.

"Hey, Cinder," he greeted, sitting on a chair by the fridge, "need any help there?"

"No thanks," Cinder declined, "I wanna try doing this by myself." Soarin suddenly became curious.

"Hey, why the hay are you doing Braeburn's job for him? Is he paying you? He'd better be." He mainly just wanted to cheat some money out of his friend. Cinder shrugged.

"I just really wanna do this, Soarin. I… I need to confess something." She hung her head low as she fished some herbs out of a tin.

"Don't we all?" Soarin asked in his wisest voice, thinking it something that a smart pony would say. Judging from Cinder's reaction this wasn't right. He needed to back it up with a smart quote or something. Crud- besides 'nothing gold can stay' he didn't know any smart things to say. "Um… when life gives you lemons, you'd better go grab some sugar and water because otherwise your lemonade is gonna suck." He decided to say. This obviously just confused Cinder even further, and he decided to give up. "What's on your mind?" Soarin finally asked. Cinder sighed and leaned against the fridge.

"I… I really thought this Wonderbolt thing was right for me," the little blue pegasus began. "but as of late I've found out that I just… I just don't enjoy it as much as working in here with Braeburn." She smiled weakly before her ears drooped down. "But if I don't become a Wonderbolt I'll never prove to the others that what I am doesn't limit what I can do."

Soarin had a whole bunch of questions right now. Who were 'the others'? What was Cinder aside from a sweet little pegasus? Who the hell would enjoy being around Braeburn all day? Cinder sighed and pressed the tip of her hoof against the bridge of her muzzle.

"I feel like I'm at crossroads," she said weakly. "I don't wanna force myself to do something I don't want to do, but at the same time I'm never going to prove anything to anyone if I just suddenly stop. That's the opposite of what I came here to do."

Soarin was no good in these types of situation, but fortunately he was saved from having to do any kind of help when Rainbow Dash and Lullaby flapped in over the counter. Boy, it was a good thing Braeburn wasn't there to see that because he totally would have scolded them for 'molting in the food'.

"Hey Cinder, guess what!" Lullaby chirped as she trotted up to her little blue friend, who was stirring Contrail's tea.

"What is it?" Cinder asked with the spoon in her mouth, making it sound a little muffled. Lullaby folded a wing over Rainbow's back.

"Dash's nickname in high school was 'Maverick'! Awesome, right?!" Lullaby revealed. Cinder looked completely lost.

"I don't get it." She finally said. Lullaby chuckled.

"You've never seen the movie _Top Bolt_ have you?" She asked, getting a shake of the head in response from Cinder. The purple mare sat down and explained that Maverick was the main character in the movie and told her the basics of the plot, making sure to avoid any spoilers in case Cinder decided to watch the film.

"Wow, Dash, you must have really stood out as a great flyer," Cinder smiled, and Dash puffed up her chest.

"It's impossible for me not to stand out," she bragged, "I mean just check out how awesome my mane is."

Soarin realized that this was the perfect chance for him to try out The New Him on Rainbow Dash. "Hey Dashie," He greeted, getting down from his chair and dipping down on one hoof into a bow position. From the face Rainbow Dash made he assumed that he had just done yet another stupid thing. He moved to stand straight but as he relaxed his contracted leg muscles he let out a rather loud fart, making him gasp and stand rigid. "Sorry!" He said for what felt like the hundredth time that day. "That was my dog." He suddenly said.

"What was…?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking around at everypony staring at Soarin like he was a caged animal or something.

"That noise." Soarin replied, hoping she'd buy it.

"Oh, I thought it was that chair scraping," she nodded to the seat behind Soarin. Soarin nodded.

"It was!" He said before he could process anything.

"Then… what was the dog thing about?" Dash asked.

"I don't have a dog, Dash, you should know this. Perhaps it was _your _dog."

"_I_ don't have a dog."

"Well could you stop saying that you do?"

"Oh my gosh, is that CONTRAIL?!" Rainbow Dash suddenly yelled, releasing Soarin from his awkward bubble of humiliation. The light blue ex-Wonderbolt looked over at the excited mare and smirked.

"Rainbow Dash, right? It's about time I met you." He said. Rainbow Dash clumsily trotted over to him, muttering 'ohmygosh' under her breath.

"Y-y-you know who I am?" She asked, biting her lip to keep herself from squeeing. Contrail chuckled and nodded.

"Of course- Silver Lining tells me all about you, and how you keep breaking records and pulling of Sonic Rainbooms, heck didn't you save three Wonderbolt's lives once?" he asked. Rainbow nodded, and Soarin looked away with embarrassment- he didn't exactly like to remember falling to his death.

"I can't believe that you know all that about me," Rainbow Dash's face lit up with a nervous blush. "you're one of the greatest Wonderbolts of the last generation."

"Ha, well it's always nice to meet a fan," he grinned at her again. "so do you think you can wear the uniform someday?"

"Of course I do!" Rainbow Dash stood in the same position she stood in during drills, eyes narrowed and chest raised with all four legs straight.

"Hmm…" Contrail looked Dash up and down. "you got spunk and I like that- I can practically see you in that suit already… Maverick." He winked and Rainbow finally did squee a little at being called by her old school nickname. And then (she must have been hanging around Soarin too much) she started to sing.

"Headin' into twilight

Spreadin' out her wings tonight

She got you jumpin' off the deck

And shovin' into overdrive!"

She sang a verse from the song 'Danger Zone'. Contrail, Silver and the others found it funny while Cinder still looked lost since she hadn't seen _Top Bolt. _Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash had started a chain reaction of ponies singing songs from the movie, and I'll give you one guess as to who the pony that sang was? Got it? Probably.

"_Watching every motion_

_In my foolish lover's game…"_

"Sorry, it's just a hard song to stop singing," Soarin tried to say before spewing the lyrics out again.

"_On this endless ocean_

_Finally lovers know no shame…" _

"I'm going again…" He tried to stop to no avail, standing there awkwardly while every pair of eyes was super glued to him.

"_Turning and returning_

_To some secret place inside…"_

He chuckled before an idea popped into his head. "LOOK IT'S A THING!" He yelled, pointing towards the left side of the room. While everypony was distracted he hurdled over the serving counter and got the hay out of there.

* * *

Soarin sprung into the staff room where Braeburn and Wave Chill were drinking coffee, clearly having fixed… whatever it was they were fixing. By the looks of the duct tape on the table next to the couch nearest the door somepony (probably Lightning Streak) had danced on it at some point. Yes, it's happened before.

"Braeburn, Braeburn, Braeburn, Braeburn, Braeburn, Braeburn, Braeburn-"

"Ah'm drinkin'!" The earth pony spluttered through his mouthful of the drink. Soarin placed his front hooves on the surface of the coffee counter and looked up at his golden furred friend with a serious look on his face.

"I have to rant." He said.

"Oh Celestia, why?" Braeburn slid a hoof down his face and rolled his eyes in agony.

"The old Wonderbolt Contrail is here for a visit, Cinder's in distress, and I tried testing out The New Me," he revealed, "but The New Me is currently _worse_ than The Old Me."

"That ain't possible." Braeburn shook his head.

"I farted in front of Dash, blamed it on an imaginary dog, and sung in her face." Soarin deadpanned with a blank expression. Braeburn and Wave Chill just stared at him with their mouths gaping open as if he had completely broke their brains. "I give up." He announced. Wave Chill raised a hoof.

"Hey now, I've got an idea. Why don't you try that life coach again?" He suggested. Soarin's pupils shrunk and he almost gasped.

"Heck no!" He kicked the idea away.

FLASHBACK

_In a small room, a few ponies were all sitting on the floor with balloons in their mouths. A pony at the front of the class spoke to them in a relaxed voice while gesturing to the whiteboard beside her which read 'Breathing.'_

"_Imagine your anxieties filling the balloon," she told all the ponies. "let it all out in there." _

_The ponies in the class did as they were told, breathing gently into their balloons. At the back of the room however, one pale blue stallion's balloon had already inflated to about half the size of him. And then without warning it burst right there and then, frightening everypony else into releasing their balloons, so that the room was full of the sound of fart noises as the balloons whizzed around, and Soarin's shrieking._

"_GAH! My anxieties are everywhere!" He shouted, wafting them away. "Save yourselves!"_

END OF FLASHBACK

"I don't know how things could get worse." Soarin leant on the counter with his head propped up on his elbow. And then Lightning Streak trotted through the door.

"Soarin, I've been kicked out of Fire's place so I'm gonna live with you." He informed his co-captain, who promptly face planted the counter.

"Not again, Lightning!" Soarin said, his voice muffled by the counter. He then remembered something and he spun around to face the blonde stallion. "Actually Lightning, I just remembered that one of the beds is broken so you can't stay."

"How did you break your bed?" Wave Chill asked. Soarin and Braeburn shared an embarrassed glance.

"Me and Braeburn were playing 'Catch that grape' last night." He said. When Wave Chill asked for a further explanation, Soarin realised that he had to explain the rules of the game. "I bounced on the bed while Braeburn threw grapes at me, and I got a point every time I caught one in my mouth… I must have bounced too hard and the frame broke. Heh…"

"Never again." Braeburn said simply.

"But hey," Lightning spoke with a positive voice, "Fire's bound to want me back by tomorrow 'cause it's taco night and I'm the one who cooks."

"Really?" Braeburn asked in disbelief. Lightning nodded.

"Yep, just because he was born 37 seconds before me doesn't mean that I can't be better than him at certain things." He said in a slightly bitter tone, though he kept a proud expression on his face. Soarin had to put an end to this.

"Lightning, don't you remember what happened the last time you stayed at my place?" Soarin hated thinking of it. Lightning sighed.

"I… turned on the taps while you were taking a shower." He confessed, and Soarin was appalled to hear Braeburn chuckling behind him. He then realised he'd forgotten to ask-

"Why did Fire kick you out anyway?"

Lightning blinked a couple of times and looked awkwardly off to the side.

"You're kidding me right? Do you ever learn?" How was Lightning not bored of that prank by now? But now that the subject was on Soarin's mind, he decided that he may as well get one job done with for the day. "Well, I'm gonna go and buy a new bed." He announced, heading to the door.

"In the middle of the work day, sir?" Wave Chill asked, glancing up at the clock, which read that it was three in the afternoon. Soarin nodded and grinned.

"I'm starting to like the fact that nopony gives a damn whether you leave or not. Remember back in the days of last week when Spit wouldn't let you hear the end of it… it's also cool to call her Spit without fearing for your life." He added, and Lightning nodded in agreement. Soarin then took his leave, whistling as he walked down the hall.

* * *

Now Braeburn was left alone with Lightning Streak and Wave Chill, all the while feeling hopelessly guilty. He was the one that had caused all of this craziness to happen; because of him, rules were being broken, ponies were shutting themselves away, and this place was basically turning into the opposite of what a workplace should be. He just wished that he could help…

"Yo, Brae, are you in there?" Wave Chill waved a hoof in front of his face, and for the first time Braeburn realised that he had totally drifted into his own head. Braeburn nodded at the dark blue stallion to his left and faked a smile. Ever since the shopping incident, Braeburn had become good friends with Wave Chill, finding that his calm and sensible personality balanced out Soarin's goofiness very evenly. He also found that Wave was the pony to go to if you needed some help with your troubles, like that one time he'd asked Wave if he was being too harsh on Soarin- he'd never say it to his pale blue friend's face, but he often worried that his level-headedness would drive the pegasus away.

Wait…

Maybe Wave really _could_ help him with all his problems.

"Um, Wave Chill?" Braeburn asked nervously. "Can Ah ask ya somethin'?"

Wave chuckled. "Of course, Brae; what's up?"

It was at that point that the earth pony realised he had no idea what he was going to say. He was too embarrassed to just explain the full situation, so he just needed to paraphrase it or something right? Yeah, just make it out like it isn't even his problem. Nopony would suspect a thing.

"Okay, well…" he began lamely. "Ah have this friend… his name is, uh, Blueberry. Yeah, Blueberry- his parents called 'im that 'cause it's kinda a fruit themed family-" he cut himself off and mentally shouted at himself.

"_No! That's too obvious!"_

"Okay…" He regained his calm stance. "so this friend of mine, who _isn't_ from a fruit themed family… or an earth pony. He's definitely _not_ an earth pony!" He got a head shake from a smirking Wave Chill, and a shrug from Lightning, who was listening from the couch nearest to them. "Well… he has a crush on the mare who runs the academy he works at-" he stopped again.

"_No, that's a dead giveaway!" _

"Lemme start over." Braeburn insisted. "So-"

"BRAE!" Wave and Lightning said simultaneously. The earth pony looked at each of them

"What?" He asked.

"We know you like Spitfire."

…

…?

…HUH?!

"Who told you?!" Braeburn began to panic. "Was it Soarin? How could you know?!"

Cue Flashback Montage

**Number 1:**

Braeburn and Soarin were sitting on the three seated couch on the right side of the staff room with Lightning Streak, who was reading a magazine with rather explicit content. Spitfire was with Surprise at the coffee counter, the former lecturing the latter about something she seemed to be bored by. Braeburn, a dreamy look on his face, mused out loud:

"Her mane looks so soft… Ah wonder what conditioner she uses…"

Unbeknownst to him and Soarin, Lightning's mouth curled into a small smirk.

**Number 2:**

Soarin stood next to "Braeburn the Roadie" as they prepared to depart for the air show. Soarin was telling Braeburn the ropes while Wave Chill stood nearby, trying to tuck the zipper for his flight suit out of sight. The co-captain was in the middle of telling Braeburn how to set up the smoke machine when he noticed that his friend's gaze was fixed on something behind him, so he peered over his shoulder.

Spitfire and Misty Fly were talking by the back of the group, Spitfire saying something about how she was worried that the flight suit she was wearing was too baggy around the chest area, with Misty Fly telling her with a shake of her head how she was wrong. Soarin was about to turn back to Braeburn and mutter something like 'Pfft, mare troubles' when his friend shouted out (so loud that it got literally everypony's attention).

"SPITFIRE, YOU ARE RESPLENDENT!"

Was there an awkward after-pause?

Yes. Yes there was.

**Number 3:**

Soarin sighed as Braeburn rifled through the mail Derpy had given him. Lightning Streak was sitting at the table closest to the serving counter so he was in earshot of what Soarin and Braeburn were talking about.

"I still can't believe you're paying Derpy extra to give you Spitfire's mail just so you have an excuse to talk to her." The pale blue stallion rolled his eyes. Braeburn just huffed.

"Ah think it's a clever idea; one that Ah'm pleased t' have thought of." He insisted in an uncharacteristically stuck-up voice. Soarin tutted and snuck another slice of pie from behind Braeburn's back; when his friend was thinking up some stupid plan to talk to the captain there was no reaching him until he emerged from the depths of his fantasies.

"If you ask me this whole thing is a little desperate." Soarin grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and began unscrewing the lid, but he stopped when Braeburn spoke again.

"It's not desperate, Ah just like talkin' t' her. It's better than last month when Ah kept on freezin' whenever she's around; you should be proud that Ah'm makin' an effort instead o' askin' fer yer help. And Ah'm talkin' 'bout somepony as intimidatin' and beautiful as Miss Spitfire here, and do ya remember back in school when Ah couldn't speak in front o' anythin' that was female- including our classroom guinea pig? Ah've come a long way from there, right Soar? And hopefully it'll all pay off someday an' Ah'll win the heart o' the mare o' mah dreams…" he finished with a goofy grin. Soarin glanced down at the bottle of water he was holding, and then put it on the table in front of his earth pony friend.

"Here Brae, I think you need this more than me." He joked, and Braeburn gave him an unamused stare.

But neither of them had hearing good enough to hear Lightning Streak mutter "He's doomed."

End Flashback Montage

"Was Ah really… _that_ obvious?" Braeburn gulped, a lump forming in his throat and his cheeks flushing pink; man, he _hated_ it when that happened.

"Kinda sorta," Wave Chill shrugged. "but why are you telling us this?"

"Um…" Braeburn started. "well Ah kinda wanna talk t' her about somethin' Ah screwed up, but she doesn't wanna see me, and Ah ain't seen 'er since it happened, and-"

"Wait." Wave halted him midway through his explanation. "What did you do?"

Oh crap, that was the question he didn't want to answer. "Er… Ah might have… said some stuff that she didn't like." When he saw the two stallion's looks of bewilderment he backed up a little. "Ah mean that… Ah don't even know what Ah did wrong; she just flipped out when Ah said she was a great flyer."

Wave Chill and Lightning Streak looked at each other, and after searching their expressions for a few seconds, both of them shrugged. "Sorry man," Lightning said, "we don't know why she wouldn't like that."

Braeburn sighed in defeat, though he was relieved that two more ponies knew of his little crush. Though if they'd figured it out without him knowing then he was concerned as to how many other ponies knew about it. If Lightning knew then Fire Streak would probably know too, and there were plenty of observant ponies around. Aw geez, how could he be such an open book?

"Please don't tell anypony else." He pleaded with them. He really didn't know if he could handle anyone else knowing- he had barely been comfortable with the fact that _two_ ponies knew before now! Wave zipped his lip, and Lightning shrugged again.

"Your secret's safe with us." Lightning insisted. Braeburn rubbed his forehead with a hoof and groaned.

"Well it looks like it ain't much of a secret." He said forlornly, fiddling with the rim of his hat for a few seconds. Lightning snorted and kicked his legs onto the arm of the sofa he was reclining on.

"Ya got that right," he chortled as Braeburn went back to silently sipping his now lukewarm coffee. "You wouldn't know subtle if it hit you in the face."

* * *

Soarin lay down on a bed in the middle of Beds R Us. He shifted his weight around to see if it was bouncy enough and making the occasional humming noise when he sensed a problem. "Not bad…" he decided to say before rolling off the mattress and standing up straight next to the slightly chubby sales mare.

"If you like that bed there's a free sheet offer." She informed the co-captain. Soarin noticed that the mare was puffing out her chest so everyone could see the tie he had signed for her. Soarin gasped and speed-walked over to another bed, a bunk bed that looked like a medieval castle, a ladder inside an inflatable tower that reached to the top bed, and a slide going down from it.

"This looks like a bunch of fun," he giggled like a schoolpony, imagining himself goofing around on it. "All I'd need is a ball pool at the bottom of the slide and mornings would be awesome!"

"Yeah, those things are great for kids." The salespony agreed, and Soarin nodded, inhaling sharply.

"Of course… I wasn't thinking that I should get it for myself." He said while trying not to sound too defensive. Soarin walked down the aisle a little more, finally stopping at a blue sheeted bed with two pillows that looked almost like marshmallows. The closest Soarin had been to having marshmallows as pillows was when he'd had a dream that he was eating a massive one and woke up with half a pillow in his mouth. "This one's cool." He muttered with a small grin as he remembered that dream.

"You can try it…" the sales mare glanced to her left. "I just need to speak to this gentlecolt, but it has a lovely rigid frame… the bed, not the gentlecolt." She added with a chuckle before taking her leave. No sooner had she gone than a different mare, a customer this time, walked up to Soarin.

"Excuse me, can you tell me how much these sheets are?" She asked him, running a hoof along the blue sheets of the bed Soarin was checking out. Soarin was confused for a moment before realising that this mare clearly thought that he _worked_ here. Darn it, he had to avoid humiliation at all costs.

"Oh, I don't actually; um… they're about nine bits." He decided to say, thinking that it couldn't go wrong as long as he was honest about it.

"And do the beds come ready-assembled?" The mare asked another question, and Soarin felt stumped.

"I don't know, I really have no idea… can you please stop asking me questions?" He really hoped that he hadn't sounded too rude. Judging by the mare's response he had indeed.

"Well there's no need for that attitude," she quipped. Soarin raised his voice a little to get his point across.

"I'm not-"

Not fast enough. "Excuse me, are you the manager?" The mare called to a tall lanky stallion in a white uniform. He nodded for her to speak. "This guy's being a jerk."

"I am not-"

"Hey, don't argue with the customers," the manager cut him off, and Soarin's panic alarm started ringing in his ears. He patted the mare on the shoulder. "Don't worry ma'am, I'll sort this mess out. You must be the new guy, so where's your name badge?" He walked over to the checkout station. Soarin tried to talk again.

"No, there's been a mistake. I don't-"

"This must be you," the manager handed him a badge that read 'Charlie'.

"But I-"

"Don't talk back at me!" The manager snapped at him, and Soarin froze up. "Now get your butt down to the warehouse. Don't just stand there with your mouth open like that, you'll catch flies." As he walked off Soarin tried to give chase, even though the manager would hear none of it. Soarin tried to make himself heard, but then once the manager shut himself away in a back room, the pegasus decided that there was only one thing to do…

* * *

"I think this has gotten completely out of hoof!" Soarin panicked as he drove a forklift across a platform, the mattresses he was carrying tilting from side to side as he drove unsteadily. After two hours of bumping into things and dropping mattresses in the path of other forklifts Soarin was allowed to have a break, where he found himself inside small room with several other employees. One of them, a stallion named High Spirits, made conversation with him once they started eating cookies.

"So Charlie, you got a marefriend?" He asked in a cockney accent. Soarin blinked in befuddlement before remembering that he was still wearing the Charlie name tag. Oh well, what's the harm in playing along?

"Yes, yes he does." He announced, raising his head with pride. High Spirits swallowed his mouthful and leaned back in the small wooden chair he was resting in.

"She treat you okay?" He asked. Soarin nodded, wondering where this guy was going with this. "Good on you, there ain't many good mare's out there nowadays so we gotta hold on to them sweet l'il ones," He gestured around to the other stallions in the room. "Cos we all said the other day that we should renounce mares, do ya know what I'm sayin'?"

"Yes, I do know what you're saying." Soarin didn't understand why younger ponies had to add questions at the end of all their sentences. It was ever so slightly irritating. "Yeah I do, sounds rad, bring it on mah bros." -" he realised that he was mimicking High Spirit's accent. High Spirits carried on speaking.

"Cos we don't need mares, in't that right?"

"We don't- it ain't every day ya find a mare that treats ya right, so until ya do set up a barrier. They gotta be good enough to pass." Soarin found it weird that he sounded wiser doing this ridiculous accent.

"Yeah, go dude!" High Spirits slapped Soarin on the shoulder. Soarin nodded behind him at the door.

"Do you want me to go?" he asked, and High Spirits raised an eyebrow at him, making Soarin finally understand what he was getting at. "Oh! 'You go dude', I get it now. Go me. Go Charlie! Cos I say to myself this, Charlie, I say, Charlie, you, mah stallion, will not get pushed 'round no more."

"Yeah, ya know what I mean?" High Spirits nodded with approval at Soarin. Soarin nodded slowly.

"Clearly I do cos I just said it." He replied obliviously. Suddenly the mare who had shown Soarin the different beds came through the door into the break room.

"What are _you_ doing back here?" She asked when she laid eyes on Soarin, looking him up and down with curiosity.

"I'm Charlie." Soarin replied, prodding his name tag with a hoof.

"No you aren't." The sales mare looked baffled beyond all reason.

"Says who?" Soarin asked with a raised brow, and the mare replied with a stern:

"_I_ do!"

"Oh do you now, you diddly doo…" Soarin crinkled his nose, confused at himself this time as to why he was suddenly speaking in an Irish accent. The sales mare pointed at the door.

"I think you should leave." She told him, and Soarin stood up, determination sparking in his green eyes.

"Or…" he put a hoof on the ma res shoulder and started pushing her out the door. "I show you the bed I want and get it with an employee discount." He pushed her the remainder of the way out the door and then turned to speak to High Spirits and the other stallions. "Never let them push you around, guys." He grinned, and High Spirits made a 'whoop' noise.

"Go me! Go Charlie!" Soarin left the room to the sound of applause from all the other stallions.

* * *

"Where have you been?" Braeburn asked. He had been waiting at Soarin's place for a couple of hours now. If this were anyone else's place he would have got fed up and left, but since Soarin had TrotFlix he had just watched TV until his friend arrived.

"I've been doing a four hour shift at the bed shop." Soarin replied casually, dancing a little as he closed the door, and the look of bafflement on Braeburn's face was worth a billion bits! "But," he added. "More importantly, I have discovered my inner Charlie. Go bro!" He pumped his hoof in the air.

Braeburn looked pleased with Soarin's new attitude. "Well Ah think Ah like Charlie." He smiled. Soarin nodded.

"Yeah, he's awesome!" He confirmed, hopping on the couch next to Braeburn. "And he says, that I, well we, for we are one and the same, we should renounce all mares except from Rainbow Dash to prove our/my power."

Braeburn pointed to something behind Soarin. The pegasus turned and almost had a heart attack when he saw Rainbow Dash standing there, looking as if she had just come in from the kitchen, a bag of potato chips in her mouth.

"Oh hi, Dashie," Soarin cleared his throat. "What are you doing here at seven O'clock?"

"Is it a crime that I wanna see my coltfriend?" She asked with a roll of her magenta eyes. "Besides, we didn't get to talk earlier and then you ran off, so I wanted to see what that was all about. Weirdo." She tutted at the end of her sentence. "I also wanted to see if you'd be up for a date to the aquarium in town… but since you're renouncing mares…" she smirked. Soarin shook his head quickly.

"Everypony but you… but if you want to play hard to get I'll just renounce you, too." He crossed one leg over the other and watched the new episode of _Sherclop_; suddenly remembering that that was his nickname for Rainbow Dash. He wondered if it would annoy her if he started calling her that more. Rainbow shrugged and sat on the other side of Braeburn, who looked a little uncomfortable to be sitting between the couple, and he showed clear signs of wanting to move. Dash seemed to be okay with the renouncement thing… and Soarin didn't want to un-renounce in case he sounded odd and confused, which he was and needed to hide, so he just needed to stallion up and play it smooth. Charlie was _not_ odd and confused; he needed to get his Maverick.

Soarin squeed internally at that (slightly off) realisation! (**#topgun**)

Rainbow suddenly spoke over the television. "Now Soarin, I don't like getting 'no' as an answer." She said with a grin. "How far does this renouncement go?"

"Well…" Soarin grabbed at something to say. "…I would say that you are officially renounced." He noticed Braeburn grab the remote and turn the TV up a little, making Soarin speak a little louder. It wasn't necessary but the more it annoyed Braeburn the happier he would be. "But there is a clause in my renouncement that says that if a mare is in a pony's home and asks them on a date while holding a bag of chips then the aforementioned stallion is obliged, or even commanded, to accept." He was surprised at how professional that sounded even though it was completely ridiculous.

"That's a cool clause." Rainbow Dash played along. "Independent, headstrong stallions are the best." She winked at him and Soarin turned a light pink colour. Deciding to act cool again just for the hell of it he put on his more sophisticated voice and winked back, finding it to be exhilarating rather than humiliating.

"Well hello." He grinned, and Rainbow chuckled. Suddenly-

"Soarin!" Lightning Streak called as he came down the stairs, some bedsheets draped across his back. "Check out what your awesome new roommate did for you- I ironed your _Nightrider_ sheets because David Hasselhorse was looking a little funny."

And the moment was officially ruined.

"Um… cool, Lightning, just put it upstairs and I'll fix it up." Soarin called back. The blonde stallion nodded and headed back upstairs, and Soarin became increasingly worried that if he went up there something would be destroyed. He grabbed a carrot from the bowl on the table next to the couch and started munching on it, beginning to stress-eat. Whenever Lightning stayed something went wrong. The pony in question stuck his head back down the stairwell.

"I'm also gonna dust everything to show you how I can be such an incredible roommate," he said in an angelic voice. Soarin got up and headed to the bottom of the stairs, Lightning standing at the top. Before he could get a word in, Lightning spoke instead.

"And when is that bed of yours gonna arrive, 'cause we're not sharing the guest bed."

"Well maybe _one of us_ should leave." Soarin hinted, pointing to the front door.

"Where would you go?" Lightning asked, oblivious to Soarin's reluctance for him to stay. "And don't worry; if my famous fondue doesn't make Fire ask me to live with him again he'll be desperate for my quiche."

Soarin sat back on the couch once Lightning had vanished, shoving one end of the carrot he was holding into his mouth and crossing his arms over his chest to pout.

"Don't worry," Braeburn leaned back against the cushions. "We'll force him out. Now what does he hate?" the earth pony questioned, wearing a 'plan face'.

"I dunno," Soarin replied with his voice muffled due to the carrot in his mouth. "I'm too mad to think thtraight… well, ghoathts, he hateth ghoathts, but how'th that gonna work?"

"Listen, you're getting too stressed out, Soar. Should we leave now to get away from Lightning for a while?" Dash suggested, beginning to stand up anyway. Soarin nodded and swallowed his carrot, wanting to leave before Lightning Streak gave him a migraine. Was this was Braeburn felt like when he acted stupid… wow, he needed to give his friend more credit; this was really hard.

"After you, milady." Soarin did his knight bow and held the door open for Rainbow Dash, who gave him a swat round his head with her tail as she left.

"Thank you Sir Skies," she chuckled as her tail vanished through the door, and once again Soarin took a mental note that he needed to start calling her Sherclop again.

* * *

It was eight O'clock when Rainbow Dash and Soarin started heading back to Soarin's place. Dash was aware that it was almost curfew but it wouldn't hurt to see Soarin back, would it? The aquarium had actually been pretty small, and by the time they got there they had less than an hour to check the stuff out, but Dash had gotten a stuffed whale in the gift shop… she had been disappointed to find that there were no actual whales, but this made up for it.

"It's cool how it's always light out when it's supposed to be dark in summer isn't it?" Soarin murmured as they went inside. Dash thought that staying for a quick cup of cocoa and then getting back ASAP couldn't harm anyone, so she agreed to go inside.

"Yeah, it's great that there are a few extra hours of sunlight," the weathermare in Dash almost told him about the perks of there being a lot of sunshine but she stopped herself in case she sounded like an egghead. Soarin went to hang up his officers uniform... and then he turned around and shoved it in the washer/drier because he had been wearing it all day and it probably smelled like a two week old mouldy pizza.

"Whoa, did your place look this fancy when we left?" Rainbow Dash called him back in from the kitchen. Soarin finally noticed that there were a few candles lit up around the living room and even a few vases of flowers.

"Oh… yes?" He decided to say, trying to put on a poker face. "This was all here earlier; you just probably didn't notice it without the candles being lit… Braeburn must have lit them while we were out." He sent a silent thanks to Braeburn even though he couldn't hear it, and thankfully Rainbow seemed to buy his story. Rainbow Dash grabbed a cookie off a plate beside a vase and bit into it, the look on her face suggesting that they tasted divine.

"Did you make these?" She asked, licking her lips and taking another bite. Soarin hesitated before nodding.

"Uh-huh," was all he said, beginning to feel a little guilty for lying.

"What did you use?" She asked. "I've gotta get the recipe so I can make some more… these are the best things I've ever eaten!"

Trying not to feel jealous of what was obviously Braeburn's work, Soarin tried to think of what his friend would make cookies with. "Um... flour… food, er, hobs, nobs…" he couldn't think of anything else.

"_Nutmeg_," Braeburn hissed from around the side of Soarin's trophy cabinet.

"Nutmeg- WHOA!" Soarin slapped a hoof over his mouth as he shrieked at Braeburn's sudden appearance. Rainbow Dash gave him a weird look and Soarin tried to cover up his slip. "Whoa… whoa, I'm just a nut for nutmeg!" He said with a smile, though inside he was having a nervous breakdown. He'd wanted the house to be empty so he could be a little cooler around Dash. He didn't know what was wrong with him but for some reason he couldn't act as affectionate with Dash when there were other ponies around than he could if they were alone, so of course Braeburn had to ruin that… though it was kinda nice that he was trying to help Soarin with the whole 'New Him' plan. He might actually have to thank him when all of this was over. If he survived, that is.

"I'm just gonna use the little filly's room," Rainbow excused herself and headed for the bathroom. Soarin maintained his smile for a few seconds but as soon as he heard the bathroom door click shut he rushed over to Braeburn and tugged him to his hooves.

"What are you doing here?!" Soarin whisper-shouted, even though Braeburn just shushed him anyway.

"Ah didn't think she'd come back and Ah left the key t' mah house at the Academy. Ah came back here t' borrow yer spare key but Ah don't know where ya keep it." He explained. Soarin felt relieved that he could get Braeburn out of the way quickly. "Lightning went out someplace so ya don't need t' worry 'bout 'im fer the time bein'." The earth pony added. Soarin opened up a kitchen drawer and took out a stack of pie tins, lifting the first four up and reaching between them to get the key. However he was shocked to find that he couldn't feel it, and when he lifted the tins up completely he saw that it was not in there at all.

"Um…" Soarin suddenly remembered something.

"What?" Braeburn asked, concern splattering onto his face. Soarin gulped and bit his lip.

"I don't have the key here… but I _do_ remember where it is." He recalled a time from last week. Braeburn raised a hoof into the air.

"Well where is it then?" He asked, a little impatiently.

"…in your house." Soarin admitted. Braeburn blinked once, and then twice more.

"Why?!" He asked, a little shriller than Soarin would have liked. The Wonderbolt co-captain looked off to the side, avoiding his friends gaze.

"Well last week I wanted a cup of coffee so I went over to your place to get some milk and must have left the key in there."

"_You're_ the milk thief!" Braeburn gasped, slapping a hoof to the side of his face with his mouth hanging open. "Ah thought Ah was losin' mah marbles but there was a part o' me that just _knew_ that carton felt lighter!"

"Shut up!" Soarin waved his hooves to get Braeburn to zip it. This was no time for one of their stupid arguments. He heard the toilet flush and those darn alarm bells started rattling in his skull. He needed to do something! So he shoved Braeburn behind the couch just in the nick of time for Dash to get out of the bathroom.

"Soarin, your bathroom is amazing!" She commented, raising a hoof and smelling the back of it. "I can't believe you have _cupcake_ body spray… or body spray at all." She joked, and Soarin forced a laugh despite the terror that was rising in his stomach and making his insides chill.

"So… do you want some cocoa?" Soarin offered, and Dash gave him a nod.

"Sure, and don't forget the whipped cream." She told him. Soarin waited until she was sitting down before heading into his kitchen and making the beverages.

"Ya know Soarin; you really know how to keep a cool home… I'm surprised because you've always seemed like such a slob." Dash commented with a laugh. Soarin had no idea if that was supposed to be an insult or a compliment, but knowing his marefriend it was probably intended to be both.

"Use the nice mugs!" Braeburn hissed, peering around the corner into the kitchen.

"What was that?" Rainbow called, and Soarin could hear the sound of the TV being turned on.

"Use the nice mugs…" Soarin did his best impression of Braeburn, which wasn't all that bad really. "…I said to myself." He added for extra precaution. He clinked the two mugs of cocoa together purely to calm himself down and then headed into the living room, where Dash was watching _The Big Barn Theory _ which was the first television programme in Equestria's history to allow farm animals to act. In Soarin's opinion it was a stupid idea to treat pigs and sheep and other farmyard creatures like animals; they had feelings too!

"_Get out!"_ He whispered as he passed Braeburn, looking a little cramped from his spot behind the sofa.

"Thanks," Rainbow said to Soarin as he gave her the cocoa, and as calmly as he could he sat down next to her and tried to focus on the joke Coward and Henny were partaking in on the TV screen. "And I'm happy you agreed to go out with me today; it was short, I know, but it was fun anyway." She smiled, and Soarin felt his fear replacing itself with pride. It _had_ been pretty enjoyable.

Soarin suddenly felt his mane being messed with, and when he rolled his eyes up to see a pair of light gold hooves trying to straighten it out. He smacked one of them with his own hoof and when Rainbow Dash gave him a weird look he just pretended that he had been running a hoof through his hair.

"Yeah," he stammered as he felt the fear returning to him. "I don't always feel in the mood to renounce, hence the clause." He referred to his lie from earlier. He almost had a heart attack when Braeburn popped up behind Rainbow Dash with the flask of cocoa and started refilling her mug without her noticing. Thankfully she didn't notice.

"Hey, can I get some more cocoa?" She asked, right on time. Soarin didn't take his eyes away from hers as he replied.

"There ya go."

Rainbow looked down at her mug and her eyes widened a little before she looked back at Soarin with bewilderment plastered onto her features. "You sure do have everything under control, that's pretty hot." She admitted, leaning over to him and kissing his cheek, giggling in that usual fashion of hers when he turned red. Would she ever get bored of doing that? Braeburn then popped up again and gave Soarin an approving wink.

"HEY!" He exclaimed before Dash could turn around. "Isn't it almost curfew?"

Rainbow gasped as she looked up at the clock. "Ten minutes?! Darn it, I'd better dash!" She got up and gave him one more kiss on the end of his nose before whizzing out the door, leaving her rainbow trail behind her. Soarin sunk into the sofa and let out a sigh of relief, glad that it was all over and he could chill out. But he soon discovered that he was too stressed out to relax, and he also had one more job to do.

"Brae?" He asked weakly.

"Yes?" replied Braeburn.

"Could you help me change the bedsheets in the guest room?" He asked. Braeburn gave him a weird look.

"Why?" He answered the question with another question. Soarin had a rant coming on, so he sat up and took a deep breath because this was going to take a lot of explaining.

"When you're changing your sheets do you ever lose your mind?" When he was met with a head shake, Soarin went into more detail. "Allow me to explain: First you need to get the fitted sheets on the mattress so you pull it over one corner, then you go for the next and you start getting scared… ever so slowly you pull the sheet towards the next corner, it's getting more and more tense, and then PING! PING! NOOOOO!" Soarin mimed the corners of the fitted sheets flicking off their designated places. "And _then_," he hadn't finished yet, "You try doing the duvet, and to get it straight you try unfolding it but it always somehow tucks inside, and then you wind up putting it on the floor and crawling inside it," he got on the floor, " and turning it around so that the corners meet the right corners." He stood up again, beginning to get a manic look in his eyes. "I feel like I'm on an army assault course by now but I climb out and tell myself that I just need to do the poppers now. So I do up the poppers… I get to the end… and I've obviously lost my focus… _because there is one popper left that does not have a friend to pop with_! EVERY TIME!" He fell back on the couch and sucked in a deep breath since his rant had taken a toll on his lungs. Braeburn exhaled slowly and pulled Soarin up.

"Ah kinda do understand." He replied. "Come on, Ah'll help ya out. Looks like Ah'll be sleepin' on the couch tonight."

"Yeah, you take the three-seated couch and I'll take the sofa." He decided, since he liked sleeping while sitting up for some reason. Being a Wonderbolt, ponies would have expected Soarin to have a huge mansion of a house, but in truth that kind of life wasn't for Soarin. Sure, he could have bought a big place to live with all the money he earned, but he liked to spend that on comic books and collectibles; all around his house there were figurines of superheroes and fancy decorations, and his room had a line of shelves along one side filled almost completely with comics… it was kind of an unhealthy obsession, but it kept Soarin happy nonetheless.

They made their way upstairs and headed into the guest room, where there was (thankfully) no broken glass lying around, and no smashed picture frames. Soarin seriously did _not_ trust Lightning Streak in his home.

"Okay, so I put the sheets on the-" Soarin stopped talking as he heard a bleating noise. Slowly, he turned his head to the side and froze as he saw the cause of the noise.

A goat was munching on the curtains.

Soarin blinked a few times to see if he was hallucinating, looked at Braeburn, then the goat, then up through your screen mouthing 'what the heck?'

Braeburn chuckled nervously. "Oh, Ah… forgot t' say…" he trailed off. Soarin held out a hoof towards the farm animal.

"There's an enormous goat in my guest bedroom and you just 'forgot to say'?" He asked his friend, Braeburn gulped and twiddled his hooves.

"Well… ya said that Lightning Streak hates goats." He referred to Soarin telling him what Lightning disliked. Soarin realised that Braeburn had misheard him due to the carrot being in his mouth and pressed his lips together in frustration, putting his forehead in one hoof and trying not to curse.

"_Ghosts_!" He snapped. "I said _ghosts_!" He gestured to the animal devouring his curtains. "Who has any strong opinions on _goats_?!"

Braeburn hesitated before replying quietly. "Well Ah did think it was kinda odd."

"And you didn't even think to check before-"

"Soarin! Braeburn!" Lightning's voice flowed up the stairwell along with the sound of hoofsteps. "Guess what I got? Ingredients to make vegetable lasagna! I hope you're ready for tomorrows amazing meal because it's gonna be deli-wha?!"

He stopped speaking as he entered the room, his face going blank as he saw the animal, and the plastic bag he was holding that contained the food dropped to the ground with a thud as his jaw dropped open. After a few seconds of standing there like fools Braeburn decided to be 'helpful'.

"Awoooooooh," he made a ghost story noise. "Scary, ain't it? Grrrr!" He stopped making noises with his mouth when Soarin slapped him round the back of his head, knocking his stetson over his face. Even though an animal (yes he had indeed gone back on his barnyard animal opinions) was eating his furniture, the tomatoes for the lasagna had probably been smushed, his earth pony friend breathing into his hat sounded like Darth Vader, and he had come close to embarrassing himself, he had to admit that he had indeed proven to Rainbow Dash that he could be a mature stallion and do certain things right, and that was enough to make him show a little smile.

And then the goat peed on the floor.

* * *

Soarin woke up with a spring in his step, hurling himself off the sofa and heading for the shower, combing his mane in a few swift strokes in front of the bathroom mirror once he was done, piling in some extra hair gel to make it look extra slicked for today. He would never understand how the other 'Bolts kept their hair up so easily without the use of gel. He went into the kitchen and gulped down some mango juice before watering the cactus plant he'd had in the middle of the kitchen table for who-knows-how-long. He grabbed a cookie from a plate and got into his fresh-smelling uniform, tucking a pen into his front pocket while the thought was in his head, wrote a message on a sticky note saying that he'd gone to work early and stuck it to Braeburn's forehead. Then he left, welcoming the cold morning air as he stepped out the door, feeling like one heck of a New Him.

He arrived at the Academy and went straight to the staff room, where only Silver Lining and Contrail were sitting. Contrail had said yesterday that he would start visiting more often and it looked like this time he meant it. He sat on the only available seat on the three-cushioned couch to the left of the two older stallions, who appeared to be doing another crossword.

"Deep and full-sounding- eight letters," Silver Lining mumbled, looking irritated.

"Sonorous." Soarin spoke up. Contrail and Silver Lining looked at him with shock, and Soarin just kept his smile as calm as he could. Silver then began searching for something, and sensing what it was, Soarin reached into his pocket and pulled out the pen he had put in there, tapping it on the page of the paper to get Soarin's attention. The silver stallion blinked at the younger co-captain.

"Who are you and what have you done with Soarin?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Morning!" Two voices sung from the doorway. Soarin saw Rainbow Dash and Soarin peering into the room. Contrail waved at the two of them.

"You two again; it's good to see you're early birds." He nodded up at the clock on the wall. Rainbow Dash shrugged and smiled shyly at being in the presence of the awesome ex-Wonderbolt again.

"Well ya know what they say," Lullaby said, "The first one out at the wake-up call, will eternally be the best of them all."

"You just made that up on the spot, didn't you?" Dash asked bluntly.

"Sort of…" Lullaby admitted, though she still sounded proud of herself.

"Oh hey Soarin," Dash smiled at him. "Last night's date was awesome." Soarin remembered saying that he'd hoped Dash would say that to him at some point, and it had finally happened, filling him with a sense of completion. Actually, now that she had said it he felt the desperation to be a mature stallion melt away inside of him, though he didn't actually acknowledge that until around seven seconds later when this happened:

"Glad ya think so, Dashie." He got up to hug her, but suddenly tripped over some loose carpet, flinging his hind legs into the air and knocking Contrail's coffee off the table and all over him. Yelping in agony, he ran in circles around the room chanting 'HOT! YOWCH! OH MY GOSH! MY BUTT'S ON FREAKING FIRE!'

It was about twenty minutes before they got Soarin to sit and calm down; Dash wasn't much help since she had been laughing the entire time he had been in pain, but he didn't really care at that point as long as he was sitting on a large pack of ice.

"Just breathe, Soarin; I know you're frightened of hot things." Silver soothed him by stroking his back just like he had done back when Soarin was a cadet. Contrail ruffled his hair a little bit as well, and for a short moment Soarin felt like he was young again, spending time with his idols and forging a friendship with them that would never fade away.

"You're gonna be okay, kid," The light blue ex-Bolt winked down at Soarin, who grinned weakly in response, trying to ignore the burning in his hindquarters. He knew he was going to be fine and that it would stop burning in a minute or forty but he kinda felt like he'd just sat on a piping hot bed of nails.

"I know…" Soarin sighed and looked up and Dash, who was still sniggering a little. "So much for being a mature stallion, huh?" He asked. Just then Braeburn walked in.

"Soarin, Ah don't appreciate wakin' up with paper on mah face," he said. "Also, Ah'm convinced that that goat ate yer bunny slippers."

And then of all things to happen next, a police pony came in with the manager from the salad restaurant.

"Excuse me sir, I need to talk to you about the damage you did to this gentlecolt's restaurant." The cop said to Soarin.

And _then_ the sales mare from Beds R Us came through the door with a rather angry looking diminutive stallion. "That's him." she pointed at Soarin, and the little stallion flapped into the air, looking mad as hell.

"_I'm_ Charlie! Stop impersonating me!" He yelled in a rather unnaturally high voice.

Well what else could-

"Kids ball pool for Soarin?" Derpy came into the staff room, pushing a large cardboard box.

There was a short pause before Soarin said something.

"Just another day at the Academy, right Dashie?" He snickered. "I guess The New Me has been a huge failure." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and smiled, reaching an arm around Soarin's shoulders and nuzzling his cheek.

"I think I like The Old You better anyway."

* * *

**Endnote: Holy Celestia's oven-flanks, people! This story has existed for a whole year now! I can't believe that this time last year I was… tell ya what, I'll explain the story's origin at a later date. But time has **_**flown**_** by, and I'm shocked to see how far I've come. I've never been so intent on finishing a story before, and for someone who has never made it past fourteen chapters before it freaks me the heck out that this has doubled the number of chapters of my previous record. I never expected it to get so popular either, but here we are, me writing an endnote for an internationally read fanfiction and you reading it. Writing this sure has changed me, in a good way, that's for sure, and to those of you who have been with me since the beginning, those who are just now up to speed, those who started a few chapters ago, and those reading this three years from now: THANK YOU! You're all amazing people! :)**

**But to celebrate the one year anniversary of Dashing and Soaring, I thought I'd treat you to something special:**

_**Sassymouse's Random Facts and Scrapped Ideas**_

**Let's get started! Here are some random facts about this story that nobody knows but me… until now.**

**1\. Surprise was never intended to be a main character, but by the time chapter 15 rolled around I needed a funny sidekick for Spitfire and she worked just fine. It was meant to be a one-time thing for her but I had grown to love her too much to not give her a supporting role.**

**2\. Lullaby is based on one of my friends in real life.**

**3\. The Golden Horseshoe Mystery was never supposed to exist, but it made for a good side story so I built on it.**

**4\. A lot of people know that Typhoon is my favourite, and if she had a voice actress it would be Susan Egan, whom you might know as Megara from **_**Hercules**_**.**

**5\. Although Lullaby is based on my friend IRL I came up with her personality specifically with the actress Laura Marano in mind.  
**

**6\. The trend of almost always having at least one scene in the kitchen per chapter is inspired by the beginning of each _Good Luck Charlie_ episode, which is set in the family's kitchen nearly every time.**

**7\. The four main characters each represent one of the four different kinds of relationship styles. Rainbow Dash is group-dependent, Soarin is co-dependent, Braeburn is independent, and Spitfire is counter-dependent.**

**8\. I've actually written songs for this story (yeah, I can do that) though it's unlikely that any of them will see the light of day.**

**9\. I _HATE_ the title of this story- it was three in the morning when I first published it and I wasn't thinking straight. _Dashing and Soaring_ was just a working title, and if I could rename the story it would be called _Staying Gold_.**

**10\. I've come up with voice actors for all of the Wonderbolts. LIGHTNING ROUND TIME!**

**Soarin- Loren Lester**

**Spitfire- Kelly Metzger (Who else?!)**

**Fleetfoot- Andrea Baker**

**Surprise- Sarah Silverman/Amy Poehler (can't decide!)**

**Misty Fly- Deedee Magno Hall**

**Rapidfire- Arnold Schwarzenegger**

**Wave Chill- Rob Paulsen**

**Silver Lining- R. Lee Ermey**

**Fire Streak- Johnny Galecki**

**Lightning Streak- Simon Helberg**

**Blaze- Jane Lynch (First half of what would be the best lesbian combination ever)**

**High Winds- Ellen DeGeneres (Second half of what would be the best lesbian combination ever)**

**LIGHTNING ROUND COMPLETE!**

**11\. I name the chapters before writing them, though a lot of the titles changed by the end. For example, _Broken Mare_ was originally _Second Chance_, _Thingamabobs _was _Racing Thoughts_, and _Shadows_ was _Up Where We Belong_.**

**12\. I came up with the idea for this story on September 21st 2014.**

**13\. I base the structure of the Wonderbolts Academy on my old school since we hardly see any of it in the show.**

**14\. And finally, and hopefully you'll like this last fact, I am already planning a sequel in my head.  
**

**END OF THE FACTS!**

**Now tune in next time where we'll look a little into my pegasi headcanons. Also, I have a riddle for you. What has twelve legs, lots of feathers, and is a recipe for a disaster?**

**The answer is...**

**Surprise, Misty Fly, and Spitfire having a slumber party. This can only go wrong.**

**HAPPY ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY, EVERYONE! ;)**


	40. We Need To Talk, part 1

**Authors Note: CHAPTER 40! Holy Luna's crater-butt, we made it! I think there's a little over ten chapters left to go, though knowing me I'll probably come up with another idea and shove that in, too. And with all the two-parters it's getting longer and longer. Boy, for a story that lasts four months it's dragging on and on!**

**AND WELL DONE MIDNIGHTBLAZE16 FOR BEING THE 300****th**** REVIEWER! **

**Also, this story is over 300,000 words now. Whoa…**

**AND we've got **_**another**_** two-part chapter. I apologise if this is annoying, but it gets chapters out quicker and puts less stress on me.**

**TheMouseOfAwesomeness- There's my mouse! And I must wonder who should be more scared- us or the mares? **

**CrystalHeart190- OH MY GOSH! I'm so happy to hear that; you and your friends are so amazing! And I read **_**Piercing the Heavens**_**, too but since I came up with this story before I discovered that one I'd already got the characters' personalities down. For some reason I can't explain I've always imagined Silver Lining being a father figure to the other Wonderbolts, and although he's strict and doesn't really understand how the younger generations' minds work he has soft spots for certain members of the team, especially Soarin, Spitfire and Surprise. At least me and Calm Wind both have the same voice actor for him, right? ^^**

**Captain Alaska- Good enough… and for the record that dictionary thingy SUCKS! And I'm pleased that I did a good job on the morals; I tend to find them hard to squeeze in amongst the comedy, but occasionally my idiot brain will think of something and then fix thing sup here and there and boom you've got an ending with an actual moral that isn't crap. Secondly, I've become addicted to The Big Bang Theory again, which is why there are a couple of jokes referencing it in here. And am I the only one who thinks that Braeburn and Soarin and Leonard and Sheldon should meet and cause a bunch of silly shenanigans? Probably. And the Cap's right, Soarin… though I'm suddenly wary of the mess hall food now.**

**Luna'snight625- Oh my gosh, happy late birthday! *cyber birthday cake incoming* and it's good to see a fellow artist on here; drawing is so fun! :D**

**DannyTheKitty- I'm so pleased that you came and read my silly little story; every time someone new jumps on the bandwagon it fills my heart with joy. I'm glad you liked the chapter and I'll do my best to make the next one as angsty as possible.**

**SnowHurricaneBlue- Gah! I'm just so happy that you love this story as much as you do. And I'm so pleased that you got the reference; I love Ruby so much… wow, I need to give Spitz a Ruby line in the story. If she wasn't voiced by Kelly Metzger I could totally see Charlyne Li doing a good Spitty voice. Then again I already have three SU actresses in mind for characters so maybe enough is enough. Heck, with me there's never enough.**

**YoungBlood23- Captain Alaska was the one that suggested Arnie for his voice actor and ever since then I read all of his lines in his voice. And this story is literally all I think about… it's kind of an unhealthy obsession, really. Heh…**

**MidnightBlaze16- THERE HE IS! Congratulations on being my 300****th**** reviewer… hey, come to think of it, you were the 100****th**** reviewer, too! WHOA! You're on fire!**

**Guest- Thank you very much. **

**Dshk- Wow, since chapter one! Wowzers, those first few chapters were crap, weren't they? And I'm still not posting this on FIM… at least not until it's done so I won't lose the will to write it. And it looks like you have a little bit of a dark side going on there. Just so we're clear, I am **_**not**_** changing chapter 35! I did not spend just under a year planning that to have it chucked away at the slightest jolt of the deck. Let's just consider this an AU story, because there is one event later that is most likely not canonical…**

**Guest (2)- It's been one hell of a ride, and I'll try to keep making this as good as I can.**

**The Jagdpanther- That's the entire point of a farce: To make you feel confused about all the twisted ideas until they come together at the very end. It was all over the place intentionally.**

**Now this part of the chapter contains what has to be one of my favourite scenes in the whole story, so I hope I pull it off. Hooray for my weird pegasi headcanons… has this been done before?**

* * *

"Spitz?" Surprise poked her head through the door to the captain's office. The golden mare appeared to be asleep, her front hooves and head on her desk with the other half of her balanced lazily on her chair. Surprise approached quietly, putting her front hooves on the other side of the desk to prop herself up and looked her friend over. It was rare that she got to see the captain so relaxed for a change instead of barking orders or just plain being tense. She was actually kind of adorable like this, though the white Wonderbolt wouldn't ever say that to her face.

"Aww, you're like an angry little baby duck," Surprise stroked Spitfire's mane, cooing over her friend. "you can be such a little sweetheart when you want to be." She added. She had to refrain from cooing when Spitfire reached out and latched onto her arm, mumbling in her sleep and rubbing her cheek against it. "So cute." She whispered, stars in her eyes. And then-

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Spitfire."

The captain squirmed in her sleep and held tighter onto Surprise's arm. The white mare grit her teeth, knowing that if Spitfire woke up there would be no reasonable explanation as to why she was currently holding onto her arm like a monkey's baby.

"Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Spitfire."

"Misty!" Surprise hissed as quietly as she could. Oh gosh…

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"_SPITFIRE_!"

"GYAH!" Spitfire exclaimed, jolting awake and lashing out with one clenched hoof, hitting Surprise square on her left cheek and knocking her to the floor. Misty opened the door and entered, looked awkwardly at the sight of the white mare on the floor and the dishevelled captain.

"I-is this a bad time?" She asked, backing out the door a little.

"No," Spitfire sighed at the same time Surprise said: "Yes."

Misty just stood there for a little while, shifting her eyes from side to side as she contemplated which response was the right one.

"Just come in," Spitfire allowed the custard coloured mare to come in. Misty tugged at the collar of her uniform and closed the door behind her.

"Thanks for seeing me on such short notice," she said, giving Surprise a sideways glance.

"What do you want, Mist?" Spitfire asked with a yawn, rubbing her eyes. Misty cowered towards the door a little.

"Maybe I should come back later-"

"Mist, if you don't tell us why you came in here I swear to Celestia I will kill you!" Surprise stood nose to nose with the younger mare, who gulped and took another step back.

"Okay, I just wanted to let you know that High Winds is taking over drills, and wondered if that was okay with you." She said, and Surprise stood aside to give Spitfire a view of the youngest Wonderbolt. Spitfire sighed and nodded.

"As long as she's not hiding Blaze in her mane then it's fine with me." She replied. Surprise was just relieved that Misty had asked a reasonable question for a change.

"Okay, that's all." Misty left after that, looking like she was in a rush to get out of there. Surprise humphed and stared angrily at the door for a short while after Misty had gone.

"What's her problem?" She asked, eyes narrowed and lips pursed. "And she should know better than to walk in while you're asleep…" she looked over her shoulder and noticed the unamused stare the captain was giving her, putting the pieces together fairly quickly and ceasing all verbal noises.

"Well, why are _you_ here, Surprise?" The captain asked. Surprise took a sharp breath and tried desperately to think of an excuse.

"Um… I came in to say good morning, and then I saw you were asleep and I… well you look so _cute_ when you're asleep and then… you grabbed my arm… and that was all that happened for about three minutes, and-"

"Wait! Were you _watching me sleep_?!" Spitfire exclaimed, though she didn't make any attempt to, I don't know, strangle her friend.

"No… not technically."

"Technically?"

"Okay, yes I was kinda watching you sleep, but-"

"Do you have any idea how creepy that is?" Spitfire asked her friend, who couldn't think of anything to say now.

"No… it was a kind stroking gesture."

"You were _stroking me_!" Spitfire sat up straight.

"That sounds really wrong!" Surprise bit her lip and stared down at the ground, trying to think of something else to say.

"So what did you want anyway?" Spitfire asked.

"Like I said, I only wanted to say… Spitz?"

When she looked back up, Spitfire was slumped on the desk again, her eyelids fluttering shut and her breathing slowing down.

"Spitz…" Surprise tried and failed to get her friend to sit up again. However, a light bulb clicked above her head as she thought of something. "Spitz, you're out of wine."

"You should… probably… buy…" Spitfire jerked back into consciousness. Now that Surprise was properly looking at the captain she had to admit that she was, in a word, a mess. Her eyes were a little bloodshot, her voice had a slight slur to it and she was slouched over; almost every time Surprise had seen Spitz in her chair in her office she was sitting up straight, as you would expect a military pony to sit, but now her back was hunched like it was an effort to sit up and she wasn't even trying. She looked… tired; exhausted even. For somepony she hadn't seen leave their office, Spitfire looked like a wreck.

"Um… Spitz, if you don't mind me asking, have you slept recently?" Surprise asked, and she totally expected Spitfire to snap that she was wrong. But the captain just sighed and rubbed her eyes again, stifling a yawn and letting her eyelids half-close.

"Not for three days," she confessed. Surprise almost had a heart attack at that revelation. How the hay could anypony not sleep for three days straight?! The idea was absurd to her.

"How in the name of Celestia have you been functioning… did Misty wake you up from your first sleep in three days?" She had to hold her breath when Spitfire nodded to keep herself from cursing. "This isn't healthy, Spitz. What's keeping you up?"

"I… can't say." Spitfire looked down at the desk and squeezed her eyes shut, turning a little pale. Surprise was becoming more and more concerned with each passing second. She bounced over until she was standing beside the spinny chair, one hoof on Spitfire's shoulder, and to her increasing concern she didn't swat it away.

"Please… I'm worried about you," Surprise wanted to hug her or something like she had done yesterday, but this wasn't exactly the right kind of mood for that. Then the captain said two words that Surprise had never expected to hear out of her mouth.

"I'm scared."

"Huh?" Surprise's ears pointed straight up and she had to rub one of them to check that it was still working correctly. Spitfire groaned…

"Don't make me say it again…" she muttered. "…if I go to sleep I'll… I'll see Her." The golden mare's voice was a cracking whisper now. Surprise had to process all of this for a minute. There wasn't a doubt in Surprise's mind that Spitfire was referring to her late sister. It was _always_ something to do with Typhoon when this kind of thing happened.

"What happened?" Surprise asked her friend, pulling her hoof away from her shoulder as she felt her bestie grow tense. Avoiding the question, Spitfire reached for her wine glass.

"Is it too early to start drinking?" She asked. Surprise grumbled, wanting an answer.

"Spitfire _please_ tell me what happened." The white mare pleaded. "You can't avoid this forever, so just tell me so I can help you."

"I don't need help!" Spitfire insisted, almost snarling. Surprise stood her ground, deciding that she wasn't going to cower before her friend in need.

"Listen sister!" By the look of pain Spitfire got on her face Surprise supposed that that was a bad choice of words, but she continued. "You are gonna tell me what's gotten into you or so help me I will annoy you until you sing like a canary."

Spitfire narrowed her orange eyes, though she made no effort to retaliate. "What are you gonna do?" She asked. Surprise reached into her mane and pulled out an accordion. She smirked and began bouncing around the room, playing the Luna forsaken instrument as loud as she could, occasionally going off-key on purpose to irritate her friend even more. Oh yes, it had come to that!

"Surprise…" Spitfire put her chin on the desk and folded her hooves over her head. This clearly wasn't enough, so Surprise tugged a radio out of her mane and shoved it on, _The Harlem Shake_ playing through the speakers. Spitfire looked up, a desperate look on her face. "Oh boy, not this song," she grimaced, but Surprise wasn't done yet. She jumped on Spitfire's desk and started doing the obnoxious dance that went with it.

Only a matter of time…

She pulled a remote out of her hair and pushed the big red button in the middle, spotlights suddenly appearing all over the room, much to the captain's confusion, and with another press the room was suddenly flashing with every colour of the rainbow; anypony with epilepsy would _not_ be safe in that room right then. Surprise turned the music up and put on a motorcycle helmet from who knows where, cartwheeling around the room while Spitfire pounded on her aching forehead with one hoof.

Finally…

"STOP! I'll tell you! Just please stop torturing me!" Spitfire begged, almost screaming. Victory! With another press of the button the music and lights switched off, a few flamingos flew out of the open window and glitter rained down from the ceiling. Spitfire found herself wondering why she couldn't have got a less insane best friend. Surprise pulled up a chair and clapped her hooves together.

"Now tell Surprise everything that's happened…"

Spitfire knew that she had to face the music… or she'd probably have to face some even more annoying music…

* * *

"I can't believe we've never been to the gymnasium before," Bumble said to Beau and Tempest as the three of them trotted down the hall. Tempest snorted and blew some of his green mane out of his eyes.

"I can't believe we can't find it," he scoffed. Beau sighed and looked around.

"Would it kill them to put some signs up around here?" She asked. "We could be right outside it and we wouldn't know. We may not even be lost."

"What are you talking about?" Tempest rounded on his pink furred friend. "Of course we're lost. Do you have any idea which way we should go now?" He asked. Beau shook her head.

"No, but all I'm saying is that if the place you are is where you're meant to be then you aren't really lost," she explained. Bumble groaned and pushed open another door, which turned out to just be the cleaning closet Feather Duster had forgotten to lock.

"Quit speaking in riddles. We've got drills in ten minutes and you're making my brain hurt before we're even there." The light blue mare groaned. Beau shrugged and walked ahead, her head held high.

"Oh stop being such a pessimist," the tall pegasus said to her friend. "Just remind yourself that somepony else is having a worse day than you."

"**WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"**

The three cadets were quiet for a little while. Finally Tempest spoke.

"Like Surprise, apparently."

* * *

"Go Dashie!" Soarin called up into the sky as Rainbow Dash and Lullaby exchanged horseshoes in the aerial relay. High Winds was a huge fan of the Equestria Games, and she had wanted to recreate her favorite event for the cadets. For the first time in days the cadets were having legitimate fun, and the big smile on Dash's face was enough to make Soarin grin, too.

"Ah got pie!" Braeburn announced, sitting down next to him. The two of them were sitting on a fluffy patch of cloud a few feet away from the mess hall doors. Soarin glanced up at his friend briefly before taking a slice of pie.

"Hey Brae, ya wanna know what I love more than pie?" He asked, raising the treat to his muzzle.

"What?" The earth pony asked. Soarin took a bite.

"Nothing." He replied, some blueberry juice squirting onto the clouds below. Braeburn rolled his eyes.

"Ah thought you were gonna say somethin' else," he told his friend. Soarin swallowed his mouthful and looked at Braeburn as if he'd just come up with an entirely new language.

"Have you met me? Brae, my_ life _is food." He felt certain that Braeburn had mentioned his obsession with food before. But Soarin couldn't help the fact that he loved food- he couldn't be friends with _anyone_ who didn't _love_ food. Okay that's technically a lie since most of the Wonderbolts avoided eating too much, but his best friends were always the ones who appreciated a good snack.

"But don't ya love Rainbow Dash?" He asked. For some reason this made Soarin stop mid-bite. And then his mind went blank. _Did_ he love Rainbow Dash? Wowzers, why hadn't this thought occurred beforehoof?

"Well… _love_ is a strong word, Brae." Soarin replied. "It's reserved for the most important things in life like pie, and… and pie." He repeated, knowing that this sounded totally lame.

"Soarin, Ah get the feelin' that ya rushed into this without thinkin'." Braeburn practically read his mind. Soarin nodded.

"Well yes, I don't exactly obsess over the definition of love all the time. Only smart ponies do stuff like that." He added that last part mostly to himself. Braeburn sighed and looked up at the sky.

"You should figure that out," he told the pegasus, not taking his eyes away from the blue above. Soarin pressed his lips into a thin line, curious as to Braeburn's behaviour.

"Brae… do _you_ know what it feels like?" he asked, "Because I sure as Tartarus do not." He watched as Braeburn sighed and fiddled idly with his hat.

"Ah'm not sure either… Ah think it's like when ya feel like fightin' fer somethin' an' once ya try it's like nothin' happened at all. It makes ya feel miserable fer one minute and then the next ya feel like yer gonna explode with happiness. Then ya feel mad at yerself fer bein' such a sap and then immediately after ya feel kinda giddy. Like ya spend a lot o' time imaginin' some kind o' future the two o' ya are gonna have and then suddenly feelin' like ya won't have a future at all. And even when ya think ya should just give up ya can't let go. Half the time ya feel like ya know everythin' there is t' know about it, and then ya don't have a darn clue; and ya pretend that it's the most perfect thing ever but at the same time it's the cruellest thing the world could do t' ya." He finished his monologue, not having looked up from his stetson once.

Soarin felt like he knew what he was talking about and tried to relate what he was saying to him and Dashie. He did have frequent phases of alternating confusion and joy when he thought of Rainbow. And yes, he felt like Dash was too good for him sometimes, and he did imagine what their future would be like, even if he had to use his imagination more than he would have liked. Soarin wasn't much of a thinker. Then again he'd never really been in touch with his inner feelings- he'd always just gone with the flow and relied on others to guide him. In school it was those bullies who told him what to do, then Braeburn came and told him how to change for the better, and then the captain's Nighthawk, Concorde, and Spitfire commanded him at work… he'd really been living his life through other ponies for a long time.

"Whoa… I really need to figure this out. You're right." He hardly ever said that to Braeburn. The earth pony nodded his head.

"Yeah… just please don't screw up," he begged Soarin, "'cause if ya make a mistake it's like a hit to the face- OOF!" A hoof suddenly made contact with Braeburn's cheek, knocking him to the ground. Soarin jumped to his hooves and watched as Surprise jumped on top of Braeburn and gave him a punch on the shoulder for every word she said.

"You *punch* stupid *punch* pile *punch* of *punch* poop! *punch*!"

"Surprise, stop!" Braeburn pushed her off him, rubbing his now numb arm. "Are ya tryin' t' kill me?!"

"_That can be arranged_!" Surprise flapped into the air, looking down menacingly at the light golden stallion. Soarin stood between them.

"Whoa guys, what's going on?" Soarin asked, completely lost as of now. Surprise touched down on the clouds and gave Braeburn a glare.

"Why don't you ask him?" She asked.

"I kinda did! I asked both of you!" Soarin looked from one to the other. Surprise sighed and stormed over to Braeburn, whose cheek was a little red now.

"This guy right here is why Spitz won't come out of her office!" She revealed.

Well this was new to Soarin.

"Excuse me," he blinked, "a little more detail would be nice."

Surprise humphed and gave Braeburn a stink eye. "Go ahead then. I'm too mad to tell him myself."

Braeburn looked as confused as Soarin. "Ah can't tell Soarin what happened- _Ah _don't know what happened!"

Surprise's face softened and she gave the earth pony a baffled stare. "What do you mean '_you don't know_', you were the one that upset her."

"B-but Ah don't know _how_ Ah upset 'er. Ah gave 'er a compliment and she freaked out." He explained. Surprise ran a hoof through her poofy mane; Soarin reckoned that she had heard all of this from Spitfire's perspective, so that explained why she hadn't heard anything about it all being accidental.

"Whoa, when did this happen?" Soarin asked with his eyes as wide as saucers. This would explain a whole lot as to why Spitz was locked away and why Braeburn was being clingier than usual.

"A few days ago," Braeburn replied. "Um… the same day you an' Rainbow Dash got together, actually."

This just made Soarin feel a little guilty. If Spitfire had really gotten this mad at Braeburn then that meant he had been bragging about his success with Dash to a heartbroken stallion. Oh gosh, the guilt was flowing. Make it stop.

"Oh… why didn't you say anything?" Soarin asked, curious as to why his best friend hadn't confided in him. Braeburn shrugged and put his stetson back on his head.

"Ah dunno… Ah guess it was because you an' Dash had just got together an' Ah didn't wanna steal yer thunder with mah stupid problems," he answered. Soarin felt even worse now; had he been making Braeburn feel worse about all of this? Dang it, why did Brae have to be such an independent hard-flank; he could have come to Soarin for help… crud, now that Soarin thought about it, he probably wouldn't have even cared in his ecstatic state. Happiness could be a blessing but at the same time it was a cruel drug that blinded you when it came to other ponies' feelings. You get so high on it that the rest of the world blurs into a fuzzy mess of buttercups and sunshine.

"Sorry buddy," Soarin felt compelled to apologize just in case, and Braeburn gave him a weak smile. Surprise cleared her throat.

"Hello! Tell me everything that happened!" She ordered.

"Yes, please do," Soarin made himself comfortable on the clouds, laying on his front with his chin resting on his front hooves, his back ones kicking in the air. Braeburn hesitated before telling his story. From the moment he left work that evening, to Spitfire offering to fly him home (Surprise squealed at most parts after that), he passionately described the events of the flight back to his place with such ease and flair that Soarin supposed he had gone over the events countless times in his head to be able to recite every twist and turn from memory. He then got to the part where she dropped him off.

"And then she just kinda… lost it when I told her that she was-"

"_The most amazing pegasus ever to take to the skies_," Surprise and Braeburn said at the same time. Braeburn was about to ask her how she knew that but Surprise growled and yelled to the heavens.

"YOU FLANKHOLE!"

It was so loud that a few of the cadets stopped training to stare at them, a few of them even colliding in the process. High Winds waved over at them.

"Say it louder, Surprise, I don't think ponies heard you in Coltorado." She said sarcastically. Surprise ignored her, too furious to care. She slugged Braeburn on his already sore shoulder again, making him whimper. Yep, there was definitely going to be a bruise there later.

"How could you do this to me?" Surprise wailed, gripping Braeburn's shoulders and shaking him, before putting both her hooves on her belly. "I feel like I've just been kicked in the gut!"

"Whoa, why are_ you_ upset about this?" Braeburn asked. "Shouldn't the captain and Ah be the only ones in distress here?"

Surprise wiped her nose. "No, it's just that you two were so perfect!" This caught Braeburn off-guard, judging by the fact that his eye started twitching. Surprise sniffled again. "And I printed off 200 of these!" She then ripped off her officer's uniform and Soarin clapped a hoof over his mouth to keep himself from laughing as she revealed what she was wearing underneath.

An orange T-shirt with the word '_SpitBurn_' printed on it in big black capital letters. Braeburn's jaw dropped open.

"What… the…"

"I was gonna give some of them to High Winds and Blaze but what's the point now?" She asked. Braeburn was turning redder and redder.

"High Winds and Blaze… you… Lightning and Wave… WHO ELSE KNOWS?!" He was yelling now, looking like he was losing his mind. Soarin felt the cogs in his brain grinding together with the effort of keeping up. What did Lightning Streak and Wave Chill have to do with any of this?

"Knows what?" Surprise asked.

"That Braeburn likes Spitfire." Soarin replied.

"He does?!" Surprise gasped, her eyes getting bigger.

"Soarin!" Braeburn snapped at his pegasus friend.

"I thought she already knew!" Soarin gestured at Surprise, who shook her head.

"I didn't, I only thought that Spitz liked _him_\- oops!"

"What?" Braeburn sat up straight, his face glowing now. "Was this before Dash and Soar got together?"

"…Yes." Surprise frowned.

"Dang," Braeburn seethed.

"But Lightning and Wave know, too?" Soarin asked. Braeburn nodded.

"Yeah, don't ask me how," Braeburn bit his lip.

"Resplendent," Surprise quoted him, and Braeburn pulled his hat over his eyes.

"Who _doesn't_ know?" He asked a seemingly simpler question.

"Spitfire." Surprise replied.

"Thank the Princesses." Braeburn let his rump fall to the ground.

"And Misty Fly's too ignorant to notice," Surprise added, making Soarin roll his eyes.

"Wait, Spitz likes Brae…?" The stallion asked. Surprise looked uncertain.

"Well… she kept denying it…"

"Wow, for a moment there Ah felt hope," Braeburn said bitterly.

"Hey it could still be possible," Surprise tried to cheer him up, with no success. "She might secretly be a teeny tiny bit interested."

"She ain't interested," Braeburn pulled his hat back on. "She made that abundantly clear when she flew off!"

"Maybe she _was_ interested?" Soarin suggested.

"But definitely not interested now." Braeburn sighed.

"Interesting."

The three ponies turned to a new speaker, and as the small dusty furred mare approached with a smirk on her face they knew that they had an eavesdropper on their hooves… if Braeburn could handle somepony else knowing then it would be a miracle.

"Feather Duster, how much did you hear?" Braeburn asked nervously. Feather Duster sauntered into the middle of the triangle the three ponies had formed and smirked up at the stallion.

"Enough that I know that I've just walked onto the set of a friggin' soap opera," she chuckled. "I mean seriously, you are doomed." She said to Braeburn. The earth pony scowled down at the shorter mare.

"What do you want Feathers?" Surprise asked, smiling despite the evil presence lingering around. The tiny janitor fluttered into the air and landed on top of Soarin's head.

"Surprise, do I have to want something in order to hang around with you… ponies." She couldn't think of a better word to say.

"Yes." The three other equines simultaneously deadpanned.

Feather Duster grumbled and rolled her brown eyes. "Fine ya got me. I just want information," she said in a cryptic voice. Soarin sighed.

"For the last time, we don't know what 'The Storm Force' is, so just give it a rest!" He told her. Feather Duster jumped off his head and twisted round to face him.

"It _is_ real!" She snapped. "But that's not what I want. I just want Goldilocks here to tell me how he's managed to seduce the Captain."

"Whoa, Ah think 'seduce' is the wrong word t' use here," Braeburn made quotation marks with his hooves, not even complaining about Feather Duster's nickname for him. Surprise grumbled and scratched her head.

"What does this _mean_?" She made quote marks of her own.

"Not now, Surprise," Soarin hissed at his white colleague. He suddenly became curious and put a hoof on Feather Duster's head. "Hold the phone; why do you care?" He asked. It was rare that Feather Duster showed a facial expression that didn't qualify as a scowl, sneer, smirk, or things of a similar type, but now her cheeks had flushed a light pink colour.

"Be-because- ugh- mind your own business, bub," she shook a clenched hoof at Soarin. The pale blue stallion remembered a conversation that he, Feathers, and Braeburn had had not too long ago and it all clicked into place.

"Is this about Fire Streak?" He asked, and Feather Dusters ears flattened against her skull.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she insisted. Surprise's eyes popped wide open.

"Wha…" she made a funny face that consisted of a huge grin and derped eyes (Surprise's ship face).

"Oh yeah," Braeburn caught up, "Ah remember you told us that ya liked him not too long ago."

"I did no such thing," Feather Duster insisted, looking over at Surprise in particular. Soarin chuckled and started teasing her some more.

"You are so _desperate_," he sniggered. "I mean you're actually taking advice from _Braeburn Apple_. He knows more about the sewage system than relationships." He started cackling with laughter. Braeburn sighed and rubbed his forehead with agony.

"Yeah, you'd be better off going to Lightning Streak," Surprise added, giggling a little.

"I couldn't go to Fire Streak's brother; that's stupid!" Feather Duster argued.

"So you went to Colonel Hopeless?" Soarin shoved a hoof in his mouth to keep him from laughing so hard.

"You guys are doing _wonders_ fer mah self-esteem." Braeburn told them all sarcastically.

"Look, if anypony found out that the greatest evil mind of the century had grown soft for a senior Wonderbolt then I'm history. That's why I came to you three dingbats. You guys are too stupid to make ponies believe it, so you're the perfect candidates for my helpers." Feather Duster explained. Soarin snorted with laughter.

"You, evil, yeah right." The stallion shook his head. Feather Duster narrowed her eyes at him.

"_Yes! _My middle name is literally 'Evil'. Feather Evil Duster-it's even on my birth certificate!" She insisted. "I've got my ID thingy inside; I'll show you."

"No time for that," Surprise moved over to the smaller mare and wrapped a wing around her shoulders- or at least she tried to before it was slapped away by Feather Duster's smaller wing. "I think I can help you out," she put her cheek against Feather Duster's, and the smaller pony sighed.

"_You_, help _me_?" She asked sceptically, and then repeated the word 'yo_u?_' Surprise nodded.

"Trust me; my help is the best thing that could happen to you. It would mean that one of us isn't hopeless when it comes to love." She explained. Braeburn gave her an unamused look while Soarin just looked insulted.

"Hello? Relationship." He patted his hoof against his chest. Surprise shook her head.

"Hello? That's got old now."

"Hello? Rude." Soarin scowled.

Feather Duster looked uncertain. "Maybe I should go and ask someone saner…" she muttered, casting a look towards the compound.

"Nonsense," Surprise insisted. "Ya know what they say about Surprise…" she paused for a second. "I am smart.

Feather Duster's pupils suddenly shrank.

"Something just bit my ear!" She yelped, and moved away from Surprise. Rolling her eyes up, she saw a small brown fruit bat hanging off her left ear. "OH HOLY CELESTIA'S SUNNY FLANKS, GET IT OFF!" She started running in frantic circles and shaking her head fiercely.

"Oh my gosh, stop!" Surprise started chasing her. Braeburn and Soarin backed away a little, watching the two mares run around aimlessly, Feather Duster sputtering out curse after curse and Surprise shouting reassurances.

"So… what's gonna happen first, Brae?" Soarin asked. "Will Feather Duster pass out from a panic attack, or will Surprise catch her?"

Braeburn hummed in thought. "Hmm… Ah think that-"

"Gotcha!" Surprise rugby tackled Feather Duster to the ground with a loud thud. Braeburn breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank Celestia that happened 'cause Ah was gonna guess the passin' out thing," he confessed, and Soarin sighed with frustration. Surprise and Feather Duster got up and Surprise plucked the bat off Feather Duster's ear.

"Surprise, put that thing down!" Feather Duster made a ninja pose by standing on one hind hoof and raising her forelegs into the air. She fell back down to all fours when Surprise nuzzled the bat's tummy.

"Naughty Froot Loop; mommy told you not to bite other ponies. Who's a bad boy? Yes you are… aw, I can't stay mad at you," the white mare kissed the top of the bat's head. Feather Duster just stared blankly.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," she said, her jaw hanging open. Surprise stroked the bat gently while the little winged animal made some squeaking noises.

"Tell me about it," the white Wonderbolt 'replied' to the bat.

Soarin and Braeburn looked at each other, Braeburn mouthing 'what's going on' with Soarin answering 'just watch'. The bat- apparently named Froot Loop- made some more squeaking sounds.

"Nah, it's not you; she's a little hard to get along with- I think it's some kind of evil rule that nopony's allowed to bite her ear." Surprise explained to the creature in her hooves.

"Are you seriously _talking_ to that bat?" Feather Duster asked, trying to straighten up her slightly tousled brown hair. Surprise nodded.

"Yep-a-rooni; I taught myself to speak Bat. Not too shabby, eh Froot Loop?" Surprise winked at her pet. Braeburn raised a hoof.

"Wait, how come Ah never knew ya had a pet bat?" He asked. Surprise shrugged.

"With everything happening all the time I just never found the time to mention him, I suppose. I found Froot Loop a few years ago when he was an itty bitty baby bat and now he lives in my hair and can fly around my house whenever he wants." She responded. Feather Duster ran a hoof down her face.

"Is there anypony in this Academy that isn't deranged?" She asked only to be met with no response.

"Aww, I think he's hungry," Surprise reached into her hair and pulled out some little raisins. "Here ya go buddy," she put them on the ground and watched as the tiny bat nibbled them.

"Why me?" Feather Duster spoke upwards towards the sky. Surprise looked over at the dusty mare.

"Ya know, not everything is about you," she told the small janitor, "poor little Froot Loop's had a rough day. He had some potato chips this morning and they've upset his tummy a little."

Feather Duster gasped and pointed down at the bat. "It was _you_ who stole my lunch!" She exclaimed. "I was gonna save those for later!"

"Hey, finders keepers," Surprise chirped. Much to Feather Duster's extreme anger, Froot Loop looked up at her and blew a raspberry. The small mare looked like steam was about to come shooting out of her ears like she was some kind of furious train.

"I'll kill it!" She leapt for the bat, only to have Froot Loop step one pace to the left so that Feather Duster landed on her face instead of on him. Feathers looked up from the ground, and with one more raspberry, Froot Loop threw his remaining raisin at her nose and took off back into Surprise's hair.

"Have a nice nap, Froot Loop," the Wonderbolt said to her pet, and Feather Duster buried her face in the clouds for a second time.

"Why?" She mumbled again. Surprise picked her up and flung her onto her back.

"Now come on you; I've come up with a great idea that can solve not one, but _two_ of my friends' problems! This is the best thing ever!"

"Shoot me now," Feather Duster groaned as Surprise trotted off. That left Braeburn and Soarin alone again.

"Well that sure was eventful," the earth pony said to the pegasus. Soarin nodded and sighed.

"I'm sorry, Brae," he said again. "I had no idea that this was why things were going off the rails."

Braeburn shrugged his shoulders. "It's not important. You an' Dash are happy and _that's_ what matters."

Soarin slapped the back of his friend's head. "_No_; for total and pure happiness, _all_ of my friends need to be happy- especially you," he booped Braeburn on the nose, and grinned. "and I wanna help you out." He added. Braeburn looked a little terrified at that notion.

"Soarin, Ah appreciate this, really Ah do, but this is somethin' Ah need t' figure out on mah own." He insisted. Soarin grumbled.

"Why's that?" He asked. "You helped me with Dashie a little, now I'm returning the favour…" he trailed off. Braeburn blinked a couple of times.

"Hello?" He waved a hoof in front of Soarin's face after he had been sitting there in silence for two minutes.

"Oh! I was just trying to think of an idea," he said.

"Did you think of one?"

"No."

"Rats."

After that there was nothing to speak about. Soarin sat there, licking the pie tin that had been sitting on the ground throughout their entire encounter with Surprise and Feather Duster, and Braeburn found himself lost in thought, replaying his flight with Spitfire over in his head for what felt like the millionth time. It was like the whole thing was seared into his mind forever and he'd never get bored of it. He knew everything they had said off by heart now, and the more he thought about it the more questions he got. This tough as iron Captain had morphed from a commanding officer to a playful schoolfilly right before his eyes, and he was certain that there was so much about her that he didn't know. There were a lot of things behind those fiery eyes- secrets, desires, pain, and darkness- and it was making his head ache trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. It all came down to the big question:

Who is the real Spitfire?

"Hey, she's coming over," Soarin punched Braeburn on his one shoulder that had not already been bruised, and Braeburn realised that he had been daydreaming for a _long_ time. Rainbow Dash landed slickly beside Soarin and booped his nose, laughing in that cocky style of hers.

"So did ya see my moves?" She asked. Soarin nodded.

"Like heck I did; you and the others totally kick butt when you fly…" Dash smirked and raised a brow at him "…but you kick even bigger butt than the others." He added, obviously trying not to laugh at his choice of words.

"Whew, I can't wait for the final month. Everypony says that there's gonna be a big surprise for us. I really wanna know what it is!" Rainbow stood nose to nose with her coltfriend. "Do you know what it is?" She asked, her magenta eyes growing wider. Soarin looked baffled; this was the first he'd heard of a surprise.

"I… I don't." He admitted. "And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you because it would ruin it. I know how much of a blabbermouth you can be."

"Ugh, I hate it when you're right," Rainbow Dash groaned. "You make this face…" she looked at Soarin who had a small thin-lipped smile with his accusing eyes angled downwards at Rainbow. "Yeah, that's the one." She gave him a shove.

"Hey Dash, we need your help over here!" Rainbow looked over her shoulder and saw Tempest calling her over. She excused herself, giving Soarin a final hoof bump.

"See ya later agitator," she winked at him before zooming off to join the others. Soarin was about to go back inside when another Wonderbolt landed in front of him and Braeburn.

"Whew, those cadets sure are a hoofful," High Winds commented, "how does Spitfire handle their enthusiasm every day?"

"She's just got it?" Braeburn suggested. High Winds gave him a smirk and she clicked her tongue.

"Whew, somepony's standing up for his mare. That's a thing Appleoosans do, right? Believe in their mare-folk?" She said the last part in a bad Texan accent. Braeburn hid his face in his hat again.

"Leave him alone Windy," another voice joined them, and Blaze fluttered over to stand next to her marefriend. "surely he has enough pressure put on him already. Does she make you drop and give her twenty?" The yellow mare teased him, bursting into laughter.

"Is that a euphemism?" Braeburn asked Blaze, taking his hat away from his face.

"It is now!" The mannish mare replied, and Braeburn flushed the same colour as his cutie mark.

"Oh gosh, this is too good," High Winds giggled. "I bet they'll be Flying this time next month."

Blaze frowned and looked a little shocked. "Windy," she nudged her marefriend.

"What?" High Winds asked. Blaze tilted her head towards Braeburn and after a few seconds High Winds gasped. "Oh! I'm sorry…" she looked apologectically at Braeburn, seeming to be ashamed of herself. The earth pony looked confused.

"Ah'm a little lost here. Why are ya sorry?" He asked. High Winds looked at Soarin with an O shaped mouth.

"He doesn't know what Flying is?" She asked. Soarin shook his head. Braeburn looked even more lost that before.

"O' course Ah know what flyin' is. Ya do it all the time; you were doin' it just now!" He gestured to the landing strip. Soarin put a hoof on Braeburn's shoulder.

"This is a different kind of flight. Sit down because we need to talk about something very important about us pegasi."

"And we can demonstrate!" High Winds offered, and Blaze looked surprised.

"Windy?" She asked, turning a little pink; something rare for the yellow Wonderbolt. High Winds turned an even brighter red and turned towards her marefriend, opening her wings and forming a specific stance, her back legs straight, with her left forehoof bent towards the ground as if she were bowing, and her right forehoof extended. Her words were barely audible.

"Blaze, will you Fly with me?" She asked her marefriend, who was getting a little redder now. Blaze then formed the next stance, raising herself to her full height and puffing her chest out, spreading her own wings before reaching out with her right hoof and grabbing hold of her lover's.

"Yes High Winds; I would be honoured," she said in an uncharacteristically shy voice. With the Invitation stage complete, the two mares took off into the sky and began swooping around each other; occasionally one would nudge against the other and they would hold onto each other and exchange pecks on the cheek, almost as if they were dancing in the sky.

Before this story can continue, it is important that you learn at the very least the basics of Flying. Unlike the normal type of flight, this kind is restricted to a pair (and in some cases to be fair, more) of pegasi who share a strong bond, most commonly love, but also sometimes a rigid friendship; when a pegasus picks his or her Flying partner, they may perform the Invitation ritual, as High Winds and Blaze demonstrated above.

If the pegasus being asked accepts the Invitation, then this means that the two of them can commence the next stage, which consists of the pegasi moving through the sky in an improvised routine, all the while making sure that their movements complement each other and are filled with meaning. A Flying pegasus must ensure that every beat of their wings is filled with compassion, emotion and adoration. Close contact is a the best way to express ones affection for another, and another popular way of Flight is taking turns to carry each other through the sky.

Flying is the ultimate act of intimacy between pegasi and is a sacred tradition for their race. It is considered the key factor in a pegasus relationship and is extremely exciting for the participants; some may even go as far as to say it is the greatest intimacy in existence.

"Whoa…" Braeburn breathed after Soarin explained the concept of Flying to him. "…that sounds amazing." He was often impressed with Cloudsdale and its residents, but this was the first time he had heard of Flying, and it fascinated him.

"I'm sure it feels as awesome as it sounds, too." Soarin looked up at the two Flying pegasus mares. They were both laughing happily as they twirled around each other in perfect harmony.

"Do… do you think you'll Fly with Rainbow Dash someday?" Braeburn asked his pegasus friend. Soarin felt that familiar feeling of uncertainty slap him round the face and he frowned.

"Didn't we just talk about me finding this stuff out for myself? I'll figure everything out eventually, and when I do I can give you all the answers you want." He assured his friend. Braeburn nodded and followed Soarin's gaze to the sky.

"They sure do look happy…" Braeburn mused, not taking his eyes off High Winds and Blaze. Soarin nodded and imagined how cool it would be to Fly.

"Yeah… ponies say that the main thing that separates pegasi from the other races is their ability to fly… and heck, they're right. But it enables us to feel intimacy in a way that you earth ponies and unicorns could never understand. If I could explain how it feels to you I would… but I'll just sit here wondering with you." Soarin said to Braeburn.

"Sure, why not?" He shrugged. "Ah'd like some company in my cocoon of confusion."

Soarin sighed and lay on his belly again. "Maybe I've been missing out," he muttered. "A lot of ponies I know tell me that Flying is great… and I wonder if they're right. Maybe it's the best thing about being a pegasus."

Braeburn sighed.

"Yeah…"

He looked over his bruised shoulder at his bare back.

"A pegasus."

* * *

**Endnote: So how about that eh? What do you guys think of my possibly stupid headcanon about pegasus intimacy? That's gonna be important in the future, just to let you guys know.**

**And as I was writing this I thought 'Hmm… the slumber party would be even more interesting with **_**four**_** mares.' So the evil demonic Feather Duster is going to be joining the slumber prisoners at Surprise's house. Oh yeah, what do you think of Froot Loop?**

**!ANNOUNCEMENT!**

**Now that your attention has been grabbed I must tell you all that there will be a delay with the next chapter. The reason is because I'm going on a short vacation with my family (first break from writing since Christmas) and this time I will not have my files or computer. I will have my trusty Kindle Fire (my most prized possession) that will allow me to access the internet, but there will not be any progress on the story from the 23****rd**** October until the 31****st****. **

**But I'll see you next time when we return to the second half of this retarded tale. **


	41. We Need To Talk, part 2

**Authors Note: Okay, so I'm back from my vacation and it's time to get back on track.**

**AND WE HAVE OVER 70 FAVOURITES NOW! ALL OF YOU ARE AMAZING! :D**

**Captain Alaska: Wingy-thingies are a sign of arousal in my view. Okay I admit I didn't put a lot of thought into this so I don't know what happens if they get one mid-flight. Ooh…**

**The Jagdpanther- Glad I didn't confuse you too much this time around, and those two do need some of the spotlight once in a while.**

**RosaSilvermist- Yeah, Froot Loop is such a cutie pie… OH MY GOSH I should make him and Gummy interact. Don't ask me what they'd do because I have no idea but it should happen anyway! And I like to keep in mind that these are still horses and horses do things; now flying horses are a different matter, but I based Flying on the mating ritual of the eagle… so pegasi are now Eagle Equines. Why not, eh? Heh. But yes, this will most certainly cause a little bit of a stir in Brae and Spitz's (non-existent) relationship.**

**Amellia Rose- Be assured that this chapter will be chock full of character develop for four mares in particular. **

**Luna'snight625- Aw, thanks. I put a lot of thought into that because I have too much free time… heh… but yeah if I wasn't terrified of bats I'd have one and call him Froot Loop! And for your safety you should know that the last person to tell Spitz to calm down either wound up in hiding or the hospital.**

**YoungBlood23- Well he certainly can't grow a pair… of wings! If you thought I was gonna say something else then you are **_**dirty**_**! xD**

**Litestardt- Yeah I couldn't just have her let the idea go… I just want one of those shirts. And you can have Lightning back if you like, even if he is adorable! **

**Tycser- Hey dude, good to see ya back. I agree on the silly Soarin thing, but his intense silliness is what makes him my favorite character to write. I'll make him a little more serious in certain chapters of course. And we still have plenty of time to see whether or not the Apple and the Bolt get together, but it'll definitely be a bumpy ride. Also, I saw **_**Remembrance**_** and it is **_**amazing**_**! Argodaemon is an SFM legend! It's such a beautiful video! 3**

**Ripstickmario- This is a long chapter, dude. And I was on vacation for a week, too. Plus, you try writing a complicated psychology/character development smorgasbord with writer's block! I do apologise for my outburst, it's just that when people remind me that I'm running late it freaks me out and makes the situation worse by causing me unnecessary panic. Ah, the joys of anxiety.**

**NOW LET'S GET THIS CHAPTER ON THE ROAD!**

**CUE CHAPTER THEME SONG PARODY THING!**

_**We**_

_**Are the Wonderbolts**_

_**We'll make our readers day**_

_**And if you think we can't**_

_**We'll always find a way**_

_**That's why the people of this site**_

_**Believe in**_

_**Spitfire,**_

_**Surprise,**_

_**And Misty Fly**_

_**And Feather Duster!**_

I do not regret parodying the Steven Universe theme song! :P

* * *

"You want me to what?" Spitfire asked, flicking her gaze between Surprise and Feather Duster, the former of whom was bouncing excitedly on the other side of the captain's desk while the latter sat on her rump with sagging shoulders, looking like she just wanted to leave.

"Join the two of us for a super duper slumber party!" Surprise repeated. "We'll talk about our problems, and tell each other about our traumas, and then we'll all have _ice cream_!" She ranted. Spitfire gave Surprise the most unamused flat stare she could muster.

"If I wanted to tell random-ass ponies about my issues I'd go to my therapist." She replied. "Frankly your idea is the worst one I've heard since Fleetfoot suggested we all live in the Academy."

"What was wrong with that anyway?" Surprise asked.

"Have you met Fleetfoot? I don't wanna wake up to 'unexpected guests'." She used quotation marks with her wings.

"WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?!" Surprise did the quotes, still not getting a response. Feather Duster raised a hoof.

"Yeah, I'm with Spit on this-"

"Don't call me Spit!"

"-I knew it was a bad idea to come to you for advice. Your head is basically a coconut!" The dusty mare continued. Surprise harrumphed and stuck her nose in the air.

"My head is not filed with milk, thank you very much," she insisted, and Feather Duster promptly face-hoofed.

"So is there any other reason you're in my office?" Spitfire spun around in her chair, which is something that would drive her insane if it were anypony else doing it. Surprise shook her head.

"Nope-a-rooni, but I _really_ want to have this sleepover. It'll help you relax and you'll get a good night's sleep." Surprise insisted.

"Not happening." Spitfire sipped her coffee. Surprise rolled her purple eyes and scooched closer to the desk, placing her chin on top of it and looking sadly up at Spitfire.

"Pleeeeaaaaasse?" She pouted. "I'll be your best friend!"

"Get your face off my desk, please." Spitfire said, not looking up from her drink. Surprise tipped backwards and tumbled onto her back on the floor, exasperated with the captain's stubbornness. Feather Duster nodded at the door.

"I'll just let myself out…" She moved for the door, but when she was a step away Surprise popped up a few inches from her face, frightening the life out of her.

"YOU HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" Surprise put a hoof on Feather Duster's chest and pushed her backwards until her butt bounced against the desk.

"Listen Senorita Psychopath," Feathers spoke up, pressing her nose against the white mare's. "I don't want any part of this- I should have just read something. Seriously, you are so lucky that I don't have my stun gun!" She seethed. Surprise got a dastardly look on her face; one that could rival Feather Duster's.

"You don't know what I know," she smirked. "I know the answer to your problems, and I will happily answer every question you have… but I want something, too."

"What are you two pea brains talking about?" Spitfire rubbed her forehead in agony. Couldn't they do this outside?

Feather Duster stared straight at Surprise, unblinking and stern. "…go on…" she invited. Surprise backed up and began pacing back and forth, just like the cool ponies who made deals in the movies did.

"I can answer anything, Feathers. Whether it is 'what is five plus eight' or 'did the egg or the dragon come first', so in order to get what you want, you need to come to my slumber party." She looked at Feathers out the corner of her eye. The dusty mare remained sturdy.

"You're blackmailing me." She sneered. "And you're bluffing- you don't know what the answers are."

Surprise's smirk curled tighter. "Are you willing to risk that?" She asked. Now _that_ got Feather Duster's expression to fall a little, and after that there was a two minute long stare between the janitor and the Wonderbolt, each trying to see into the others very soul. Finally Feather Duster exhaled and cast her brown eyes down to the floor.

"Fine, I'll stinking come to your stinking party you stinking pony." The 'evil mastermind' gave in. Surprise then snapped out of her cool demeanour and hopped up and down.

"Yippee!" She cheered. "Nooooooow…" she side-stepped over to the captain's desk again, where Spitfire was lazily stamping stuff, missing the paper a couple of times and stamping the desk instead where she was so tired.

"Go away." Spitfire said without any effort put into her demand. Surprise felt that pang in her chest again. She just wanted to help her bestie out, but she refused to accept any assistance she offered, and in truth it broke her heart. She decided to use her powers of persuasion again.

"Spitz, just think about it for a minute: You, me, and Feathers all at my place, pillows on the floor with fluffy blankets everywhere. We'll have a nice talk, and then you'll settle down and have a nice, long sleep. And then if any bad dreams come for you you'll have the two of us there to wake you up. It's the perfect plan, right?"

Spitfire hated the plan. She seriously did. But the sound of sleep sounded like a dream in itself. And as much as she hated to admit it, Surprise was completely right. She didn't want to be alone… at least not until she could see straight again. She'd almost fallen asleep right there in her seat at least ten times that day. She chose a response.

"I'll come," she said, getting a smile from Surprise. "On one condition."

"What's that?" Surprise asked eagerly. Spitfire felt proudly evil. If Surprise was gonna put her in an uncomfortable situation, then it seemed only logical that she should return the favour.

"Misty Fly has to come, too."

Surprise's face melted into a big frown, and she burst into a long babbling rant.

"No way, no how, never gonna happen. I'm not letting her into my house, not for all the muffins in the world, NEVER I say, if she goes inside my house I will throw myself out the window and make sure that you don't invite her to my funeral, nope, nada, never ever, ever, EVER-"

* * *

The doorbell rang and the door opened to reveal a very disgruntled Surprise.

"Hi Misty…" The white mare said with her best fake smile. Misty Fly gave Surprise the best grin she could muster and Surprise grinned back the best _she_ could, trying hard not to reconsider shutting the custard coloured mare out in the evening cold.

"Surprise…" She nodded at her co-worker and walked past her into the living room, where Feather Duster and Spitfire were already sitting, Feathers standing on the arm of a sofa giving some kind of angry speech while Spitfire lay back on a couch with a magazine over her face. She had been reading it but she had nodded off and let it fall on her face. She was even _snoring_!

"Aww," Misty smirked as she sat on the other end of the couch, gazing fondly at the dozing captain. "How long has she been asleep?" She asked Feather Duster, who stopped ranting. Misty was actually surprised that Spitfire had managed to sleep through all the shouting. Feathers looked shocked.

"SHE WAS ASLEEP?!" She yelled, and Spitfire merely kept snoring. It was pretty impressive indeed if you asked Misty Fly. "I was telling her all about my laser beam pistol!" Feathers pouted. Misty rolled her eyes.

"We all know that thing is just a flashlight with a red sock over it!" She sighed. Feathers looked appalled.

"It is not! It has all the gears and it even has solar power! It's deadly and good for the environment at the same time!" She insisted. Misty shook her head.

"If it helps you sleep at night," she muttered, and Feathers slumped down into the sofa.

"Where's commander Whack-a-doodle?" the small mare asked. Just then Surprise popped up beside the sofa.

"Looking for me?" She trilled, and Feathers clutched her chest, glaring at her viciously.

"Is it your goal in life to give me heart attacks?" She asked. Surprise's expression grew ever so slightly unamused.

"It happened to _one_ pony!" She threw her hooves in the air and stuck her bottom lip out. Feather Duster stared at her for a few seconds before just turning away and shaking her head with a loud exhale.

"So, now that we're all here… what now?" Misty asked, shrugging her shoulders. Surprise beamed.

"I'm glad you asked Misty, because I've spent the past four hours coming up with a list of fun activities for us all!" She pulled a scroll out of her mane and unraveled it. Feather Duster raised a hoof and gave it a small, slow pump.

"Yay…" She slurred unenthusiastically.

"Though," Surprise mused, "I should probably wake up Spit"-

"Don't call me Spit!" Spitfire suddenly shot up, making Misty shriek with terror since she had been distracted at the time. Misty screaming made Feathers scream, and that make Surprise and Spitfire scream. After that it was a loop of screaming that must have lasted at least half a minute before somepony saw sense.

"Stop! Everypony stop!" Spitfire yelled, silencing the group. Surprise froze mid screech and let her tongue loll out, looking a little psychotic at the moment due to the fact that her pupils had shrunk and she was breathing very heavily. Feather Duster glared up at the golden captain.

"Thanks for the panic attack." She said sarcastically. Surprise put her hooves on her hips.

"Panic attacks, heart attacks, you are all over the place this evening!" She sneered. Feather Duster fell backwards on her seat, grunting. Spitfire yawned and pushed herself up, noticing Misty Fly for the first time.

"When did you get here, Misty?" She asked, rubbing her eyes, forgetting that she was meant to act stern and weakness-less in front of all of her comrades. Misty Fly gave her a sympathetic smile.

"About three minutes ago… a lot has happened in three minutes," she ran a hoof trough her bright and light blue mane.

"You get used to it," Spitfire sighed, sitting up straight in her seat and checking her mane to see if it had ruffled in her sleep. Sure, it was already pretty messy in its natural style but even she had limits when it came to her appearance.

"Hey now," Surprise jumped on the sofa between Spitfire and Misty Fly, "just imagine how boring your lives would be if you didn't have ponies like me and Feather Duster in them to spice things up."

Feather Duster raised her head, looking offended. "Hey, I'm not insane!" She said.

And then Surprise and Misty broke out into crazy laughter, and Spitfire flinched away at the sudden noise. Sure, if she wasn't exhausted she would probably at least grin at Feather Duster's blatant lie, but this hysterical laughter seemed a little out there for her groggy mind. Surprise leaned against Misty and thumped a hoof on the couch cushion.

"She… she thinks she's sane!" Surprise guffawed, and Misty wiped a tear from her eye.

"I know… it's crazy!" She snorted and threw her head into the air, letting out her signature dorky laugh. Surprise started laughing into her colleague's shoulder. Spitfire turned to Feather Duster and gave her an apologetic look.

"I actually feel kinda sorry for you." She admitted, and Feathers just shrugged, a little fed up. The laughter from the other two mares died down and they turned to look at each other. They paused as they realised that they were actually laughing about something together, and looked away, seeming a little uncomfortable now. Feathers chuckled a little at that.

"You two are idiots." She said bluntly, sitting up again. "Now what are we supposed to be doing again?"

Surprise hopped down from the chair and stood in the middle of the room, clearing her throat and pulling out her list again. "Now before we get down to the main event of discussing our problems, let's all warm up with some games!" She reached into her mane and pulled out a bag of M&amp;M's. Feather Duster threw her hooves in the air.

"Okay seriously, what the frick is wrong with your hair?!"

"So we're going to… eat candy?" Misty shrugged. Surprise shook her head.

"Nope, I'm gonna put the candy in a bowl-" she pulled a bowl out of her hair.

"That's it, I give up!" Feathers exhaled.

"-then I'm gonna assign a meaning to each color and then we're gonna pick out some candy, and tell each other stuff about ourselves."

"I hate this game already." Spitfire said bitterly, suppressing a yawn.

"Party pooper, much?" Surprise rolled her eyes and poured the candy in the bowl. "Okay, now let's see… um… blue means 'social life', green means 'job', yellow means 'hobby', red means 'love life', orange means 'family', and brown means 'issues'. So who wants to go first?"

Nopony seemed eager to step up, and after a few seconds of waiting in silence Surprise just shrugged. "Meh, I'll go first." She fished into the bowl and pulled out a- "Green! That means job!" She munched on the M&amp;M and then sat on the ground, thinking… and thinking… and-

"Just say something!" Spitfire sighed, and Surprise's ears perked up.

"Got it! My boss yells at me a lot, but I love her anyway!" She grinned widely, and Feather Duster chuckled at the golden captain, who smacked her face into that magazine she had worn on her face not too long ago. Feathers raised a hoof.

"Ya know this is actually kinda fun. I want a turn." She smirked at the glare she got from Spitfire.

Surprise let Feathers extract some candy from the bowl. "Um… what's blue again?"

"Social life," Surprise reminded her.

"Dang," Feathers muttered, barely audible. Everypony was looking at her, so she thought of something to say while she ate. "Well, I'm kinda married to my work, so I don't have much of a social life-"

"What work?" Spitfire and Misty Fly asked at the same time. Feathers pouted at the pair of pegasi for a moment before raising her middle wingtip at them.

"One day when I've taken over the world, you two will be my first slaves." She told them before folding her tiny wing again. "But, I do have friends! Um… Surprise, you're my friend right?"

"Of course!" Surprise smiled, though it was a little forced, but Feathers folded her arms and triumphantly smiled anyway.

"There ya go! Something about my social life! Cap, you're up!" Feathers put the bowl on the arm of Spitfire and Misty's couch. The captain eyed the bowl and groaned.

"Do I really have to play this idiot game with you ponies?" she asked, rubbing an eye again.

"Yes." The other three all chorused. Spitfire grumbled again.

"It seems a little-"

"I'll ensure you never sleep again if you don't do this."

"Gimme the stupid candy now!" Spitfire grabbed one from the bowl and popped it into her mouth. Surprise raised her voice.

"SPITZ!"

"What?" Spitfire asked.

"What color was it?" Surprise asked. Spitfire felt like a fool for not looking, but she stuck her tongue out to look at the candy on it. It was green.

"Okay, something about _your_ job." Surprise invited her to speak. Spitfire swallowed the M&amp;M.

"Um… I'm the captain of the 'Bolts, and I like my office more than my house which is why I work overtime so friggin' much. NEXT!" She pushed the bowl towards Misty, who dipped a hoof into the bowl without hesitation, looking a little excited.

"Brown…" Misty frowned and let her eyes roll upwards as she remembered what brown was.

"Okay, you got 'issues'… well we all knew that already." Surprise smirked. Misty gave her a narrow-eyed scowl and then sighed.

"Well… I have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder… does that count?" Misty asked, eating the candy. Surprise had been hoping for something that was a little more humiliating, but that technically did count, so she nodded and grabbed the bowl for herself again.

"Is there a point system for this?" Feathers asked. Surprise shook her head.

"Nope, this is all about breaking the ice and getting to know each other better."

"Wow, isn't there at least a prize?" She moved onto the next question.

"Um… no?" Surprise felt a little vulnerable now. Feathers just shrugged and leaned against the side of the chair.

"Well things had better get interesting again soon 'cause the captain looks like she's about to pass out." She nodded at Spitfire, who was tipping forward off the chair. Misty reached out and held onto her, pulling her back a little and waking her up, making her give a few confused snorts before she realised what was happening around her.

"Need… coffee…" she yawned, tapping a hoof against her forehead as if to knock the tiredness out of it.

"Don't worry Spitz, the sugar from the candy will give you a boost." Surprise reassured her before picking out another M&amp;M. "Yellow! Okay, hobbies." Surprise munched on her candy. "Well I love throwing parties and Pinkie Pie's teaching me how to bake by sending me detailed instructions. You guys should have seen the one I made the other day; I was the exact size and shape of an armadillo. Don't worry, it wasn't armadillo flavored though- it was banana!"

"Okay, my turn!" Feathers had another dip into the bowl. "I'm gonna liven things up this time- red." Her face fell. This was the color the little mare had been hoping not to get. Misty looked a little excited though.

"Ooh, go ahead Feathers. Anypony special?" She bounced in her seat and got a teasing look on her face. Feathers angrily crunched on the M&amp;M and scowled.

"No." She said simply. Surprise butted in.

"What about Fire Streak?"

"SURPRISE!"

"You're kidding me, right?" Spitfire found the whole thing amusing, although she didn't have enough energy to bother chuckling. Misty just squealed a little.

"Aw, that's so _cute_!" She smooshed her cheeks together, and for once Surprise agreed with her. "Do you date him?"

"No." Feathers repeated.

"Well I can fix that," Misty started plotting. "I'll sort out a location, arrange a schedule- oh, I'll have to find out what his favorite kind of juice is."

"NO!" Feathers cut her off. Surprise jumped on the coffee table.

"Besides, _I'm_ the one she came to for help first." The white Wonderbolt told Misty proudly. Misty Fly blinked a couple of times before giggling.

"Is she insane? …Stupid question." She added, smirking at Feathers, who was staring at her evilly.

"Spitz, have a turn!" Feathers raised her voice. When there was no response, everypony looked over at the captain who, sure enough, was asleep again. Misty leaned closer and listened out.

"No more… paperwork… inbox… overflowing…" she grumbled in her sleep. Misty giggled and stroked her shoulder.

"She even works in her sleep. Poor little sweetheart." She cooed. Feathers snorted.

"Oh my gosh, if she'd heard you say that you wouldn't have a head anymore." She told Misty, who chuckled nervously. "Then again, it's probably best to just let her-"

"WAKE UP!" Surprise yelled in Spitfire's ear.

"CHEQUE!" Spitfire shot up, eyes wide and wild. Surprise shoved the candy bowl in her face.

"It's your tuurrrn!" She sang. Spitfire looked like she was straining to keep from strangling Surprise, and she grabbed an M&amp;M from the bowl.

"Fine, brown! I have issues with you not letting me sleep! This was part of the deal!" The captain raved. Surprise hopped out of the room.

"Well your turn's over, so I'm gonna make ya something that'll keep you up for sure." She called over her shoulder as she vanished into her kitchen. Spitfire grumbled and sat up, using her hooves to keep her eyes open.

"Okay, I'll have a go…" Misty slowly chose a sweet. "Orange… um… SURPRISE, WHAT DID ORANGE MEAN!?" She called.

"IT MEANS 'FAMILY'!" Surprise yelled back.

"THANK YOU!" Misty shouted and then quietened down. "Well… I live by myself (with a cat), my mom and dad live all the way over in the Fillypines, and I spend a lot of time with my brother and his son." She revealed. Feather asked a genuine question, probably the first one of the night.

"Is your brother single?" She asked.

"No, he's married," Misty replied, chuckling at Feathers. Spitfire spoke up.

"What happened to the whole 'married to my work' thing you had going two minutes ago?" She asked, blinking rapidly to keep her vision straight. Feather Duster rolled her eyes.

"The one time you listen to me…" she grumbled. Surprise then hopped back in with a large mug of something. It sure smelled good.

"Here," she gave it to Spitfire, "a couple of sips of that and you'll be bouncing off the walls."

Spitfire yes the warm fizzing drink cautiously. "Surprise, will this cause me any harm at all? As in, I want to ensure that I won't explode, inflate, deflate, pass out, choke, get poisoned, turn inside out, set on fire, freeze, burst a blood vessel, have my eyes pop out, go into cardiac arrest, get amnesia, have my hair fall out, start speaking backwards, lose my sense of direction, go cross eyed, lose my wings, or just plain drop down dead."

Everypony stared at her as she finished her long ramble. Spitfire noticed their bafflement and decided to clear the air with an explanation.

"I made a list of possible dangers around Surprise and memorized it." She told them all, and they all nodded in understanding.

"Um… no." Surprise answered her lengthy question, and Spitfire took a sip of Surprise's weird drink. Suddenly something like a firecracker went off in her brain and she even let out a 'whoo' of shock.

"What is this stuff?" She asked as her head started tingling.

"Rooftastic Tea." Surprise revealed. Spitfire felt a shudder go down her spine and shook a little.

"Rooftastic?" She echoed. Surprise nodded.

"Yep, as in you wanna climb on top of a roof and yell how great the tea is!" the poofy maned pegasus thrust her arms up. Spitfire had to admit that it did the trick indeed.

"Let me guess. One of Pinkie Pie's recipes?" She took another gulp and started jittering. Okay, maybe she should slow down a touch.

"Yep-a-rooni. She tasted it herself and said that it didn't work, so I asked her for some and now that I've tested it on you I can see it works. She'll be so happy to hear about this!" Surprise grinned. Feathers spoke up.

"Well now that Captain Snores-a-lot is awake should we move on? The game got boring after the first go." She suggested, and Surprise nodded.

"Good idea, I think we pretty much know all about each other anyway," Surprise shrugged. Misty slowly raised one hoof.

"That's not strictly true…" she stopped talking when Surprise gave her a glower.

"Anyway, next up we all play Pictionary!" Surprise reached into the next room and pulled out two giant drawing boards.

"Oh okay, this should be easy." Misty said optimistically. Surprise propped the two boards up a few meters away and got a pair of markers out, too.

"So we'll get into pairs, and then we'll play, got it? We all know how to play Pictionary, right?"

"Yeah." Feather Duster jumped over to sit next to Spitfire. "I take the captain as a partner, and that leaves you two!" Feathers grinned and pointed from Surprise to Misty Fly, who both looked a little uncomfortable now. Spitfire whispered quietly enough for Feathers to hear.

"You do realize that this is a recipe for disaster?" She asked, now wide awake thanks to this glorious drink she was now sure she could never live without. Feathers chuckled.

"Exactly. This is gonna be great." She rubbed her hooves together and snickered. Surprise pulled out the Pictionary cards and set them on the coffee table, pulling Misty over to the right side of the room, while Spitfire and Feather Duster stood on the left.

"Spitz, Mist, you're up first." Surprise gave Misty Fly the first turn drawing since she had promised Spitfire to try and be friendlier towards her. Feathers was perched rather sweetly on the edge of the leather sofa so she could see and Surprise took a spot on the chair closest to the front door. Spitfire and Misty looked at their card and then nodded at each other. Surprise was (oddly) surprised to see that Spitfire seemed to be enjoying herself with this, though Pinkie had warned her that the Rooftastic Tea had a lot of stuff in it and that it could cause weird things to happen to a pony mentally… ah, if there ain't a label, there's no need to pay attention to any of that.

Spitfire began sketching a curved thing with a handle, with a little difficulty as all ponies knew that pegasi and earth ponies had a tougher time writing and drawing than unicorns.

"Um… knife? A crescent moon?" Feathers began guessing. Misty Fly began doing a lot of squiggles at the top of the page.

"Birds!" Surprise exclaimed. Misty booped her nose to show that she was getting closer. "Pigeons? Ducks? Geese?" She kept guessing to no avail. Feathers kept on saying possible answers as Spitfire sketched some blood onto her shape.

"Death… kill… murder!" She cheered as Spitfire confirmed that the answer was correct. Misty groaned and bumped her head against the drawing board. Surprise marched over to her and poked her in the chest.

"What the- how is that 'murder'?" she asked, irritated. Misty pointed to the birds she drew on the board.

"They are crows! A group of crows is called a…"

Surprise didn't answer.

"Murder!" Misty finished for her. "It is a _murder_ of _crows_!"

"You're an idiot!" Surprise took the marker off her and faced the board, trying to thinks calm thoughts.

She was a graceful little wave… gliding across the ocean… drifting peacefully towards the shore… smacking Misty Fly in the STUPID FACE!

Then it was Surprise and Feather Duster's turn to draw, so Misty and Spitfire sat on their respective sides of the room, Spitz sipping her tea, enjoying the feeling of her entire body shuddering, while Misty ate from the bowl of M&amp;M's.

"Um… a cloud?" Spitfire guessed as Feather Duster hovered into the air and began drawing. Surprise began drawing the exact same thing.

"It's a soufflé!" Misty guessed.

Surprise shook her head.

"It's a tray with a soufflé on it!" Misty guessed again.

"Nothing with soufflé!" Surprise threw her head up and tried not to scream. This was so frigging easy! Luckily since Feather Duster had trouble flying and drawing at the same time she had an advantage… hopefully.

"A chef's hat!" Misty guessed again.

"NO!" Surprise growled.

"It's a muffin!" Spitfire called out, and Feather Duster flew in a somersault.

"You got it!" She flew over and landed on the captain's head.

"Get off." Spitfire said sharply, making the smaller mare do as she was told. Surprise tapped the board, where her obvious muffin was being displayed.

"How did you not get that?" She asked. Misty huffed and tucked a loose strand of her mane behind one ear.

"If you wanted me to guess 'muffin' you should have drawn chocolate chips on it." She insisted, and Surprise saw red. Spitfire called over to Misty.

"Mist, you might want to be a little less specific with things because little bubbles are forming in the corner of Surprise's mouth." She leaned back in the chair and kept drinking.

"Fine, it's our turn anyway." She got up, took the marker from Surprise and started drawing. Spitfire just sat down next to Feather Duster and watched. The little dusty mare cleared her throat.

"Aren't you gonna draw something?" She asked the taller captain. Spitfire made a 'meh' sound and shook her head.

"We've got time… and I really wanna see what this is like from your view." She added, holding back a smirk at the prospect of Surprise and Misty getting into one of their classic arguments.

"Okay, um…" Surprise stammered as Misty started drawing a quadruped animal that looked a little bit like…

"A llama!" The white mare guessed. Misty shook her head. "An alpaca!" Another shake. "A camel?"

Misty Fly nodded, showing that Surprise was correct. But that wasn't the complete answer. Feather Duster's ears pricked up when Spitfire started chuckling beside her.

"What's funny?" She asked, and Spitfire whispered to her.

"You'll see."

Surprise kept on guessing, but only got more head shakes from her sketching buddy. "Humps? Hooves? Spit?"

Misty sighed and rolled her eyes, then she drew something else underneath the picture of the camel.

"A… a cow!" Surprise exclaimed, and Misty nodded. The custard pegasus then drew an arrow pointing to the cow's head. "Um… head? Horns? Ears?" She sighed and Misty pointed from the camel to the cow. "Farm!" She guessed, and Misty shook her head. "I don't know- lunch for a dragon?" Surprise rested her chin on the arm of the chair and allowed her ears to droop a little.

"How about now?" Feather Duster looked up at Spitfire, who was examining one of Surprise's magazines. Who knew that Surprise had a dozen issues of 'Gravity Defying Manes Monthly'.

"A little longer." Spitfire mumbled, looking up at Surprise and Misty Fly's struggle. She was drawing something else at the bottom of the page.

"Okay, I can't make it any more obvious than this." Misty was saying as she finished doodling what appeared to me some kind of fork.

"Neptune's trident thingy!" Surprise guessed. Misty shook her head, her expression flat. "Um… Camel the Cow Killer?" Surprise started pulling at her mane. Misty shook her head and groaned. Spitfire sighed and stood up at last.

"Okay, it's time." She drew an ice cream sundae with a fork and knife on either side of it.

"Ice cream… dinner… dessert!" Feathers guessed.

"You got it!" Spitfire confirmed, and Feather Duster flapped into the air and zipped around the room while Misty Fly cursed under her breath. The custard mare looked down at Spitfire.

"No, it's_ desert_. See…" she pointed at the camel. "Camel- which you commonly associate with _the desert_." She then pointed at the cow. "A cow- the arrow pointing to its head refers to the overused idea that every desert is littered with cow skulls because of the movie trope." She then pointed at the 'fork'. "And this is a _cactus_ for Celestia's sake! All of these things are related in some way to the desert, so how could you not guess it, Surprise?"

"It's dessert, Misty." Spitfire showed Misty Fly the Pictionary card. "See- there are two S's."

Misty stared long at hard at the card before looked awkwardly at the floor.

"Oh."

Surprise was done at that point.

"Well, that's enough of Pictionary, don't you guys agree? Let's do something more fun like…"

"Wrestling?" Feathers suggested excitedly. "Then I can overpower all three of you with my crippling strength!" The resulting silence she got was enough to say that none of the slumber pals thought that it was a remotely good idea. Feathers pouted at them. "You guys are boring."

"Tell ya what, how about I go get the sleeping bags ready since none of you brought your own?" Surprise suggested, secretly just eager to leave and possibly hit her head against something.

"Sleeping bags?" Spitfire echoed, ears perking up. "I thought we were using _beds_. You have _four bedrooms_!" She reminded Surprise. The white mare shrugged.

"I thought it would be more fun if we were all in here. Ya know… comfy cozy and peacefully dozing off together. Fun!" She punctuated the end of her explanation with a chirp. Spitfire looked down at the floor and groaned.

"There aren't enough pills in the world for this torture." She muttered to the carpet. Feather Duster bit her lip and flapped onto the coffee table.

"Surprise, I've never really understood what's so fun about sleeping in a bag." She confessed.

"And on the floor…" Misty Fly added, shuddering a little. Surprise looked a tad offended by that.

"Hey, I do _clean_ my floor!" She folded her hooves. Misty Fly looked around at the room, which was a little messy… okay, in some places in the room it looked like a bunch of stuff had just been shoved there. Surprise must have finally run out of room in her mane.

"_Just_ the floor?" Misty asked, tilting her head. "It does look a little… untidy in here." She fumbled for the right word. Surprise pouted and averted her gaze.

"I have a system." She insisted. "Okay, if you don't want to sleep in the sleeping bags then… I'll set Froot Loop on you!" Surprise whistled and her pet bat flapped out of her mane.

"Oh good grief, not that bat." Spitfire slid a hoof down her face. Misty Fly looked up at the hovering creature with confusion and Feather Duster snorted.

"Yeah Surprise, you do realize I'll just kill it." She pointed out. Surprise whistled again and Froot Loop made his squeaking noise before dive bombing down at the three slumber guests. The bat skimmed the top of Spitfire's mane, made Misty shriek as it flew at her face, and pursued a flying Feather Duster around the room for a few seconds. Feathers took cover under the coffee table as the bat continued flying.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Misty asked and she cowered on the couch and shoved a pillow over her head since she had a mild phobia of bats. "Get that thing away from us!" She buried her face in the couch. Surprise stood in the doorway to the kitchen, leaning against the wall with a smug smirk on her face.

"Only if you'll sleep in the bags." She sing-songed, absentmindedly examining a forehoof. Misty nodded frantically.

"Fine, we'll do it! Just make it stop!" She winced as Froot Loop fluttered in front of her face for a little while. She then completely submerged her head in the couch, doing the foalish thing of thinking that if you couldn't see the thing that scared you then _it_ couldn't see _you_. Surprise shook her head and left the room.

"We're not giving in that easily!" Feather Duster declared, standing on Spitfire's back, though she was thrown off almost immediately. Spitfire had gone back to drinking her now lukewarm tea, and had seemed to have forgotten about the bat attack that was commencing in Surprise's living room.

Froot Loop was flying around the perimeter of the room. The bat erratically swooped around the room as a shocking swift speed before knocking the cushion of Misty's head. The custard mare took one look at the bat, gasped, and dove off the chair, running frantically around the room.

The bat chased her for a little while before changing tactics, turning left and hitting Spitfire in the side of the head. The captain snapped out of her tea induced trance and rounded on the bat, embers in her orange eyes.

"You picked the wrong day!" She yelled before lunging at it, almost crashing into Misty Fly, who was running around like a headless chicken with no clue what a sense of direction was supposed to be at this point. Froot Loop let out a squeak that sounded suspiciously like a giggle before he was snatched out of the air.

"I got it!" Feather Duster declared, a maniacal grin on her face. "Now should I stuff it or experiment on it." She put a hoof to her chin, thinking, and then threw her arms up in the air, too drunk on the idea of her diabolical acts that she didn't even notice the mistake she had just made. "Nah, I'll experiment on him first and _then_ stuff him! Victory is mine! Praise me! _Praise me_!" She was suddenly on the floor with a throbbing in her left cheek. Once she had stopped seeing stars, she looked up to see Froot Loop blowing a raspberry at her with his tongue. He then shook his little batty booty at her before flying off again. Feathers rubbed her cheek and stood up. "What is that bat made of? Iron?" She spat.

Spitfire had ducked down next to the couch, trying to see where the heck the bat was, when Misty Fly poked her head over the edge of the couch to speak to her, blue eyes wide with terror.

"What should we do, Captain?" She asked, and her ears started to flop, signalling that a classic 'Misty Fly Mental Breakdown' was about to take place. The blue maned mare stood up and started hopping up and down on the couch, laughing nervously despite the sweat on her brow. "We need to make it land!" She decided, standing straight and cupping a hoof around her mouth, yelling at the bat, which was flying around the edge of the room while Feather Duster chased him with a _baseball_ bat. "INITIATE LANDING SEQUENCE! INITIATE LANDING SEQUENCE!" She started shouting, and Spitfire looked up at her, confused.

"What the frick are you doing, Misty? It's a bat!" She growled. Misty Fly, having lost all sense in her moment of panic as she usually did when she was frightened, didn't listen to what she was saying.

"Don't worry Spitfire, I've been in situations a lot worse than this." She then started speaking madly, the deliria of her panic attack settling in. "Okay kitten, hide behind the couch while your knight in shining armor kills the bat of death- GYAH!" Misty fell face first off the chair and landed on the floor. Spitfire stood up and picked the custard mare up.

"Sit down hero," she placed the shuddering Misty Fly on the couch. "Feather Duster, KILL IT!" She'd had enough. Feathers roared down at her.

"What do you think I'm trying to do?!"

Unfortunately while she was distracted with her 'conversation' with Spitfire, she forgot to turn and crashed into the wall above Misty Fly's couch. She had the cushion over her head again at this point and was muttering something shakily. Feather Duster's impact with the wall sent her tumbling down and bouncing off the chair, then onto the floor. She had also knocked the wall phone off the wall and it had landed next to Misty. The slim pegasus heard somepony speak from the other end.

"Surprise, what's all the racket? Are you alright?"

"NO! IT'S A BAT UPRISING! CALL THE POLICE!" Misty yelled back at the phone, before Froot Loop flew at her again, making her leap off the couch and run in circles a few times before running into the bathroom and slamming the door.

"GRRRRR…" Spitfire growled. "I've had enough of this madness. It isn't worth it. SURPRISE!" She yelled. A whistle was heard and Froot Loop stopped mid-loop, flapping around and swooping into the kitchen. A second later, Surprise peeked around the corner, smirking again.

"Yeeeeees? She asked, wiggling her eyebrows. Spitfire grunted and felt a migraine coming on.

"We'll sleep in the dumb bags." She said as quickly as she could. Surprise squeaked with glee and hopped round the corner.

"That's good, 'cause I already got 'em." She reached back into the kitchen and dragged four sleeping bags into the living room. After flinging a red one at Spitfire and a pink one at Feather Duster, she put a purple one aside for herself and set the other white one on the couch for Misty Fly.

"Surprise if you ever do that again I will cut you!" Spitfire threatened, nosing her sleeping bag a few meters away from the other ones, before deciding to just shove it on the armchair. "I will perform an autopsy on your still-conscious body."

"Are threats really appropriate right now?" Surprise asked, then she grinned, beginning to trot away. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go potty."

"Potty?" Feather Duster asked, poking her head out from underneath her sleeping bag, which she had moved to the side of the coffee table, wanting to ensure that she was the closest to the door in case they needed to escape. "What are you, three?"

Surprise shrugged and raised a brow. "It's a potty. What do you call it?" She asked, noticing that the wall phone was on the sofa and returning it to its rightful place.

"A toilet." Feather Duster replied, wriggling out from the sleeping bag and poking it a few times for a reason that only she seemed to be able to understand. Surprise gasped and put a hoof to her chest.

"That seems a little foul mouthed for a slumber party!" She exclaimed. Feathers scoffed and stopped her poking.

"And 'potty' is okay?" She snickered. Surprise nodded rapidly.

"Yes! Potty is sweet. It's _adorable_!" She explained, hugging herself. Feather Duster settled down on her belly.

"And what do you do in the potty? Wee-wee?" She smirked. Surprise nodded and blushed a little.

"If I don't need to make a boom-boom…"

"I do_ not_ need to hear this!" Spitfire insisted, finally finishing her tea. It was cold by then but it _still_ tasted good. What kind of tea tasted good cold? It was simply unreal!

"Now I'm gonna go to the _potty_," Surprise leaned forward as she said the last word and then hummed as she walked across the room to the bathroom. Spitfire sighed and looked down at her empty cup in a melancholy fashion. Maybe Surprise had some more of that stuff 'cause it was literally like drinking magic! Suddenly she realised something.

"Hey where's Misty Fly?"

And then-

"SON OF A MULE!" Surprise's voice rang out from the bathroom.

"I think that answers your question." Feather Duster grinned, awaiting the satisfaction of what was to come.

"Get out!" Surprise opened the door again and pushed Misty Fly out. The custard furred pegasus awkwardly looked over to her fellow slumber guests and smiled nervously. She trotted over and sat on the couch, checking out her sleeping bag and nodding with satisfaction. Feather Duster sniffed the air.

"Do you smell… chocolate?" She asked. Spitfire inhaled the air and felt a foalish thrill in her head at the scent of her favourite teat.

"I do…" She confirmed. Misty shook her fur out and the smell increased.

"It's chocolate perfume! _Chocolate_! I need to ask Surprise where she gets her cosmetics!" She gushed, sniffing one shoulder. The three then sat in slightly uncomfortable silence until the sound of a toilet flushing was heard and Surprise emerged, looking miffed.

"Enjoy your potty break?" Feathers teased, chuckling. Surprise said nothing but glared over at Misty Fly, and she didn't stop until she reached her spot next to the coffee table on the side opposite to Feather Duster. This was followed by even more silence… until Misty broke it.

"…sorry…" she muttered, hanging her head, though the sniffing sounds indicated that she was loving the chocolate scent. Spitfire looked from Surprise to Misty Fly and felt a sense of frustration rise in her chest. What these two needed was to make friends; granted she didn't care how they went about doing that as long as she didn't get involved, but it just had to be done.

"Hey what time is it?" Feathers looked up at the clock and her pupils dilated. "You're kidding me- we haven't even been here an hour?!"

"It feels like we've been here for a month," Spitfire lamented. "Is it too early to start drinking?"

"Captain, it's not even eight O'clock… of course not." Feathers replied, letting out a yawn. "Gosh, why do these sleeping bags have to be so comfy?"

"Ya know what you need, Spitz? More tea! I'll be right back!" Surprise sprung out the room and Spitfire seemed to perk up at the idea of more of that heavenly tea. A couple of seconds after Surprise left, Misty stood up as well, heading to the front door.

"I'll be right back, I just need a quick smoke." She prodded the pouch around her neck and left. That meant that it was just Spitfire and Feather Duster. In perfect unison the two grouchy mares heaved a sigh of agony and lay on their fronts.

"Cap?" Feathers asked.

"Yes?" Spitfire replied.

"Why are we here?"

"Beats me…" the golden Wonderbolt groaned, "I think that at some point in the last day or two my sleep deprivation may have made me lose some IQ points and I want to be around Surprise's insanity to seem normal by comparison…"

Feathers was quiet for a little while. "…that seems plausible."

"Meh." Spitfire sighed once again.

A couple more minutes of silence followed.

"Cap?"

"Yes?"

"Should we escape?"

"That sounds great."

The two mares got up and started flapping towards the door, trying to keep silent to avoid alerting Surprise to their getaway. And then as Feathers reached for the door knob-

"Hey did- ACK!" Misty gasped as she swung the door open, sending the tiny Feather Duster hurtling across the room and smacking face-first into the wall next to the kitchen doorway. Surprise emerged right then, not noticing the pony embedded in the wall.

"I got tea~!" She sang, skipping across the room with a cup balanced on her back, somehow managing to keep all of the contents inside it. Misty Fly was a little freaked out by that. Surprise noticed this and smirked. "What's the matter Mist? In awe of my awesome skills? This is nothing; check this out."

Surprise proceeded to tip the cup onto its side and roll it along her back, up her neck, through the back of her mane and out the front, where it rolled down her muzzle and was flipped up to stand on the end of her nose. But she wasn't done yet. She flipped the cup up in an arc over her head, sending the contents flying into the air; then she caught it on her rump and let the tea splash back down into it, not spilling one single drop.

Misty was silent, and her jaw hung open with shock. Spitfire was secretly impressed, but only really cared about getting to drink the stuff, not seeing it get tossed around. Then Feather Duster peeled off the wall at last, landing on her back and letting out an 'oof' noise. Surprise finally noticed her and smiled down at the poor heap of pony.

"Oh hey Feathers, I wondered where you went… I've never noticed that pony shape in my wall before, though. I kinda like it." The white mare then gave Spitfire her tea, and looked at Misty, who was still staring, unblinking, with her jaw dropped open. Surprise then placed a hoof under the custard mare's chin and closed her mouth for her, letting out a small chuckle at her state of bewilderment. "Now let's all sit down. It's getting dark and I'm feeling in the mood for horror stories!" She proclaimed. Feather Duster began dragging herself over to her sleeping bag, still a little dazed from face planting the wall, and just as Spitfire was about to move, Misty fly yelled:

"THAT'S NOT HOW PHYSICS WORKS!"

* * *

"So who knows any horror stories?" Surprise asked, and to her delight, Spitfire was the one to raise her hoof. "Go ahead Spitz."

"Okay," Spitfire cleared her throat. "Once upon a time there were four mares; one of them was a psychopath-"

"I like where this is going," Feathers muttered with a smirk.

"-and against the others' will the psychopath trapped all of them in her house. She then proceeded to torment them with trivial games and tasks, until…" Spitz trailed off. Surprise bounced up and down in her spot on the floor.

"What? What happens next?" She asked. Spitfire gave her a glare.

"I'm not sure, but either the psychopath tortures the rest until they form a suicide pact or the three sane ponies all team up and kill the psychopath. You get to decide which one happens!" Spitfire took another swig of tea, and found herself relaxing. "I never thought I'd say this, but I'm _so_ glad you met Pinkie. This stuff tastes like _bliss_."

"Wow, you really like it?" Surprise was a little confused at her captain's uncharacteristic cheer. Spitfire nodded.

"Yep. Give it all to me if ya like!" She said enthusiastically, and Misty fly scooted away from her on the couch. They were on separate chairs, but the slim mare was aware that the captain could be like a bomb. It could explode and send shrapnel flying all around it.

"So, does anypony have any _real_ stories?" Surprise asked. When nopony spoke up, Surprise's expression grew appalled. "_None_ of you? Seriously, what has this world come to that we can't even create our own stories? It's like the universe has lost is creativity. Surely there's some kind of… personal story enthusiast out there somewhere. Equestria, Griffinstone, maybe even another dimension. JUST GIVE ME A SIGN!" Surprise was suddenly hit in the side of the head with an M&amp;M. "Hey, what was that?" The poofy maned mare asked. Feather Duster swallowed a mouthful of the candy before answering.

"It was a sign… that you should shut up and let us do something that's actually entertaining!" She snapped. Surprise humphed and took the bowl off the smaller mare.

"No more candy for you!" She hissed, then brightened up about half a second after. "So should we start talking about our problems?" She asked. Spitfire scoffed and shook her head.

"You're gonna have to give me a lot more of this tea before I agree to that," she declined, and went back to drinking.

"I can make that happen," Surprise said seriously, and for a second it looked like Spitfire was about to react, but she turned her attention away before anything could be said.

That lasted all but three seconds.

"Where is the tea?" Spitfire asked, snapping her head back up. Surprise pointed to the kitchen.

"Second cupboard on the left as you go in. The instructions are on the tin." She instructed, and Spitfire left without another word, still holding her tea in her mouth. Misty Fly spoke up.

"Well this slumber party was a nice idea Surprise; I forgot to say that," she said sweetly. Surprise gave her a single nod and pouted.

"Well nopony seems to be having any fun…" she sighed. Misty bit her lip and fumbled to find an explanation.

"Um… Surprise, I know you put a lot of effort into... purchasing rainbow coloured candy. But did you ever consider that maybe we're all just a bit too… mature for this?" She asked. Misty then felt a tap on the top of her head and she looked up, finding herself looking into Feather Duster's brown eyes. The tiny mare leaned down and pressed her nose to the larger mare's.

"Boop," she smirked. Misty then sprung up from her chair and leapt at Feathers, who began flapping around the room, laughing her head off and obviously enjoying Misty's cries of 'I'm gonna get you for that!' as she gave chase, trying to snag hold of Feather Duster's tail.

Surprise watched them zoom around the room a few times while silently chewing on the M&amp;M's. She had no idea who invented that candy but she wanted to find them and hug them. Suddenly, she got an idea of how to liven up Misty and Feathers' chase so she quietly whistled and felt something emerge from her mane. Froot Loop perched on her nose and squeaked a couple of times. His owner then told him what to do, and with an affirmative nod the bat launched himself off Surprise's nose and flew around the room in the opposite direction of Feathers and Misty.

"Whoa!" Feathers halted mid-flap as she saw the bat hovering in front of her face. Froot Loop then poked his tongue out at her and flew vertically into the air, just in time for Misty Fly to crash into Feathers and send them both falling ungracefully to the floor.

Feather Duster's eyes spun round and round in her skull a few times, and she made a slurring noise, feeling a little nauseous at the sight of the ceiling being on the floor… or was the floor on the ceiling? Suddenly she was aware of a pair of yellow eyes staring at her and she tried to regain her vision. When she finally did stop seeing swirling stuff she took note of the position she was in. She seemed to be underneath Misty Fly, whose tail was lying next to her face, though her vision was taken up mostly by the tiny bat. Froot Loop squeaked at her almost tauntingly and took off towards Surprise.

"THAT'S IT!" Feathers crawled out from underneath Misty Fly (who may or may not be unconscious) and rocketed after the bat. Froot Loop squealed in terror and picked up speed, zooming into Surprise's mane. Feather Duster refused to stop and dove right in, and only a rustling sound was heard before… nothing. Feathers had vanished.

Spitfire came back into the room, a huge flask of tea on her back, and another cup in her mouth, and she was actually _humming_. Seriously, _what _was in that tea? She looked around at the room. Misty Fly was on the floor with her eyes swirling around, Surprise was looking curiously upwards, and Feather Duster was nowhere to be seen. Meh, maybe she managed to get away. Lucky thing.

"So, what's up with Misty?" She asked as she set her flask down on the coffee table and got up on the armchair, deciding that she could make this night tolerable as long as she had that tea. Pinkie had sent Surprise a whole cupboard full of the stuff so she didn't have to worry about running out anytime soon.

"Do you want the long explanation or the short one?" Surprise asked, still staring upwards.

"The short one."

"Feathers- boop- chase- bat- splat."

"I'm going to pretend I understood that." Spitfire decided that she didn't give a damn anyway. Surprise trotted over to Misty Fly and looked down at her. She was conscious, but was staring straight up.

"Get up then," Surprise chirped innocently. Misty Fly gulped and shakily sat up, looking a little sick. Surprise eyed her curiously and decided to ask what was on her mind. "Why are you so shaken up? It was just a little fall."

Misty Fly cleared her throat and looked down at the ground. "I'm scared… petrified even, of crashing and falling mid-flight." She confessed. Surprise kind of knew that she was scared of something to do with flying, but she had no idea that it was this serious.

"Really?" Surprise wanted to know more now. She had started this slumber party to help ponies with their problems, and this kind of counted, right? Misty looked at her with wide baby blue eyes, but didn't question Surprise's motives.

"Yeah, it's a little embarrassing…" she muttered. Surprise scooted a little closer, making puppy dog eyes at Misty.

"Pwease tell me mowe?" She stuck out her bottom lip and batted her eyelashes. Misty was a little freaked out, but bit back any retort she had.

"Um… it's a boring story. You wouldn't wanna hear it." She insisted, trying to steer the conversation elsewhere. But Surprise wouldn't budge.

"I've heard stuff that's much more boring. Have you heard Spitfire when she talks about… well I don't know what she talks about because I kind of just watch her jaw move up and down, but it sure is boring. She's the _Mayor_ of 'Boringville.'" To her delight, this got a giggle from Misty Fly, and it only got funnier when Spitfire didn't react at all, still drinking the Rooftastic Tea.

"You really wanna hear?" Misty asked, raising one eyebrow. Surprise nodded her head. Misty sighed. "You aren't gonna let me go until I tell you this, are you?" Surprise shook her head. Misty rolled her eyes and smiled at Surprise's behaviour. "Fine."

"Yay! Story time! I _knew_ I'd get a story from somepony tonight!" Surprise sat up straight and stared at Misty in a slightly creepy fashion. Misty Fly scooted back a space just to distance herself from those purple pools of terror and began her story.

"Well, when I was a little filly I was literally _obsessed _with the Wonderbolts. I had posters, autographs, I wanted to go to all of their shows, even when I couldn't afford it (I still got into them, but I'll get to that in a minute) I had a plushie of Captain Nighthawk at one point. Those things sold like hot cakes! Seriously, the pony who sold hot cakes was jealous." That got a laugh from Surprise, whom prior to this hadn't had a clue that Misty Fly even knew what a sense of humour was.

"Keep going, Mist." Surprise invited, and Misty obeyed.

"Okay… where was I?"

"Hot cakes and Nighthawk plushies."

"Ah, thanks. Well, I also had this friend who loved them too. She was a little bit of a rebel, and she's the one who managed to sneak us into all the air shows. We pretended we were a famous flying duo and did a bunch of other foalish stuff that I kinda can't believe I did." She chuckled, though she frowned a little while afterwards. "I did feel bad for her when she didn't make it into the Academy but I did."

"That sucks…" Surprise knew how it felt to want to be in the Wonderbolts Academy so badly that it felt like you would give anything for it, so she felt the pain of Misty's friend. Misty Fly continued.

"Yeah… well she sometimes came to visit me. And my that I mean she busted into the Academy through my dorm window and dragged me out-"

"Wait what? When was this?" Surprise asked. She didn't get involved with the cadets back when Misty was in the Academy so she was unaware of any breaking and entering friends.

"Um… it's in the past so let's just keep it there." Misty Fly gulped, trying to look innocent. "Anyway, one time when we snuck out, we got into a little trouble at the Weather Factory and my friend suggested using this trick we'd been working on to get out of there quickly. It… didn't work so well. We crashed, and we fell and… Surprise it was horrible!" Misty's voice caught in her throat. "I was so terrified. We were up so high and it hurt so badly and I busted up both of my right legs and- I need a paper bag!"

Surprise pulled just the thing out of her mane and gave it to Misty Fly, who began breathing into it. Surprise awkwardly patted her shoulder, feeling a little unnerved about how much this freaked her out. She must have been _really_ high in the sky. Spitfire looked over her shoulder at the scene playing out behind her and raised an eyebrow.

"What did I miss?" She asked, sipping some more tea. Surprise shook her head at her.

"Just some issues I'm helping Misty Fly with. Everything's under control." She saluted with one wing. Spitfire looked a little unconvinced.

"It looks like everything's spun _out_ of control if you ask me," she mused, and Misty let out a gasp, breathing slower but harder into the bag. Surprise hissed out the corner of her mouth.

"Bad choice of words, Spitz!"

"Whoops…" Spitfire's eyes darted from side to side before she turned back around, deciding that if she didn't know what was happening then there was really nothing she could do to help out. Misty finally calmed down and put the bag down on the floor beside her. She looked apologetically up at Surprise.

"Sorry for being such a nuisance about all this," she looked a bit embarrassed to have had a panic attack in her less-than-friend's house. Surprise just shrugged it off, deciding to cut Misty Fly some slack since this was clearly a shaky topic for her.

"It's okay. You can't help it Mist, so it's not a big deal. I mean it _is_ a big deal that you feel like this, but I just mean that you can freak out as much as you want in my house. I mean _I_ freak out in my house all the time, so I don't see why none of you can, too." She got an idea and flapped into the air, touching down swiftly on the coffee table, sending some magazines fluttering off the table and making Spitfire jump since the table was right in front of her. "HEY! I just got an idea! Let's call my house 'The Cocoon'."

"Why 'The Cocoon'?" Spitfire asked, legitimately curious. Usually she would have just told Surprise that she was stupid and gone back to whatever was taking her attention before, but she actually felt like listening for a change… she must _really _be tired.

"Because a 'cocoon' means a safe haven where little traumatised baby caterpillars can bloom into healthy, sane butterflies." Surprise explained. Spitfire kept a blank expression on her face.

"Considering you've lived in 'The Cocoon' for about five years now, I highly doubt that this will do anything positive to our mental health." She deadpanned. Misty Fly spoke up as she walked around Spitfire's armchair to sit on the left couch cushion.

"Keep talking Surprise… you're in The Cocoon, so you can say whatever you like." Misty actually _went along_ with this. Spitfire was torn between one half of her that thought that the custard mare was bonkers, and the other half that was relieved to see her siding with Surprise. The white mare gave Misty a grateful look.

"That's right, Misty Fly. Because anything goes in The Cocoon; it's an anxiety-free zone. Our Cocoon of Fun… I've said the word 'cocoon' too much now. It's stopped sounding a word. Cocoon… see, it sounds like gobbledegook- which also doesn't sound like a word anyway-"

"Get to the point." Spitfire sighed, tipping her head back in agony.

"Okay!" Surprise snapped, a little miffed, "But as I was saying; there's nothing we can't say, think or do inside The Cocoon."

"That's good, 'cause I'm thinking a lot of things right now, Surprise." Spitfire's head was still tilted upwards. Surprise shook her head at the captain's bitterness, but decided to focus on the positives. She now knew about Misty Fly's problem… but now that she thought about it this just started a whole new set of problems. Surprise had been mad at Misty Fly for the longest time for that little incident, but now she felt sorry for her. And knowing that she was scared of falling mid-flight revealed why she had been in a panic before that air show; both of them had suffered back then, but neither of them had realised that the other one was in a pickle, too. Surprise was still mad; she would likely never get over this, but at the same time she wanted to help Misty Fly- that's what this whole slumber party was about anyway. Who knew? Maybe they could even help each other get along? Surprise hoped they'd find away, because she did _want_ to be friends with all of her colleagues. But it was just so hard to look at Misty and not feel a pang in her heart. Why did things always have to be so complicated?

"Surprise?" Misty Fly broke her from her thoughts. Surprise blinked a couple of times and looked at the blue maned mare. "Are you alright there? You looked like you were miles away."

The white mare flushed with embarrassment at having drifted into daydream land right there in the middle of her living room, but she shook it off and tried to play it cool. "Yep-a-rooni, everything's fine." She insisted. Misty Fly nodded and then looked over at Spitfire.

"So Captain, what's-"

"FREEDOM!" Feather Duster suddenly lurched out of Surprise's mane and flopped forward onto the floor. Spitfire was so scared by Feather Duster's freaky reveal that she started choking on her tea, Misty Fly clutched her chest in terror, and Surprise screamed with shock. Feathers looked utterly freaked out, laying on her front on the floor, her fur ruffled and her mane sticking out all over the place. It looked like she had gone through hell.

"Oh my gosh, Feather Duster, what happened?" Misty helped the janitor to her hooves. The small mare's eyes were wide and she was shaking.

"It was yellow… so yellow! I could hardly breathe and everywhere I turned there was hair… and a bunch of random stuff… and more hair… there was even one terrifying moment where I was sure I was dead. It was like a whole new dimension… but I'm back and I am never returning to that awful place. It was a nightmare, Mist!" Feathers grabbed Misty Fly's cheeks and smooshed them together, shaking the taller pony as she yelled about her adventure in the unknown.

"Surprise, maybe now's the time to explain to Feathers that this is an anxiety-free zone?" Misty asked Surprise as Feathers started wringing her tail in her hooves, jittering and muttering something under her breath that sounded a lot like 'I am in my happy place.'

Surprise clicked her tongue and nodded slowly, looking a little awkward about this herself.

"Yes, that's probably a smart idea."

* * *

"It's nine O'clock," Feathers reported as she came out of the bathroom. "so what's next? That suicide pact thing sounds fair."

"Oh hush," Surprise shushed her small companion. "once Spitz gets back from the kitchen we're gonna do pillow fights!"

"Pillow fights… meh, that's cool. But I'm going for you first," Feathers replied, smirking evilly.

"I'm worried about Spitfire…" Misty said suddenly, looking towards the kitchen, where the captain was getting more tea. Feathers scoffed and sat on her sleeping bag.

"We're all worried about the captain Mist." She snorted. Misty gave her a look that said 'shut up'.

"I mean that she's getting totally addicted to that tea… and she obviously has some unspoken issues that need to be cleaned up. Surprise should have her work cut out there."

"Oh," Feather Duster blinked. "I thought by 'worried' you meant something like '_I'm worried that Spitfire will someday roundhouse a pony's head off because they didn't produce enough sweat during drills to wash a barn.'_"

"Get serious," Misty rolled her eyes. Surprise stood up for her bestie.

"Yeah, Spitz isn't that bad." She defended the captain. Feathers raised a brow.

"Are we talking about the same pegasus? She's cranky as a mule with a broom shoved up-"

"Hey!" Surprise cut her off. "She's only cranky because she's under a lot of stress. I'd like to see _you_ handle her work for _one day_!"

"I could do her job!" Feathers insisted, standing up. "I'd make the Academy my evil lair and I'd make all the cadets my slaves and you Wonderbolts would be my entertainments. Okay, I'd make special use of you two, and Fire Streak. You two could take turns carrying me and Fire Streak would be like, my bodyguard or something."

"Thank… you…?" Misty was baffled. Surprise rolled her eyes.

"Feather Duster, do you have any idea how hard Spitfire's job is? She has to sign a bunch of boring paperwork (and she even reads the fine print!), she has to train the cadets, she needs to make sure she exercises regularly, she needs to arrange all our schedules, make sure we all get our correct payment, she needs to keep us all in order and ensure that we all show up for our _own _training sessions. She needs to book our airshows and then sometimes she even rechecks to see if they stay booked. She gets a bunch of fan mail that she actually _reads_, and she has to handle all of the rabid fans and stay away from any stupid tabloid ponies. And even then she has to deal with foalhood trauma- I don't know how she does it."

"Whoa…" Feather Duster's pupils had shrunk. "I'd get a migraine from all of that work. Ya know, I think I'll let her do all of that shtick and I'll rebuild my sonic death ray."

"You built a sonic death ray?" Surprise asked. Feathers pouted.

"Yeah… it didn't even slow down the cops, though."

"Wait," Misty waved a hoof to get Surprise's attention. Surprise looked over at the blue eyed mare and invited her to speak. "Did you say 'foalhood trauma'?"

Surprise heard some kind of alarm going off in her head, and as soon as she had reached into her mane and switched off the alarm clock she looked away, putting on a poker face.

"Nooooo…" she lied. Misty looked concerned.

"Surprise, did something happen to her?"

"No!" Surprise insisted, sitting up straight on the floor. Misty looked Surprise right in the eye.

"You're telling lies." She said the obvious. Surprise shook her head roughly.

"No I'm not. This is just the face I make when… I have a cold." She fibbed once again. Misty Fly folded her arms and scowled.

"Yep, you sure have some kind of sickness. Its symptoms include a growing nose and a burning sensation in your fur. It's called 'Liar-Liar-Fur-On-Fire-Itis."

"I'm _not lying, Mist_!" Surprise stood up.

"Surprise, you said so yourself that this whole thing is about helping each other with our problems, so shouldn't we know about this?" Misty shot back, sliding off the couch. Surprise narrowed her eyes.

"Well what if Spitfire doesn't _want_ anyone to know?"

"Then what's the point of this slumber party?"

"I… I _do_ want to help Spitfire with her problem. In fact, that's the reason I started all of this. I knew that she wouldn't come here by herself so I picked out the one pony possibly more screwed up than her to come, too!" She pointed at Feather Duster, who looked insulted. "And then she made me invite you so I'd 'suffer' as well!"

"I am _not_ screwed up!" Feathers insisted.

"Three words," Surprise shot a glare her way. "Sonic. Death. Ray."

"Hang on, this whole thing was just a set up so you'd force Spitfire to come to terms with things she's not comfortable with?" Misty snapped at Surprise, whose fur was standing on end with irritation.

"That's what _you_ were doing just a few seconds ago!" Surprise accused her, and Misty Fly shook her head.

"No, I was genuinely concerned for her because I thought this was all some retarded therapist appointment. I came here because I thought that you could actually help me out; that we could put aside whatever this whole rivalry is about. But knowing that you know about what's wrong with the Captain, knew she doesn't want anyone to know, planned a slumber party where she'd have to talk about it in front of everyone, and pretty much demanded that me and Feather Duster be a part of it, I see that you need to get _your_ head examined. You can't just expect someone to step outside their comfort zone just because there's another mentally unfit pony here!"

"I'm sitting right here!" Feathers raised her voice.

"_Ponies_! Plural, Misty Fly! You have mental issues too and you know it! Little Miss Panic Attack and Breathe Into a Bag!"

"That is a _health_ condition!" Misty argued.

"No, it's from a traumatic event that you _told_ me about!" Surprise felt her blood boil as she stared down the custard mare.

"And now you're pitting it against me to make me feel bad about myself."

"That was _not_ my intention!"

"It may as well have been!"

"How is this _my _fault? _You're_ the one who was bringing up Spitfire's problem?"

"You could have said something like 'It's too personal for me to tell you'."

"I basically _did_ do that but that wasn't good enough for you!"

"No, you lied and said that there wasn't a problem!"

"There's not!"

"You're doing it again!"

"Oh for the love of Celestia, JUST KISS ALREADY!" Feather Duster suddenly shouted out sarcastically, silencing the room at last. Surprise and Misty just stared at Feathers, the anger in their eyes meant for each other and not the smaller mare, but Feathers shrunk down anyway.

"I can't believe," Misty looked over at Surprise again, "that not too long ago I was telling you about a very personal issue. I actually thought that there was a chance for us to connect with something."

"Well whose fault is it that we're in this position?" Surprise said it calmly, but there was even more venom in her tone somehow when her tone was like this. It stung Misty right in the heart and made her want to be swallowed up by the ground. Suddenly there was a buzzing noise, the lights flickered, and suddenly the whole house went dark. There were for consecutive cries of 'what the hay?!' from around the house before Surprise groaned. Feathers squinted in the dark but she could not see what was going on.

"Great, now the power's out. Nice going, Misty Fly." Surprise's voice came from the left side of the small janitor.

THAT'S IT!" Feathers heard some hoofsteps a few meters in front of her followed by a grunt and the sound of something smashing a way off.

"Did I get you?" Misty asked in the dark. "Are you dead?"

"No." Came Surprise's reply.

"Darn it." Misty sighed. "Please don't hurt me if whatever I threw was expensive."

"Hey," Spitfire came back through the door from the kitchen, "I looked outside and the whole street is out of power. Just great…" came the satirical groan.

"Well I can't see Surprise's blubber-butt anymore so I call it an improvement." Misty humped to Spitfire's left.

"Hey, my flank is amazing!" Surprise whined, clearly offended.

"Guys, whatever you do, do _not_ stop bickering," Spitfire told them all, "I'm going to follow the sound of your incessant whinging and-" there was a crunching sound. "Huh… what's this all over the floor? Broken glass? Did you guys break something?" Her voice went shrill. "I was gone for… not long, so what were you guys up to?"

"You were in the next room, how could you not hear the yelling?" Feathers spoke up from by the door. Spitfire couldn't imagine why.

"I'm not really in touch with things today… my head's a little blurry and I'm angry; mix those two up and I just don't care about anything that's going on around me." Spitfire explained. "But I made more tea so I'll just be content with what I've got. I'll have to ration this out now that the power's out."

"How many cups of that stuff have you had?" Misty asked and Spitfire began following her voice.

"Um… I don't know. Eight?" She didn't care.

"Cap, can you light up the room or something with your weird fire trick?" Feathers asked. There was a long pause followed by a lengthy exhale and the sound of flesh hitting flesh that suggested that a facehoof had occured.

"Feather Duster," Spitfire began, calmly. "Why would I perform a dangerous stunt inside somepony's house that while not only being physically impossible would send said pony's house up in flames if it was?"

"So we can see our hooves in front of our faces." Feather Duster replied casually.

"I don't know why I try with you ponies." Spitfire sighed and kept walking. There was an 'oof' as she collided with the coffee table but she just hoped that nopony had taken notice and took her spot on the armchair again.

"Now what?" Misty asked, and Feather Duster could hear the distinct sound of somepony clambering onto a chair. She decided to speak up.

"How about truth or dare?" She suggested.

"Good idea!" Surprise yelled and stood up, which was exactly what Feather Duster had hoped would happen.

"What did you do that for?!" Spitfire yelled from Feather's left. Feather Duster shrugged, despite the fact that Spitfire could not see it.

"You're a tea addict!" Feathers just yelled. She half expected Spitfire to get up and strangle her, but nothing happened.

"Right, truth or dare. Let's go!" Surprise sounded super angry. Feathers called out into the darkness.

"I dare Surprise to get out the booze."

"It's not your turn," Surprise told her, "that's not how this works."

"Yes, that _is_ how it works!" Feathers was pretty sure that truth or dare started with one pony giving another pony a truth or a dare, and that is precisely what she'd done! What was Surprise's problem?

"No it's not. It's not your turn!" Surprise said again. Feathers scoffed, sticking her nose up in the air.

"Well then I dare Surprise to make out with Misty Fly."

"IT'S NOT YOUR TURN!" Surprise stomped her hooves on the ground.

"Well then those turn is it?" Misty asked, sounding frustrated.

"I don't know," Surprise answered, "the game hasn't started yet!"

"It's _my_ turn." Feather Duster insisted, and there was nothing but silence for about ten seconds.

"…no it isn't." Surprise said blankly.

"Yes it is."

"Tell ya what. It's _my_ turn!" Spitfire barked from the direction of the armchair.

"Why?" Feather Duster looked in her direction, and her eyes had adjusted to the light well enough to see an outline of the golden captain.

"Because I'm the captain and I get the final say in how things work. So guess what; Feather Duster, truth or dare?"

"Truth." Feathers sat up.

"Hey Misty Fly, truth or dare?" Spitfire moved onto the next pony, kinda disappointing Feather Duster.

"Um… dare?"

"I dare all four of us to shut up and go to sleep." The captain settled, stamping a hoof on the arm of her chair to punctuate her order.

"Can you do that?" Surprise asked, and Spitfire made a 'meh' noise.

"I hope so." She sighed.

"But we haven't done any psychological stuff yet." Surprise whined. Spitfire groaned and unzipped her sleeping back, deciding not to even bother zipping it back up when she got back in, and resting her back hooves on the coffee table since there wasn't much room for her entire body on the armchair alone.

"Honestly, none of us are really in the mood for it Surprise. I think that by this stage _all_ of us want to brutally kill you, chop you into little pieces, and hide you in the walls, so go to bed and we might not smother you in your sleep."

"Okay." Surprise gave in, terrified by the death threat. Welp, one of them would _not_ sleep easily tonight.

* * *

"Okay, here's how this is gonna go," Spitfire told the others once she was certain that her two fellow prisoners (and Surprise) were in the sleeping bags. "we're all going to zip it, lie down, go to sleep, and in the morning this will all seem like a bad dream. We don't need to say a word to each other, we don't have to care about what anypony's feeling; we're just going to have an agonizingly long sleep."

"Sieg heil, sleep Nazi," Feather Duster piped up on the floor to Spitfire's left. "Vhen do we put Surprise in der concentration camp?"

"Shut up." Spitfire said gruffly. Feathers sat up and looked over in Surprise's direction, now being able to see her a little clearer.

"Vhat is dis?" She smirked, "Un psychopath is sleeping in mein kamf radius. Unacceptable." She then raised a hoof in a Nazi fashion and spoke to Spitfire. "Mein Furher! Furher! Excuse me, Furher!"

"Go. To. Sleep. Feather Duster." Spitfire rubbed her temples and reached out to the side for her flask of tea and taking a swig. Maybe she shouldn't drink it before bed… meh.

"But der ist un psycho! And you are in charge of de sleeping!" Feathers pouted. The silence that followed was practically a deadpan look in itself. Feathers snuggled deeper into the sleeping bag, mumbling. "You could have at least_ tried_ to play along."

"GOODNIGHT!" Spitfire yelled, making Misty Fly jolt with shock and she stuffed her face as far as she could into the corner of the armchair.

And then it was quiet…

For about thirty-two seconds.

Spitfire felt something brush her ear and on instinct, it twitched to swat whatever it was away. She figured that her ear must have brushed against the chair or something.

But she felt it again, and once again her ear flopped down and then back up again. It was always pretty irritating and uncomfortable when a pony's ear did this. After the third brush of her ear she let out an annoyed grunt and tried to slap whatever the cause of this was away, though her hoof made contact with nothing. There must have been a draft somewhere.

But-

"STOP THIS MADNESS!" Spitfire shot up after her ear was brushed again, finding herself looking right into Feather Duster's grinning face.

"You're silly when you're mad," Feather Duster leaned back and fell off the chair to avoid an infuriated swipe of Spitfire's hoof.

"Feather Duster, what will it take for you to go to _sleep_?" Spitfire felt her sanity slipping further away than it already was. She was hearing voices in her head that were telling her to grab a carving knife and have Feather Duster for dinner tomorrow, but she decided to just call that Plan B.

"I didn't get my turn in truth or dare," she hopped back on the arm of the chair and smirked at the sleeping captain. Spitfire briefly buried her face in the couch cushion again and swore a couple of times while her voice was muffled. She finally lifted her face up and glared at the tiny pegasus mare.

"Fine. You can have your turn, but I expect you to clean the whole gymnasium tomorrow… with your toothbrush." She added that last part for extra measure. Feather Duster just shrugged.

"Meh, I don't use toothbrushes; I use an aqua-pick because I have pretty sensitive gums-"

"I don't care," Spitfire cut her off. "Just take your turn so we can go to sleep… I'm smothering you as well by the way…"

0000000000000000000

**Fifteen Minutes Later**

0000000000000000000

"'_I dare you to fill your living room with clouds, Surprise_'!" Spitfire mimicked Feather Duster's high voice as she popped her head out from the huge mass of clouds that was currently crushing her against the wall beside the stairwell. "You didn't think she could do it, did you? BUT SHE COULD!"

"Well…" Feather poked her snout out of the vase she had hidden in (Luna knows how she fit in there) "you have to admit that it was pretty funny until the clouds got in here."

"UGH!" Spitfire groaned as her face got smushed against the wall thanks to Misty Fly flailing around somewhere in the huge mass of white. "If I wasn't getting crushed by these- (the next word was muffled by Spitfire getting briefly engulfed by the fluffy stuff) – clouds, I would smack you so hard your brain would fly out the other side of your head!"

Surprise then emerged from the far end of the room, where the clouds were smooshing her into the top corner of the room near the kitchen. "Misty, I blame you for this!" She announced, and winced as a large hunk of cloud was suddenly thrown at her.

"What did I do?!" Misty thrust herself out from the clouds, almost flying into the ceiling, though she stopped herself barely a hairsbreadth away from it. "I was the only one of us who didn't initiate any of this!"

"It's a reflex," Surprise pushed some of the clouds away from her face, though some remained around her mouth and chin making it look like she had a fuzzy white beard, "if something goes wrong blame Misty Fly!"

"Captain!" Misty called out as she got swallowed up by the clouds for a few seconds before resurfacing, a scowl upon her face. "Smack her, too!"

"Gladly!" The golden mare pressed her back against the wall and tried pushing the clouds away with her back legs. "But don't you think we should get rid of these frickin' clouds before the neighbours complain about the noise!"

"Excellent notion!" Feathers poked her snout out of her enclosed sanctuary. "Just wait for me to get out of this vase."

"How in Celestia's name can you fit comfortably inside that thing?" Misty asked, pawing at the clouds in frustration, barely paying attention to what she was saying at all. Nopony could see it, but they were sure that Feather Duster was wearing a deadpan expression when she answered that question.

"My knees are in my armpits; does that sound comfortable to you?"

"Shut up so I can think of a plan!" Spitfire silenced the other and gripped her head, though she was becoming more aware of a foggy, numbing sensation in her brain rather than the clouds.

"Captain!" Spitfire was suddenly picked up off the floor. What the- how did she get down there? "Captain, what's wrong with you?"

"Wha- nothing… what's happening?" The world was all swirly. Oh gosh, of all the times to finally snap, why now?

"You just passed out right after you said that you were thinking of a plan… you must have been thinking pretty hard." It sounded like the speaker was Misty Fly.

"This is no time… for jokes," she tried to grasp reality, but hopelessly failed.

"Captain, are you feeling okay?" Misty(?) asked. Spitfire nodded.

"Of course I'm fine- I love you guys," she slurred towards the end of her sentence. The pony holding her up made an awkward, concerned noise, and twisted her head.

"Surprise, what's going on with Spitfire?!"

"Um…" Surprise looked a little nervous. "Hold on a second, please?" Surprise then dove down into the clouds, leaving Misty Fly alone with a woozy captain and a stuck janitor.

"I think I can feel my elbows again!" Feather Duster called from her spot in the vase.

"Aha!" Surprise popped up right next to Misty Fly, living up to her name by surprising the blue manned Wonderbolt.

"Turn down the volume nodules private, this is quiet time!" Spitfire flopped backwards and leaned against Misty, giggling.

"Surprise, I'm scared!" Misty looked cautiously down at the laughing captain, having never heard Spitfire laugh unless she was being sarcastic about something.

"Well…" Surprise held up a tin of something. "I think I know why Spitfire's acting like a deer that's been tranquilised." She read the contents off the tin to Misty Fly, and when she got towards the end of the list, Misty Fly finally began to catch onto what the problem was.

"…and it also has essence of despair, and… delusia bee blood." She gulped. Misty smacked herself in the forehead.

"Why in the name of Celestia herself would your friend Pinkie Pie make tea with something called 'essence of despair'?" She asked in disbelief. Surprise made a surrendering sign with her arms.

"I asked her that, too- yes, I do read the contents like you should- and she said that she thought it was a kind of baking soda!"

"And the bee blood?"

"SHE LIKES BEES!" Surprise stood up for her friend stubbornly. Misty nodded down at the limp captain, who was rather adorably but lazily batting at the hanging part of Misty's mane whilst being half submerged in the clouds, which had stopped shifting around due to none of the ponies fidgeting.

"Surprise, you nitwit, this is serious! This stuff is making her go wackadoo!" She felt Spitfire tugging at her mane and winced. "Stop that!" She tried not to raise her voice.

"Well what do you expect me to do about it? Pinkie said that the tea might have some side effects on ponies who don't understand our clockwork, but she never said anything about this…" she remembered learning something about those ingredients. "Um, isn't essence of despair supposed to make you go limp?"

"I don't know! What do I look like, the Retarded Essence Police?" She asked sarcastically. Surprise ignored that comment, though she was sure that if anypony else had said that she would be rolling on the floor laughing. Damn Misty and her annoying effect on her.

"And delusia-bees are exactly what they sound like. Their blood is used in hospitals to make patients' lose their grip on reality so they won't care or feel anything if they go under the knife."

"How do you know all of this stuff?!" Misty asked Surprise, slightly irritated that the excitable pegasus knew things that she didn't.

"I have a life outside of the Wonderbolts ya know!" Surprise made up an excuse.

"That's a terrible explanation," Misty shook her head, "how do you know this stuff? Answer me honestly!"

"Fine!" Surprise bit her lip, "I watch medical dramas and documentaries. I know a lot of things about medicine! I even went through a secret medical schooling thingy two years ago! Okay I've said it, now let's get rid of these clouds!"

"Wait… what's wrong with watching medical stuff?" Mist was confused. It seemed like an awesome talent to have.

"Um… it's kinda related to something traumatic with Spitz; but that's not important. I'll explain my medical knowledge to you later, but we've gotta get these clouds out of my house… I would really appreciate that!"

"Hey do ya think that you can glue me back together with your medial know-how once I'm out of this Luna damned vase?" Feathers asked. The little mare had somehow shifted inside her makeshift sanctuary so that her left ear was poking out the top of the vase instead of her muzzle. It made her voice a little muffled, but to some ponies that would be considered a very good thing.

"What should I do with Spitfire?" Misty hoisted the captain up higher so that she was being propped up on her shoulder. Surprise shrugged.

"Put her on that table next to Feather-Vase. The clouds won't reach them so long as we don't shift them that way." Surprise explained, a little afraid that she would have to lead the process of getting the clouds out of here instead of Spitfire.

"Okay," Misty Fly did as she was told. "now… do you have a plan?"

"No. Do you?"

"No."

"Great…" Surprise looked around the house. She and Misty were almost reaching the ceiling from their spot in the clouds, and honestly it was a pretty uncomfortable situation. Surprise had a fear of getting her head crushed after all… wait, these were clouds; that wasn't possible. The most she could do was suffocate- oh crud.

She looked over at Misty Fly and tried to think. "Um… hey Misty, do you have any cloud busting tricks that could help us out of this pickle?" She asked, taking a shot in the dark with this.

"I…" Misty rolled her eyes and cast a glance down at the clouds below. "Yes, my wingpony and I used to cheat in cloud busting by using a trick me and that friend of mine invented." She admitted with a sigh. Surprise lunged forward, eyes wide and pressed her nose against Misty's, freaking her out a little.

"I _might_ not punish you for that if you use it to clear the house. So go!" Surprise back up and clapped her hooves together before nodding down at the clouds. As irritated as Misty was to be treated like this, she obliged, diving into the clouds and swimming through them towards the door. She emerged into the dark of the night and looked at the damage.

Through the living room window there was only whiteness. Gosh, how had Surprise managed to pull this off? Well, she was an unpredictable pony; anypony who was anypony knew that, usually just by hearing her name. The custard mare pinpointed the right spot for her trick to take place and then thought over how this would work out.

The High Velocity Vortex was a trick that Misty hadn't used since her Academy years, and even then it had only been a few times because she had been afraid of getting caught. Unlike her special trick, which was her ability to skim over water and then use it to create a trail of mist behind her as she flew (The Foggy Flyby), this was a trick she preferred to keep classified unless it was with trusted ponies; she would hate for someone else to take credit for it after all. But it looked like the Vortex was the most logical way of getting the clouds out of Surprise's house. Of course, she would have to make a pretty small one so the walls, or the rest of the house, didn't get sucked apart, too.

But there was one downside to this…

"Surprise, can you come outside?" Misty called as quietly as she could so she wouldn't disturb any sleeping ponies… oh what she wouldn't do for some sleep right about now. A few seconds later, Surprise emerged from the house, Feather Duster in tow.

"I'm out! Thank Celestia that Spitfire's a kicker when she's drunk." The small mare rubbed her right flank, which had a small bruise on it, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that Spitfire had smashed the vase on the floor.

"She isn't drunk," Misty Fly felt compelled to correct her. Feathers shrugged.

"Well, she's woozy, talking nonsense, giggling like a crazy pony, and making weird sounds. Call it what you want, but in my opinion she's as tipsy as a Weeble™."

"This is no time to reference well-loved 70's toys, Feather Duster. I need Surprise right now." She looked at the white mare. Surprise raised a brow and stepped forward.

"What's up doc?" She asked, slowly pulling a carrot out of her mane and crunching down on it. Misty rolled her blue eyes and sighed.

"Surprise, this requires two ponies to work, and frankly you're the only option I've got."

Feather cleared her throat. "I'm standing right here, and I can help!" She insisted. Misty Fly had a look on her face that suggested she thought otherwise.

"Feathers, I just don't think you could keep up with me… and the Vortex will be more stable if it's done by ponies of similar size." Misty explained. Surprise blinked at the mention of a vortex, and Feathers just hummed in thought.

"Fair enough," She admitted. Surprise raised a forehoof.

"So, what's this Vortex, and how can we make it?" She asked. Misty was relieved to be getting questions that made sense from the yellow maned mare.

"The two of us need to fly in a vertical rotation angle fast enough that it creates a small vortex that will suck all the clouds out of the house." Misty hoped that her wording was simple enough for Surprise to understand, because she had a theory that despite not knowing much about her, the excitable Wonderbolt was a bit dim-witted. Unfortunately she was unaware of just how much Surprise knew about all kinds of different things. She was smart; she just preferred randomness and surprises over brains.

"Okay, like a giant vacuum cleaner." Surprise just nodded. "Let's get this over with," she cricked her neck from side to side and allowed Misty to tell her where the vortex was supposed to be and then backed up so they'd have enough room to take off. Misty spread her wings and took a deep breath, which she did out of habit before flying anywhere, then looked over at Surprise, who had her wings out as well, only she was ruffling them a little with a smirk on her face, which to a pegasus was a slightly offensive gesture… not _very_ offensive, but translated into words, a wing ruffle before a joint flight meant '_I'm going to be much better than you at this_'.

Misty grunted and rolled her eyes before flapping into the air, telling Surprise to do the same, thanking the princesses that the older Wonderbolt was doing as she was told. Feather Duster sat back and watched, pretty excited to see the Vortex. She loved all of the Wonderbolts' tricks, though she would never tell any of them that to their faces, but this was a trick that she hadn't even heard of, which meant that it was probably gonna be _awesome_.

Well… awesome probably wasn't the right word.

The two pegasi started off okay, building the flight into a steady rhythm and slowly picking up speed as the moments passed, but after a while, Surprise began flying a little faster than Misty Fly, which resulted in Surprise being hit in the face with Misty's tail, causing her to abruptly stop, which made Misty propel into Surprise's back head-first. The two mares fell to the floor, both rubbing their heads.

"Um… could have been better?" Feathers threw a critique out there. She wished she could help them, but apparently size mattered here and her stupid Molecular Growth Gun didn't work. Surprise shook her head and booped herself on her nose to get her purple eyes to stop rattling in her skull.

"So… how about we redo that?" She scowled. "A little faster."

"I thought you knew that we had to be the same speed," Misty accused Surprise of screwing up, and Feathers wished that she had a bag of popcorn, since she enjoyed watching these two argue a lot.

"Well, you could have sped up!" Surprise argued back.

"We could have done this if your flying wasn't so random," Misty insulted her rival's techniques.

"We're teammates!" Surprise fumed. "It's basic Wonderbolt logic that you have to know how your fellow 'Bolts fly."

"And yet you didn't know how _I_ flew!" Misty shot back. Surprise growled and pointed at her front door.

"I've had it! Get in there, out of my sight!" She ordered. A little confused, Misty Fly made her way into the clouds in the living room and shut the front door behind her. Surprise then realised the error she'd made and growled in anger, marching over to the door and opening it, grabbing Misty Fly before she could completely vanish into the whiteness.

"What?" Misty asked, blank-eyed.

"I'm supposed to send the pony I'm mad at _out_ of my house! We can't even _argue_ properly!" Surprise was yelling at herself more than she was yelling at Misty now.

"Guys!" Feathers walked up to them and sighed, knowing that if the Random One was angry, the Logical One was miffed at the Random One and the Tough One was too drunk on tea to function, then the Evil One was going to have to step up and become the Responsible One.

"What?" Misty and Surprise asked at the same time. Feather Duster cleared her throat.

"I know that you two are in the middle of some weird argument that really doesn't make sense to anypony but you guys…" she paused for a moment to let that get into their heads, "but there are more pressing matter than your petty rivalry right now. So you need to stop going for each other's throats for just a minute and create a frickin' vortex so Surprise can have her living room back, and the rest of us can get to sleep. Honestly, I'm super tired now and I just want this all to be over. And if you can't do this just for the sake of clearing out this house… then do it for your captain. She's counting on you right now; she may never say that to you, but it's true. Right now, she needs you to clear out these clouds so we can clear out whatever it is that's wormed its way into her brain and made her act like a pissed college pony. So what do you two say? Forget your differences for three minutes so we can get things back on track?"

Misty Fly and Surprise paused and blinked, looking from Feather Duster to each other, both with the same look in their eyes. They had never heard Feather Duster talk like this before (neither had Feathers to be honest), and it kinda gave them strength. If Feathers could put aside her supposedly evil nature to pep-talk them, then the two of them could do the same with their rivalry. It had caused enough problems for one night, and they both needed a break.

They nodded at each other in the exact same moment and backed up, not saying a word, but each knowing exactly what the other was about to do.

Feather Duster sat back and observed as the two pegasus mares took off and began flying round and round vertically, gradually picking up speed, faster and faster until they were a yellow, blue and white spinning blur. The smallest mare backed up a little as the Wonderbolts got so fast that she couldn't tell where one of them started and the other one began, and let her jaw fall open at the brightly coloured spinning shape that was beginning to vacuum the clouds out of the house, and when they got sucked into the vortex they just poofed out of existence.

"You're doing great!" Feather Duster called out to them, though she was unsure whether it was possible for them to hear her at this stage in their trick. The clouds were coming out faster now, and Feathers started jittering in place at the marvel she was beholding; sure she had watched the Wonderbolts perform before, but this was just something else; it was probably because she had been the one to make the two 'Bolts do the trick that made it all the more amazing… well, she just had that effect on ponies, she figured.

Finally, when there were no more clouds left, Surprise and Misty slowly retracted pressure on their flight and descended back down to the ground, having to lean against each other for support since they were pretty dizzy after all that spinning. Feathers jumped onto Surprise's back.

"That was so freakin' cool, you two!" She complimented them, punching Surprise's shoulder, which she could barely feel.

"Great…" she grinned despite the fact that she wasn't sure which way was up. Misty Fly let out a groan and rubbed her head again.

"We _were_ pretty good," she agreed before gulping and moving away from Surprise, tipping from side to side as she made her way to the front door. "Now if you'll excuse me, I think I need to lie down." She went inside, one hoof pressed against her forehead.

"That sounds like a plan," Surprise practically dragged herself through the front door, Feathers hitching a ride on her back.

* * *

"So, she'll be back to normal when she wakes up?" Misty Fly asked as she looked over at Spitfire, who was fast asleep on the armchair. After they had got back inside she, Surprise and Feather Duster had found the captain out for the count where they had left her, and she was so deep in sleep that she hadn't even stirred when they had moved her into her sleeping bag.

"Yeah," Surprise replied, "the effects only last a few hours and they're easy to sleep off; though if the essence of despair gives her nightmares we'll need to be on the lookout."

"So maybe it's for the best that she doesn't tell us what's wrong," Misty sighed. "It's great to share your worries with other ponies, but if you don't feel comfortable doing it then it's only going to be all the harder."

"Words of wisdom, my friend." Feathers said from her spot on the floor, finally tucked into her sleeping bag. The power had also come back on, and surprise had lit one lamp in the corner of the room, illuminating the rest of it so that it was just the right amount of bright.

Misty blinked in her direction. "We're friends?" She asked, admittedly a little surprised to hear such a word coming from Feather Evil Duster. Feathers shrugged with one arm.

"Well, aren't we?" She asked with a smirk. Misty thought about it. It had been one heck of a screwed up night, but in a way it had brought the four of them closer together, especially when Feather Duster had talked some sense into her and Surprise. As odd as it seemed, it appeared that Feather Duster was the real hero of the night. Misty smiled over at the small mare.

"Yes. Yes we are." She agreed. Feather Duster grinned back, and then looked over at Surprise.

"Well, what about you? Are we friends or not?" She asked the white mare. Surprise grinned and hopped over, grabbing Feather Duster and hugging her tightly, making the little dusty brown mare choke as she was gripped with a great amount of force.

"Of course we are, Feathers!" She chirped, letting Feather Duster go. The small mare arched her back until it clicked back into place and then stretched out all four of her legs.

"Friendship hurts," she grumbled to herself before looking up at the others. "So what about you two; are you two friends now?"

Misty and Surprise's eyes shot open and they looked at each other. There was a long pause before Misty Fly hesitantly spoke to Surprise.

"Baby steps?" She asked, and Surprise gave a nod.

"Baby steps." She agreed.

Feathers was satisfied with that, so she got into her sleeping bag again; though the conversation that took place after that intrigued her.

"Hey Misty Fly…?" Surprise asked quietly. Misty Fly's ears perked up and she glanced up at the older Wonderbolt.

"Yes?" She asked.

"That was a good idea, ya know… using the Vortex." Surprise admitted. Misty flushed pink at the praise and smiled proudly.

"Thank you." She grinned, and Surprise managed a tiny smile back.

A few seconds of silence.

"Listen," Surprise spoke again. "We need to talk."

"Um… about what?" Misty looked completely baffled by the conversation she was currently having.

"I want to help you." Surprise said to the custard mare, who seemed confused. "I want to help you get over your fear of crashing mid-flight."

"Huh…" Misty wondered if this was a joke, and Surprise was going to yell 'psych' all of a sudden. But it didn't happen. "Why?"

Surprise cleared her throat and tapped her hooves together nervously. "I started this slumber party to help you three. I may have lied to Feather Duster to make her show up and… I may not have wanted you here in the first place… and I was trying to force my best friend into sharing stuff she clearly didn't want to. I've done so many awful things tonight that I want to do at least one thing right." She looked sincerely up at Misty Fly. "So what do ya say? Will you let me help you?" She got up and held out her hoof for Misty Fly.

The custard yellow pegasus looked straight at Surprise for a few seconds, contemplating whether or not somepony was about to jump out of Surprise's bathroom yelling '_Ya just got punk'd!_'

Again, it didn't happen, and so Misty Fly decided that this was something that needed to be done. She took Surprise's hoof in hers and gave it a single shake, though Surprise just went ahead and shook it some more.

"Alright," She sounded pleased. "Now don't you worry about a thing- I'll fix your flying issue. Trust me; I know exactly what I'm doing."

"One can only hope," Misty chuckled softly. Surprise blinked in realisation and looked Misty in the eye.

"Hey, are we… becoming friends?" She asked. She hadn't ever had this kind of barrier with anypony before, not even Spitfire, so she wasn't sure about the process of going from enemies to friends. Misty looked down at the ground for a split second before glancing back up to let her blue eyes lock with Surprise's purple ones, a small smile on her lips.

"I think we're getting there."

* * *

**Endnote: And then Spitfire wakes up in the middle of the night with a nuclear headache and they have a lot of explaining to do. You guys imagine how that one goes.**

**BUT THAT SEASON FINALE!**

**Oh my gosh, who else just loved that finale! Should I review it or not? Oh who cares, THE FINALE WAS EPIC! :D**

**Anyway, the next chapter is a short one so it shouldn't take long, and it focuses on the three main characters that weren't in this one. I'm pretty sure you'll like what's about to happen next.**

**And just as a thing I have to share… if you combine Misty Fly and Surprise's names you get MISPRISE! **

**MISPRISE!**

**Misprise means that somebody fails to understand the value of something or someone else. This is some insane coincidence. I didn't even know that word existed until I just randomly searched the internet for 'Misprise'… imagine what you will... but this must be fate! These two ponies were meant for this word!**

**Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna make some tea… and don't worry; this kind is perfectly safe.**


	42. A Real Mare

**Authors Note: Okay so I did say I was gonna review the finale, but to save time I thought I'd leave it out for now. Besides, since this chapter is relatively short I thought I'd get it out quicker if I just skipped it.**

**Also, on an unrelated note, does anyone remember in chapter one where I said that my authors note was one of the longest ever… HA! I didn't even know what a long authors note even was back then! Oh naïve little Past Me.**

**TheMouseOfAwesomeness- Yeah, I love writing Misty Fly and Surprise's interactions. Honestly I could happily keep writing about little mishaps between those four mares for the rest of the story, but we have other stuff to cover. And hell yeah, battle-scarred Rainbow Dash was EPIC!**

**Captain Alaska- Thank you; crazy shit is what I do best! And I'm not gonna lie, I was imagining Feather Duster with a German accent for ages after I wrote that part. It's back to my preferred voice now, but God it was funny! And that Big Bang Theory scene makes me laugh every time… I also believe that Sheldon and Misty Fly would be pretty good friends, though Sheldon probably has some weird horse phobia. And I HAVE to make Surprise own one of those posters! xD**

**Luna'snight625- Yeah, that's probably for the best… and if all slumber parties were that exciting I wouldn't have hated them when I was younger. xD**

**YoungBlood23- Glad you enjoyed it so much, and I don't mean to cause any offense, especially since I have a friend from Germany- I know they can be lovely people. **

**SU-152 ex Dshk- I haven't got Fallout 4 yet but I'm pretty sure that since Christmas isn't that far away now I won't have long to wait. And ya never know; with Surprise's wackiness she sure could be working for a secret government agency.**

**Litestardt- Sorry 'bout Spitz- she's a sleep kicker. And I'm glad you liked the meaning to the chapter. It's very rare that I see something with a moral of 'if you're not comfortable with talking about something then just don't do it and wait until **_**you**_** are ready'. It's sort of a way of me saying that peer pressure sucks. Of course there were other morals in there and if you got all of them then you're a star. :D**

**MidnightBlaze16- I shall do no such thing! You shall suffer as I play around with my pony pawns, making them do my bidding to appeal to your shipping nature. I have become like a god!**

* * *

"Welcome to _Fun Friend Facts_, the most popular game show in this kitchen!" Soarin jumped onto the table, speaking into a wooden spoon and pretending it was a microphone. On the left side of the table sat Rainbow Dash, her arms folded on the surface in front of her, and on the right side sat Braeburn, looking a little tired and with an amused smile on his face.

"On today's show our contestant Rainbow Dash will be answering questions in order to receive her prize," Soarin put a plate on a table, "The last cookie!"

"Yum." Rainbow Dash played along, licking her lips and staring wide-eyed at the treat. Braeburn rolled his eyes and sighed, but knew that if he didn't play along something else was going to happen. He knew pretty darn well how these things with Soarin worked and had figured out a long time ago that he had to let it run its course.

"Okay Miss Dash," Soarin got down from the table and walked around to stand beside her. "The questions you will be answering this evening all focus on your friend Braeburn Apple. Are you ready?"

"Hey yeah!" Rainbow pumped a hoof in the air. She loved how Soarin could make anything exciting, even arguing over who got to eat a snack. She bet that if he and Pinkie Pie sat down and discussed party games, they would never run out of possible things to converse about.

"And are _you_ ready, Mr Apple?" Soarin held the wooden spoon out from Braeburn to speak into, and the light gold earth pony leaned forward, speaking half-heartedly into the kitchen utensil.

"Eeyup."

"Then let's get this show on the road!" Soarin then proceeded to hum a short game show jingle, ending it by spinning in place and doing jazz hooves. "Okay Miss Dash; question one." He cleared his throat. "Has Brae had a date in the past six months?"

Rainbow Dash bit her lip and hummed in thought, while Braeburn gave Soarin an unamused look, which was returned with a smirk that kinda made the earth pony want to rip his friend's head off his shoulders.

"No," Rainbow decided, and Soarin spread his wings out as far as they would go in approval.

"That's correct!" He announced, and Rainbow whooped with pride. Braeburn rubbed his temples with his front hooves, the look on his face suggesting that he wanted to ram Soarin's face right through a wall.

"Next question please," Rainbow sat up determinedly.

"Certainly Miss Dash." Soarin affirmed. "Okay, question two!"

"Oh dear," Braeburn prepared himself for the approaching humiliation.

"Does Brae have to use mare's shampoo to get his mane that shiny?"

Humiliation incoming…

"Yes!" Rainbow Dash slammed a clenched hoof on the table, shouting out her answer confidently.

Coming in for landing…

"That one's correct, too!"

And it's hit!

"Ah hate ya both right now." Braeburn informed his two torturers, staring down at the table with annoyed green eyes.

"We love you too," Soarin dismissed him with a wave of one hoof, though he looked back a moment later. Even if your mane_ does _smell like strawberries."

"Guys can smell like strawberries too!" Braeburn insisted, making a pouty face.

"If it helps ya sleep at night, keep telling yourself that. Now we're onto the third and final question!" Soarin announced, making a 'dun dun dun' noise into the spoon he was still holding. "How old was Brae when he hit puberty?"

"SOAR!" Braeburn flushed pink and slammed his front hooves on the table, looking mortified. Rainbow snorted at his reaction and rubbed her hooves together in thought.

"Hmm…" She hummed, clicking her tongue and staring intently at Braeburn, which somehow made him feel even _more _uncomfortable. "Fourteen?"

"Close enough- fifteen!" Soarin gave Dash the point anyway. Braeburn planted his face on the table and muttered a few things against it that were probably best left unheard. "So we have our winner; congratulations Miss Dash!"

"Woohoo!" Rainbow Dash jumped up and looping around the room a couple of times while Braeburn remained motionless in his position slumped on the table. Soarin applauded and picked up the spoon again, turning to face an imaginary audience and speaking in his presenter voice again.

"Join us next week when we ask: What rodent does Braeburn resemble most?" The earth pony weakly looked up from the table. "Why can't Braeburn grow facial hair? And where have I hidden Braeburn's anxiety pills?"

"Wait, what was that last one?" Braeburn's ears perked up and he sat straighter.

Soarin ignored him. "All of this and more next time on _Fun Friend Facts_!" Soarin hummed an outro tune and did a stupid dance, before grabbing the cookie on the plate and eating the whole thing, looking over at Rainbow Dash to see that she was giving him the stink eye.

"How come Ah never get t' be the contestant?" Braeburn asked, crossing his arms on the table in front of him. Soarin swallowed the last of the treat in his mouth and smirked at the light golden stallion.

"Sorry buddy, you just don't have a face for television," the pegasus teased. Braeburn, stupidly curious, raised a brow.

"Well what _do _Ah have a face for?" He questioned. Soarin slowly lifted the wooden spoon back up and spoke lowly into it.

"The pathetic quiz subject."

"Do ya want me to shove that spoon through yer head?" Braeburn asked, though Soarin didn't get a chance to answer before Rainbow Dash jumped up onto the table to get their attention.

"Shut up a second," she silenced the two stallions, and they obediently looked up at her, though Braeburn barely refrained from telling her to get off the table… one more thing for him to clean.

"What's up Dashie?" Soarin leaned against the table, balancing the wooden spoon on the tip of one front hoof. Rainbow Dash looked like she could barely contain her excitement.

"I've got some awesome news. I was gonna tell you earlier but I figured we'd finish the game first."

"Very thoughtful of you," Soarin said at the same time Braeburn said 'Ah wouldn't have minded a bit.'

"Okay, so Twilight and the rest of my friends sent me a letter this morning…" she stopped for a second to squee, and then started hopping up and down on the table, much to Soarin's amusement and Braeburn's slight horror. "THEY'RE COMING TO VISIT TOMORROW!"

"Whoa!" Soarin exclaimed, putting his front hooves on the table. "That's great!"

"I know right!" Rainbow jumped down from the table, relieving Braeburn, and started hopping frantically from hoof to hoof, overjoyed. "The best ponies in Equestria are gonna be right here in Cloudsdale!"

"It sure will be good t' see Applejack again." Braeburn agreed, beginning to wipe down the table.

"Hey?" Soarin felt a question nagging in the back of his mind. "Is Scootaloo coming?"

"She sure is!" Rainbow Dash confirmed, and Soarin felt a lot happier. He really did like Scootaloo, and considering he barely knew anything about the little filly aside from his interactions with her at the Spring Celebration and the many things that Rainbow had told him about, he felt like he'd known her forever. She was close to his heart for reasons he couldn't explain even if you'd asked him to focus and write them down, and because of that the idea of seeing her tomorrow made his heart flutter with anticipation.

"Her friends are coming as well," Rainbow told him, "Apparently they want to try and get their Cutie Marks in cloud bouncing." She snickered. Soarin chuckled along with her. Those three fillies sure did want their Cutie Marks really badly.

"Ya never know Dashie, they could pull it off. Cloud acrobats would be pretty fun." Soarin thought about that idea. Maybe he could help them out- oh boy he was seriously thinking about making cloud acrobatics a thing that exists in the world.

"I'm just so excited. I want everyone to meet Cinder, and maybe they'll make friends with some of the other Wonderbolts, and I can take Twilight on a flight through the obstacle course, that'd be hilarious, and Applejack can help Braeburn cook, and me and Lullaby will take Fluttershy all over Cloudsdale, and-"

"You'll get to tell 'em that you n' Soarin are a thing." Braeburn added.

You could practically hear the sound of a record scratching.

The silence that followed was just as bad.

And then Rainbow Dash blinked, chuckling nervously and gulping.

"Um… yeah… that… heh…" She scratched her rainbow coloured mane and swallowed hard. Soarin sarcastically cocked an eyebrow.

"Something the matter?" He asked. He was actually seriously confused, but didn't want to freak Dash out or anything so kept his usual playful voice.

"N-n-no." She was stammering… okay, something was definitely going on, and it was bothering Soarin.

"Dashie… are you ashamed of me?" Again, he was trying to be seriously but it came out playful. He decided to use that as his tactic to get Rainbow Dash to tell him everything; he was aware that if a pony asked questions sternly then it would likely freak out whoever was being asked the question. He may be a big goofball, but he's not stupid.

"Are you listening to yourself?" Rainbow made a 'psh' noise. "How could any mare be ashamed of _you_? You're a freaking Wonderbolt for crying out loud!" Rainbow waved her hooves around.

"Is it 'cause I'm too childish?" Soarin asked out of the blue. He had been thinking 'What would Brae say about me', and that was the first thing that had come to mind.

"Hey, _I_ can be pretty childish sometimes. I like childish ponies!" Rainbow shook her head, grinning as she thought of Soarin's goofy tricks and phrases.

"Is it 'cause he ate the last cookie?" Braeburn guessed, and Soarin nodded.

"What? No!"

"If it makes ya feel any better it was _delicious_!" Soarin licked his lips and let his tongue loll out of his mouth in ecstasy as he remembered the taste of that awesome cookie.

"Ah can make some more," Braeburn suggested.

"Or I could get some from the store… it wouldn't be the same but hey, they're still cookies."

"Or we could have doughnuts instead."

"They can be cookie flavoured."

"SHUT UP ABOUT COOKIES!" Rainbow Dash yelled to get them to stop talking, and they did as they were told. "It's nothing to do with you Soarin… it's kinda about me."

"Oh dear," Braeburn sighed.

"What?" Rainbow Dash asked, a little snappily since she was miffed at being interrupted like that.

"That's the classic 'marefriend excuse'." Braeburn chuckled. Rainbow Dash had no idea what the earth pony meant by that, and kinda felt a little dumb for not getting it. By the looks of things, Soarin understood what he was saying, and that just made her feel even worse.

"Just listen to me!" Rainbow Dash tried to remain calm. "These ponies have known me for years… Scootaloo looks up to me… their friend Rainbow Dash is the tough, awesome daredevil that laughs in the face of danger and mocks any mushy shtick. I'm just a little nervous…" she outright admitted, turning pink and looking ashamed of herself for saying such a thing.

"What does this have t' do with Soarin?" Braeburn asked, missing the point. Rainbow decided that it was time to confess what had been bothering her ever since the _mere_ idea of a relationship with Soarin started rattling around in her skull.

"I…" she remained standing, because she was under the impression that if she sat down she would never be able to get up again due to all the guilt and embarrassment that would weight her down once she was finished speaking. "I don't… do… _this_!" She gritted her teeth.

"Still not getting it…" Soarin tilted his head. Rainbow snarled and face hoofed, not at Soarin but at herself for not being able to find the right words to explain this conundrum.

"I don't get into relationships! I don't go around with a stallion as more than a friend! I don't friggin' _kiss_ ponies, and I only ever blush when I fail at a stunt!" She began to rant, blowing her mane out of her magenta eyes in frustration. "If ponies know that we're a couple then they'll just wonder what the heck happened to me. Pinkie Pie would go overboard and Twilight would wonder if I hit my head in a race or something. Rarity would just go on and on about how I should act now that I'm 'a real mare', and Applejack would probably call me out for being a… gushy mushy filly. I… I don't know what Fluttershy would do but she'd probably wonder if I'd switched bodies with somepony…" she sighed and let her gaze sink to the floor. "And Scootaloo would never look at me in the same way again. I'm meant to be 'the cool pony', and now that I'm dating you I won't… I won't be as awesome as I used to be."

Soarin looked over at Braeburn, who appeared to be just as confused as he was.

"You don't want them to know about us… because you think you'll seem less cool?" Soarin spoke slowly, trying to process this. He tried to imagine himself in her position… but found that he couldn't. He wasn't good at putting himself in another pony's position, so he found himself thinking about his own experiences with Rainbow Dash. He tried really hard to confess to her, and it had hurt when he'd screwed it up because he'd wanted it… _them_, to happen so badly. He would happily show her off to the entire world without the slightest bit of hesitation. He was so proud to have her as his marefriend that it surprised even _him_. The tabloid magazines had always seemed to expect him to go after one of the female Wonderbolts, as if any other mare wasn't enough for him, but those were just ways for the press to stir up celebrity rumors (boy he hated those!). But none of the lady Wonderbolts seemed right, and he'd never seen that as a bad thing… but Rainbow Dash was something else. Again, he couldn't describe what he felt because his grasp on words wasn't exactly something to be proud of, but all he knew was that… no amount of pie could give him joy as equal to the happiness he felt when he was with Dashie. She wasn't a Wonderbolt, but he wasn't ashamed of that. But he _was_ a Wonderbolt… how could she not be pleased to date him?

"Soarin"? Rainbow had started waving her hoof in front of his face. Soarin blinked a couple of times and shook his head.

"Huh- what?" He asked dumbly.

"You drifted off fer a second there," Braeburn was the one to reply. "Seriously, you were just standin' there like a statue for about two minutes."

"Oh… I was just trying to think of something helpful to say," he shook the last of the muddled thoughts out of his head.

"Did ya think o' somethin' then?" Braeburn looked questioningly at his friend.

"No…" Soarin let his ears droop and he chuckled dorkily. Braeburn smacked his forehead with a hoof and Rainbow Dash let out a little laugh at his silliness. Oh Soarin, the big doofus.

"But like I said, this has nothing to do with you. This is just me and my pride." She chuckled in spite of herself and blew her mane out of her eyes a second time.

"Rainbow, don't you think that you're looking at this wrong?" Braeburn asked, attempting to be the mature one in this situation. Rainbow raised a brow and tipped her head to the side until it was resting on her right shoulder.

"_How_ am I looking at it wrong?" She asked as if Braeburn had just gave her the most ridiculous question in the entire history of Equestria.

"Wouldn't yer friends be _happy_ for ya? It'd be a little mean t' make fun o' you… Applejack doesn't seem the type t' do that anyways." The earth pony explained. Soarin scoffed and shot a playful sideways glance at his friend.

"You're kidding right? Back in school you were always complaining about how your cousin AJ was always beating you at hoof wrestling and lassoing your legs together and putting you in headlocks."

"Ah'm sorry Ah said anythin'…" Braeburn's ears drooped and his hat partially fell over his eyes as he hung his head in embarrassment.

"And I specifically remember one time where you told me that she gave you the nickname 'Blondie'.

"Ah'm sorry!" Braeburn was turning redder by the second, not helped by the fact that Rainbow Dash was struggling to stifle her chuckles.

"And after one of her visits she switched your shampoo/conditioner to just conditioner and you freaked out the whole day because you were afraid your mane looked ratty-"

"Ah said Ah'm sorry!" Braeburn yelled loud enough for Soarin to stop talking, and Rainbow Dash completely cracked up. Soarin joined in; pleased that he had managed to make Rainbow a little happier, even if it meant that he had to humiliate his friend… it was a win-win for him at least.

"Okay, maybe after a while I'll get over myself and tell them," Rainbow decided, but then her expression turned strangely desperate. "But for tomorrow _please_ can we just keep this a secret? I'm not trying to be cruel or anything but I'm just not comfortable with it now… can I hold off from telling them just a little longer so I can get a grip?" She asked Soarin. As mentioned before Soarin had no idea what it was like in Rainbow Dash's head at that moment, but he _did _ know that nopony likes to do things that make them uncomfortable, so he'd better go along with what she wanted; anything to make Dashie happy after all.

"Of course," Soarin agreed. "If you don't want to tell them then that's okay with me."

"Well _you_ can't tell them either," Rainbow clarified, wanting to cover every point. "And neither can you," she turned to Braeburn. The earth pony sat down in a chair and raised his hoof a little.

"Ah'm just gonna stay outta yer way. Ah have work t' do… and so do you!" He looked over at Soarin. The co-captain scoffed and smirked proudly.

"Thankfully I've come up with a plan to get out of work," he said.

"When did ya create a plan t' get outta work?" Braeburn asked, genuinely curious.

"About six seconds ago when you told me I had work to do." Soarin replied, and Braeburn rolled his green eyes, then tipped his head back, then just flopped over the back of the chair in exasperation.

"So, what's the plan?" Rainbow asked, pleased to know that Soarin was planning to hang around with her and the others. Even though she had no intentions of telling them that the two of them were more than mentor and trainee, she did want them to get to know him so that they'd be a little more accepting when they finally _did _find out.

"I'm gonna ask Surprise if I can be your friends' Academy tour guide. Since she loves me she'll let me do it, and then it'll just be us for the whole day." He seemed pleased with himself for coming up with an idea like that. Braeburn finally sat up again, though he still had a hint of annoyance on his face.

"Ah can't believe ya get paid t' slack off," he sighed. "You dedicate each an' every day to _nothin'_!"

"No, I do a lot of stuff!" Soarin argued. "Air shows, training Dashie, and for an hour every day I've been attempting to master Tuvan throat singing. Rainbow narrowed her eyes in thought.

"What's Tuvan throat singing?" she asked. Braeburn jumped to his hooves.

"Don't-"

Too late.

Soarin placed his hoof against his throat and a deep warbling sound emitted from it, occasionally changing pitch as he tightened and untightened it. He then stopped, grinning and looking around as if expecting applause.

Rainbow Dash was standing there with her jaw hanging open, confused as to what the heck she had just witnessed while Braeburn stared at the cyan pegasus with a look that may as well have been a Las Pegasus sign flashing '**I TOLD YOU SO!**'

He still felt proud of himself for actually putting effort into learning something new. Braeburn should be proud of him but _no_, he was being a rigid tailhole as usual.

"Still, thanks for going along with this," Rainbow Dash veered Soarin back towards the original conversation. "I promise I'll make this up to you…"

There was a minute of silence.

"This is the part where you tell me what I should do to make it up to you," Rainbow whispered for some reason. Soarin couldn't really think of anything that she could do; he was doing this because he wanted her to be happy and comfortable, not because he felt obliged to… okay maybe he felt a little obligated, but this wasn't about him!

"I guess we could just go cloud racing once they're gone?" He suggested one of his favorite activities, making sure that it was one that Rainbow Dash enjoyed as well.

"Is that it?" Rainbow asked.

"…yes?" Soarin couldn't think of anything else even if he focused really hard. Rainbow hesitated before nodding.

"Okay then," she smiled again. "Really, you're awesome for going along with this."

_Anything for you Dashie_, Soarin thought to himself, not bothering to hide the light blush that dusted his cheeks.

"Guys, Ah don't mind you stayin' here fer a li'l while, but Ah'm headin' back t' the house." Braeburn got Soarin's attention. The pale blue stallion looked up at the wall clock, and was surprised to see that it was already half past seven. Usually all the Wonderbolts left at seven exactly, along with any other employees who weren't security guards or the cadets… seven was also the cadets' curfew, but Soarin had told Fast Clip and Whiplash that he would be spending time with Dashie and Braeburn in the kitchen after hours, so hopefully they had told the rest of the night watch ponies the same thing. They probably wouldn't question Rainbow if she went back to her and Lullaby's room at this time.

"Nah, I'm ready to head home too." Soarin shook his head. "Besides, you need somepony to fly you home remember… and I don't wanna miss the new episode of Sherclop."

"That's on today?" Braeburn sounded dumbfounded. "Okay, we'd better get goin'."

Rainbow rolled her eyes at how much those two loved that crime show. She knew that Twilight and Rarity both enjoyed it, but she had personally never understood the hype. Oh well, mystery had never really been her kind of genre unless it was in one of the Daring Do books. Well Daring Do could make literally _anything_ awesome.

"Yeah he's right, this can't wait. You can go back to your room by yourself, right Dashie?" Soarin asked as he placed a hoof on the door. Rainbow waited for a moment to see if he was serious.

"Soarin _I'm_ not the one who needs a guide to get to my room. Save it for my friends, won't ya?" She smirked. Soarin flushed with embarrassment and mumbled 'I knew that', before pushing the door open and holding it so Braeburn and Rainbow Dash could get out.

"Whoa, since when do you hold doors open fer ponies?" Braeburn asked Soarin, who raised his chest proudly.

"Ponies can change Brae," he said as he overtook his friend and made for the door to the training grounds. Suddenly he felt his hoof side out from under him and the next thing he knew he was face down on the floor. He could hear a mixture of laughing and concerned babbling from above him and when he lifted his head he was met with a worried Braeburn bending over him and a laughing Rainbow Dash hovering in the air a few meters away. He stood up and rubbed his head, looking down at the floor where he had slipped and spotting a melon peel on the ground. It looked like Feather Duster hadn't done her job again.

"Ha!" Rainbow landed on the ground and booped Soarin's nose, making him blush even more than he already was. "Ponies sure can change Soarin, but you're never gonna stop being a clumsy doof." She informed him.

Soarin had to agree with her there.

* * *

**Endnote: Okay, so here's a short little chapter this time around. Now the next chapter will most likely be a long one so I'm not sure when it will be out, but hey, won't it be worth it to see the rest of the Mane Six? There's also some important plot progression shoved in as well as development for all the main characters, some Pinkie and Surprise (and Misty Fly) interactions, and my favourite of all, some more Soarin and Scootaloo moments!**

**I will definitely not have the next one out before Christmas though, so I'll take the time to wish you all Happy Holidays, and if things go really slow, have a happy New Year, too.**

**And if you do happen to look on YouTube for Tuvan throat singing check out the clip from The Big Bang Theory for the sound Soarin was making. ;)**

**Sassymouse out! Peace!**


	43. Rainbow Reunion

**Authors Note: Hope you all had happy holidays!**

**Litestardt- Whoa there, Lightning! I love you too, but I have a pet cat already. ^^**

**Luna'snight625- Yeah he is, but that's why I love him! 3**

**Amellia Rose- Glad you enjoyed! ;)**

**Snow Hurricane Blue- That was my favourite part too. Soarin would be a good game show host in my opinion.**

**MidnightBlaze16- You can never have enough fluff! :D**

**RosaSilvermist- Yeah, I bet that's exactly how she'd act; being the epic little showpony we know and love. And I've been itching to have some more Soarin and Scootaloo interactions for months now so YIPPEE!**

**YoungBlood23- Well I'm pleased that no offense was taken and that you really enjoy this story that much. You reviewed just in time for me to reply 'cause I'm almost done proofreading as I write this, so lucky you! ALSO! You're the 333rd reviewer, and I call that an achievement! Nice going dude! ;D**

**IMPORTANT NOTICE: This is set before the Cutie Mark Crusaders get their Cutie Marks so that's why they're still blank flanks in this. Just wanted to make that extra clear.**

* * *

Rainbow looked up at the clock, then back at the door. Then the clock. Then the door.

Clock.

Door.

Clock.

Door.

Clock-

"Hi Rainbow Dash!"

"GAH!" Dash tipped back in her seat and landed on the floor with a loud thud, getting a lot of laughter from the few pegasi that were in the mess hall. It was still fairly early (_very_ early if you were a pegasus named Rainbow Dash who had gotten out of bed at five thirty so she wouldn't miss her friends arriving), and even after forty minutes of sitting at the table closest to the training grounds' door her friends hadn't shown up… and it was getting a little frustrating. Dash had hoped they'd get here before training started.

"Um… sorry." Lullaby rubbed the back of her head sheepishly and flushed a little pink, shifting her eyes from side to side, relieved when the other ponies' all looked away.

"Need some help?" The cadet Smart Set asked, coming over to lend his assistance. Rainbow just rolled onto her front and stood up.

"I got it." She grunted as she shook her feathers out. She returned to her seat and stared intently at the door, barely blinking at all. After a long few moments of observing, Lullaby sat on Rainbow's left, and Smart Set sat on her right, both remaining totally silent as they ogled the cyan mare's peculiar behaviour.

They must have stared for about three whole minutes before Lullaby moved, mimicking Rainbow's position, hunched over the table on the left of the blue mare. She focused on the door and tried to figure out what was so interesting about it. Smart Set hesitated before forming the position as well on Rainbow Dash's right side, perplexed as to how Rainbow Dash could do this for such a long time.

So there they sat for at least five more minutes, all gazing at the door in odd silence, not even moving when Fire Streak trotted past, slowing down as he reached trio of cadets and eying them the whole way past, looking more terrified than puzzled to say the least. He then moved on, walking a little faster than he had been before.

Smart Set finally lifted his ears and looked to the side at Rainbow Dash, whispering out the corner of his mouth for some reason. "Is there a reason you're doing this?" He asked.

"I'm waiting for my friends to show up." Rainbow replied, her head bobbing up and down as she spoke since her chin was resting against the surface of the table.

"Oh." Smart Set replied simply, letting his ears drop to the side of his head again and looking straight ahead with his slightly shifty eyes. Lullaby wasn't surprised since she had heard the news before, but she had no ideas that Rainbow Dash was capable of actually resorting to slouching on the table like a… slouchy… thing? She was also pretty confused as to why Smart Set was here. Smart Set was the youngest cadet at eighteen (though rumors were going around that he was really seventeen and had just lied) and his parents had forced the Wonderbolts to let him into the Academy by threatening to sue them. How this was possible neither Rainbow Dash nor Lullaby knew, but it probably involved a bunch of stupid, boring political stuff that nopony gave a horseapple about. He was apparently rather meddlesome and liked to involve himself in the problems his fellow cadets were having, which tended to get on their nerves more often than not, though when it came to flying and tricks he was actually pretty good. He flew in a very precise manner that matched him just right- practically everything about Smart Set was perfectly even and symmetrical, and Dash wasn't sure how she felt about that; envious that he could look so error-free with such ease, or sympathetic since he looked like a total dweeb all the time.

"So when were your friends supposed to be here?" Lullaby asked, finally breaking the silence that had been disturbing the ponies at the table behind them.

"Six thirty." Dash replied, still not tearing her eyes from the door. Lullaby glanced at the clock behind them, catching a glimpse of some ponies giving her and her two companions weird looks before flushing and turning back around.

"Rainbow, that's not for another ten minutes ya know?"

"They could get here early." Rainbow shrugged it off.

"Or late." Smart Set added unhelpfully, and Lullaby shot him an annoyed look, which got him to look away pretty swiftly.

"They'll be here any second now." Rainbow Dash insisted, waving a dismissive hoof at her fellow cadets. Lullaby knew that there was no chance of getting Rainbow Dash away from that table, so she just stood up and went to see what was for breakfast.

When she returned and sat down with some apple brioche, Rainbow Dash was still sitting at the table, and Smart Set looked like he was dozing off. This was actually a pretty good thing because the skittish young stallion always seemed so tense; the pressure of being a rich pony, Rainbow reckoned.

"Chew quieter." The rainbow maned pony hissed out the corner of her mouth to Lullaby, who looked pretty insulted. She swallowed her mouthful of breakfast and glowered down at her blue roommate.

"Why?"

"I'm trying to stay focused on waiting."

Lullaby blinked a couple of times and folded her arms.

"What about everypony else; they're being loud!" She huffed. Rainbow finally looked to the side.

"They aren't right next to me."

Lullaby finally just stood up and began to walk around the table, when she suddenly noticed something on the other side of the room. After a little gesturing and stifled giggling, Lullaby tapped Rainbow Dash on the shoulder, smirking.

"What do you want?" Rainbow half-groaned, lifting her head for the first time in what felt like… well Dash didn't know what it felt like because she kinda had a bad sense of time and the clock was right behind her and she didn't really feel like turning around to look at it.

"It must _suck_ to be you right now." Lullaby scoffed, doing her best to sound serious but failing miserably, barely refraining from looking at the entrance door. Rainbow sat straight up then, unamused and just plainly not in the mood for any kind of sass.

"What are you talking about? It's awesome to be me!" Rainbow insisted, tossing her mane in a boastful fashion. Lullaby folded her front hooves on the end of the table and gave Dash a lopsided grin, one corner of her mouth almost reaching her eye while the other side stayed straight.

"Well, you've been waiting here for your friends since dawn and they don't have the common courtesy to show up early and surprise you." She tutted and sighed, shrugging her shoulders in an overdramatic manner. "Oh well."

Rainbow Dash stood up with a scowl on her face, not liking to hear about her friends being jerks (no, not jerks. Just late, Rainbow Dash told herself, forgetting that the time they had said they'd be here hadn't even came to pass yet.).

"Did ya have an extra helping of 'annoying' in your breakfast?" She asked in a threatening way. She would have added a sarcastic comment onto the end of that question, but it was still early and her brain was kicking in to gear. Unable to hold it in anymore (and aware that her attempts to had been feeble) Lullaby pointed behind Dash; just as another pony tapped the rainbow maned pony on the shoulder. Rainbow grunted and turned around.

"What _is_ it Smart Set?" Rainbow asked, suddenly finding herself nose to nose with another mare, and staring into wide blue eyes.

"Hi!" The pink pony chirped.

"PINKIE PIE!" Rainbow tackled Pinkie to the ground, giving her a big hug. The two of them howled with laughter, which predictably earned them the attention of the entire mess hall. Lullaby rolled her eyes and sat next to Smart Set, who was pointing to the other ponies (and dragon) behind Rainbow and Pinkie.

"Is that… is that Princess Twilight Sparkle?" He asked, looking a little starstruck."

"Yes." Lullaby replied simply."

"Oh my gosh!" Smart Set ran a hoof through his perfect mane to make sure he looked presentable for a princess. "D-do I look alright?" Smart Set asked Lullaby who just semi-replied.

"You look fabulous, now lemme go say hi to Fluttershy. The purple cadet headed over to Rainbow's butter yellow friend.

Rainbow Dash looked up at Pinkie, who had pinned her to the ground and, with some difficulty, pushed her off. She then jumped up to her hooves... and to everypony's shock, she looked mad.

"YOU'RE LATE!" She barked. Twilight sighed and pointed up to the clock on the wall, her expression flat.

"Actually we're right on time." She told the cyan pegasus, who followed Twilight's gesture to the clock. It was precisely six-thirty.

"Oh..." Rainbow turned pink and dipped her head a little, trying to play it cool for all of the onlookers.

"Ugh! For the love of cake, can't we all just have a huge group hug now?" Pinkie asked, tapping her hoof on the ground impatiently. Without wasting a second the rest of the ponies swarmed Rainbow Dash, all of them chattering their greetings at once and forming a rather inelegant pony-pile in the middle of the mess hall. Some of the Wonderbolts seemed a little uncomfortable at the massive display of affection that had just paraded in through the door, while others were smiling and letting the friends have their moment.

Pretty much everyone in that room at that point knew that it was going to be a rather eventful day.

* * *

"And that's why Captain Equestria is the best superhero." Soarin finished explaining to Surprise as they began walking down the hallway to the mess hall. Surprise mumbled under her breath and rolled her eyes, looking annoyed after being proved wrong; Soarin almost snorted with laughter as he recalled the happy grin on her face after she stated that Iron Mare was the best. What a dork.

"Holy Luna's mane!" Surprise suddenly froze solid, making Soarin twist round in shock to face her. The white mare's pupils were dilating and then shrinking again at a rapid pace, and… it actually made Soarin feel quite nauseous. Nopony's eyes should work like that- it's just not natural at _all_! But Surprise was doing it, and if anything to wide cheesy smile she had on her face only added to the insane amount of terror that the expression gave Soarin. He was sure that he would be seeing it in his dreams for days. Oh boy, he had to stop giving himself all of these unpleasant thoughts.

Finally Surprise's eyes stopped being ludicrously weird and the puffy maned mare galloped the rest of the way down the hall and took a sharp left turn into the mess hall. From his spot in the hallway Soarin could hear a loud exclamation of 'TWINZIE', followed by several screams, cheers, crashes, squees, breaking noises, and groans of agony. Biting his lower lip, Soarin cautiously approached the mess hall and peered inside. Normally he would find a situation like this absolutely priceless, but looking at the ponies and tables scattered all over the place, surrounding two embracing mares in the middle of the room, he was more concerned for the state of the place and the price that the Academy would have to pay to get everything repaired than how good this would be in a comedy show. Soarin wondered for a moment whether or not he should write a book about all of the weird stuff that went on in the Academy, but banished the thought after realizing that _nobody_ in the world would want to read a story like that. Right?

Soarin walked into the room, which seemed to be emptying out as some of the cadets and Wonderbolts, including Lullaby and Smart Set, scrambled to get away from the scene so they wouldn't be involved in cleaning up the big mess the guests had made. Soarin wasn't surprised; Rainbow Dash had warned him that things always got excitable when everyone was there together. Well, Soarin knew that the best way to make messes was with your friends.

The first pony Soarin noticed was the little orange filly sitting on Rainbow Dash's back.

Deciding to have a little fun, Soarin began to creep up behind them. Everypony seemed fixated on Twilight Sparkle, who was angrily ranting to Pinkie about respecting other ponies' property, and something about paying for damage, not that either Pinkie or Surprise were listening. Finally coming to a stop behind Rainbow Dash, Soarin raised his hoof and lightly tapped Scootaloo on the shoulder. Jumping a little, Scootaloo whipped her head round to meet the eyes of her 'attacker'. However, after seeing it was Soarin, a big smile graced the filly's face, and she jumped down from her sister's back, beaming up at him with practically sparkling eyes.

"Soarin!" She gasped with glee. "I've missed you! Rainbow Dash keeps talking about what you're teaching her and you're so awesome and-" she gasped and spun around all of a sudden, tapping the two other fillies on their shoulders. Soarin recognized the yellow one with the red mane as Apple Bloom from some of the photos of her Braeburn had showed him. He had seen the white unicorn filly at the Spring Celebration but didn't remember her name.

"Apple Bloom! Sweetie Belle!" Scootaloo bounced from one of her friends to the other, getting giggles out of both of them. "Soarin's right there! Ya know Soarin right?"

Apple Bloom giggled and rolled her eyes, moving away from the group of older ponies with Sweetie Belle by her side. "Ya only talk about 'im at least three times a day. Ah just _can't_ imagine how we're able t' remember him." She said sarcastically. Sweetie Belle covered her mouth with one front hoof and let out a cute little laugh into it.

"You really talk about me that much?" Soarin asked, smiling widely and feeling pride welling in his chest. He was used to being complimented and told he was awesome, but coming from Scootaloo this somehow made him feel way, way better. He had never had a favourite fan before Scootaloo showed up, and now that he did he felt pretty important because of it.

"She's pretty much obsessed with you." Sweetie Belle said, a little shyly since she was in the presence of a celebrity. Soarin couldn't help but note just how adorable the white filly was, and assumed by her color palette and race that this was Rarity's little sister.

"Nah, she's more obsessed with Rainbow Dash." Apple Bloom disagreed with a shake of her head that made the large bow on her head whip from side to side. Scootaloo was blushing pretty hard now, though she was trying her best to keep her face stern.

"I am not 'obsessed' with anypony!" She insisted. Sweetie Belle patted her orange friend on the shoulder, looking behind her at Apple Bloom as she did so.

"Suuuuure." She held in her giggles, but Apple Bloom couldn't help herself from releasing a few chuckles. Scootaloo pouted and glared at her fellow Crusaders.

"You two are embarrassing me." She admitted, placing a hoof against one of her burning pink cheeks and groaning. Soarin snickered and ruffled Scootaloo's mane, which got her to gasp cutely and sit up straight. This made Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom laugh once again, but Soarin made sure that the little pegasus didn't feel humiliated this time.

"Just ignore em, kid. I don't see _their_ hair getting messed up by a famous pegasus." He deliberately glanced off to the side when he said the end of that sentence, and when he looked back at Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle they did indeed look pretty envious of their friend. Scootaloo was poking her tongue out at them, and Soarin decided to stop ruffling her cerise mane before it got out of hoof.

"Look out!"

Soarin and the Crusaders ducked down as one of the tables, enveloped in pink magic, floated over their heads. Twilight Sparkle made eye contact with Soarin and pointed over to the side of the room.

"Did you not hear me when I told everypony to move out of the way so I could rearrange the tables before someone came and found out that Pinkie trashed the place?" The alicorn asked. As Soarin and the fillies walked towards the others, who were all huddled near the door to the training grounds, Pinkie Pie put her hooves on her hips and sneered at Twilight.

"Hey! _I_ didn't trash the place," the pink earth pony wrapped an arm over Surprise's shoulders and hugged her lightly. "It was me _and_ Surprise!"

Surprise leaned her head against Pinkie's shoulder and gave Twilight a cheesy grin. "Yeah, she's right." She agreed. Twilight rolled her eyes and set all the tables back down.

"Well, now that that's over…" the purple alicorn looked around to make sure that everything was in the right place before looking in the direction of their rainbow colored friend and smiling. "I believe Rainbow Dash was going to give us a tour."

Rainbow Dash's face fell. "Oh, um… I've gotta do drills first." She said weakly. Twilight shrugged her shoulders.

"That's okay. We'd all love to see you train right?" She spoke for her friends. All the others agreed, and Rainbow Dash grinned, excited that the greatest ponies in the world would finally get to see her show off her stuff. Surprise bounced up and down with excitement.

"What's best is that _I'm_ the one doing drills today so it's gonna be super-duper amazatastic!" Pinkie Pie then _kicked_ open the door to the training grounds and pointed outside.

"Then let's go!" Pinkie's tail started spinning round and round until she was lifted off the ground, hovering like a helicopter. Surprise seemed a little awestruck. "C'mon, I'll race ya!" Pinkie was out the door a second later, with Surprise chasing after her yelling 'last one there's a rotten banana slug!'

Rainbow Dash smiled fondly at her crazy pink friend's antics before walking to the door and holding it open. "We'd better get out there then. Actually there's no rush, it's not like we're gonna get in trouble now."

Twilight looked curious but just shook it off. "I _am_ pretty curious to see your methods of training. If you're going to be a Wonderbolt you'll need all the correct cardiovascular exercises and at least ten minutes of…" Twilight kept on talking as she walked out of the room.

"Well I suppose we should go and withstand the rest of her lecture." Rarity tried to fake a smile at Twilight's enthusiasm for perfection. Just as the others were about to leave, Soarin called out.

"Hey wait a second, I need to, um… borrow Applejack." He said to the remainder of the group of friends. They seemed a little confused at first, but Applejack shrugged and moved to stand next to Soarin anyway.

"What's wrong?" She asked. Soarin was confused as to how the orange mare knew that something was wrong. Maybe something _good _had happened… oh who was he kidding, what kind of declaration of good news started with a hesitant request to 'borrow' a pony? Yeah, it was a little obvious that something wasn't going well.

"I just thought you'd wanna say a quick 'hi' to Braeburn." He said. He wasn't exactly lying. She could say hi to her cousin before he got to the point. Applejack pursed her lips and nodded.

"Yeah, Ah could swing by an' say hello." She decided. Apple Bloom jumped up onto her sister's back and put her front hooves on the older pony's head.

"Ah wanna see cousin Braeburn too!" She said enthusiastically.

"Me too!" Sweetie Belle said. Whoa, Soarin had no idea that kids actually _liked_ Braeburn. Maybe there was a story that he didn't know about that had something to do with that. Oh well, that was going onto his list of 'Things He Needed to Pester Braeburn About.'

"Alright then," Applejack chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Tell Twilight Ah'll be out soon." The orange pony said to her friends. Rainbow Dash shrugged and began walking out the door.

"Okay, see ya in a little while." The cyan mare called as her tail vanished outside. Rarity, Scootaloo and Fluttershy followed their friend out, with Fluttershy muttering about how she hoped the training wasn't too dangerous. Soarin was about to turn towards Applejack when he felt a tug on his right wing. Looking down, he saw a little purple dragon with big green eyes gazing up at him.

"Um… hi." The dragon laughed nervously, shuffling his feet on the floor. "I… I just wanna know if you'd- um- sign my tail?" He held up his tail awkwardly in one claw. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom giggled from their spot with Applejack behind Soarin.

"Spike, you're such a goober." Sweetie Belle snickered. Spike blushed pink and made some incoherent mumbling noises as she stood with one arm behind his back and his legs locked tightly together, still holding his tail up as if he could not lower his arm. Soarin thought that the little dragon was adorable as heck, and knew that there was no way he couldn't sign his stubby little tail… a picture or poster was more suitable for this of course, but it didn't seem as if either of them had one of those, so Soarin would just have to work with what he was given. Pulling one of his useful pens out from his shirt pocket, Soarin took it between his teeth and started scrawling his name along the dragon's tail. As he wrote he could hear the shallow, yet clearly rapid breathing of the dragon. When he was done, Soarin stepped back to admire his handiwork. He had written his name along with a quick drawing of a pair of sunglasses (because in all honesty that was the only thing he could draw all that well). Spike gasped and you could practically see the stars in his eyes.

"Aaaaweeeesoooome!" He took his tail in his arms and hugged it in a rather sweet way, getting giggles from all four of the other ponies this time. Spike then skipped out the door, singing 'thank you, thank you, thank you!' over and over again between his happy laughs. Soarin shook his head and smiled, always loving it when he saw a fan of his go on their way happily. He turned to Applejack and the two fillies accompanying them.

"Alright let's head that way," Soarin pointed to the door that lead to the kitchen. "Braeburn's in there, and…" he looked from Apple Bloom to Sweetie Belle. "Is… is there any chance of these two not being there when we talk?"

"Nope!" The two fillies said simultaneously, flashing him identical cheeky little smiles, almost as if they wanted to interfere with this. Kids, eh? Applejack looked sudden worried.

"Is something wrong?" She asked, her brows raising up to her hairline. Soarin considered giving her a sarcastic reply but decided against it for the sake of not wasting time.

"Kinda sorta yeah, okay. Now let's just get this over with, alright?" He asked. Applejack still looked a little skeptical of the situation, but followed Soarin to the kitchen door anyway.

"If ya really think Ah can help then Ah'm happy t' lend a hoof." She shrugged, giving Soarin a smile despite her wariness around him.

"Us too!" Apple Bloom threw her hooves in the air. She hopped down from Applejack's back and landed next to Sweetie Belle. Soarin decided to ask before he forgot.

"Hey, kids… how come you're so fond of Braeburn?" He asked.

"He babysat us one time." Sweetie Belle revealed.

"And he acted real goofy 'cause his leg was hurt." Apple Bloom added, chuckling at the memory.

"And he was supposed to keep an eye on us while Applejack practiced for the Appleoosa rodeo." said Sweetie Belle.

"But he fell asleep!" laughed Apple Bloom.

"And then we snuck out to find a criminal!" Sweetie Belle raised her chest proudly.

"But he wasn't really-"

"Hey, how about you tell the rest of the story later?" Soarin suggested, trying not to ruin the kids' fun, but trying to move things along as swiftly as possible. Thankfully the two fillies just shrugged.

"Okay," they agreed.

"Right." Soarin put his hoof on the door to open it, but suddenly thought of something, looking over his shoulder at Applejack.

"Just making sure, but these children are safe around Brae with _you_ here, right?" He smirked.

* * *

**Endnote: Yes, I know it's rather short but I have once again been the victim of writer's block (and insomnia... and the flu). So the next chapter's gonna focus on the Mane Six as they go around the Academy with Rainbow Dash, Soarin and the others, and yes you can except some humor, and some much-needed plot progression. I actually believe that we're in the final stretch of this story… it feels weird writing that. Ah well, it's not all certain yet after all. Though I do expect (hope with all my soul) that this story will be completed sometime this year. I have other projects I want to start after all.**

**See ya next time. ;)**


	44. The Secrets We Keep, part 1

**Authors Note: Oh my God I love writing the mane six! I just love their dynamic; when they're together everything is more entertaining!**

**RosaSilvermist- I just don't like keeping people waiting. Plus I really wanted to publish something with all of the Mane Six because I've missed them so much!**

**Captain Alaska- This is happening! I am making Soarin say that if it's the last thing I do! And I'm dedicating every mention of the ScootaFan to all of those people out there that admire someone like she does! I'm so pleased that this reminds you of when you met Jeff! Imagining a younger you meeting your idol is a great mental image by the way. **

**Luna'snight625- I know the feeling. It's kinda hard to comment on a chapter where hardly anything happens. ^^"**

**Amellia Rose: Well the wait is over! **

**IS-3 -also dshk- I am not good at writing romance… at all. If you must know I don't even know what I was thinking writing romance in the first place; I SUCK! I have no experience, and frankly I don't read any of the stuff myself really… seriously,**_** WHAT**_** was I thinking?! But I actually CAN'T put this on FIMFiction. It doesn't meet up with all of the guidelines on there so it's not possible. I'm so sorry but there's really nothing I can do. **** *cyberhugs***

**Snow Hurricane Blue- As much as I'd like to do that there's still all of the stuff in the middle that I have to put in for some awful, unfair reason. Oh, and this will please you- there's quite a bit of SpitBurn in this chapter. :D**

**PBJFanFiction- First off, I love your username! Second, thanks for putting up with this story till this point. And don't put yourself down like that, pacing is hard (and boring sometimes) but it's worth it in the end. ;)**

**Jagdpanther- Thanks for your concern, my insomnia's getting better and my flu is gone! I'm happy that you enjoyed the chapter and to answer your question there's some SpitBurn in this chapter and the next, and maybe the one after that! (HALLELUJAH I'VE MISSED WRITING THOSE TWO!)**

**YoungBlood23- You go for it, dude! And thanks for reading that chapter, as painfully short as it was.**

**Ponyloco- Oh my God, you really DID have me worried there! And I'm pleased you like those three- they're some of my favourites too, though only time will tell if Cinder becomes the Academy chef… but let's all just face that she would make a pretty good (and adorable) one. And I do like SpitBurn more than SoarinDash (and I'm pleased someone else does too ^^) and no, they haven't gotten together yet… I'm going to apologise now for future reference. Though I doubt this would make a good audio drama, and I'm not even sure I'd want it to be… maybe if I write a better, shorter story then I'll let **_**that**_** be made into an audio thingy. Yes, I have plans. Thank you for reading this weird little story of mine, and I hope you continue to enjoy. **

**One last thing, I tried to equally balance out the scenes with Surprise and the Mane Six and the scene with Applejack so nobody got annoyed that there was more of one that the other. ^^**

* * *

"Hmm…" Twilight hummed to herself as she observed Surprise's methods of training. She listened to the commands that the white pegasus gave the cadets, who had mostly showed up to training late (with no consequences, Twilight had noticed). The cadets seemed to be fairly calm as they went about their cloud busting, not really caring whether Surprise was watching or not and frequently just sitting around and talking to each other. She noticed that Rainbow Dash, Lullaby, and another peach stallion that Twilight didn't know were the only ones really doing any of the work, and judging by the fact that they were constantly looking in the visitors' direction, they were only doing that to try and hide the fact that something was aloof in the training session. Well nothing like that could hide from the eagle eyes of Twilight Sparkle!

"Hmm…" Twilight watched as a couple of the cadets started throwing cloud-balls at each other. This soon attracted the attention of a few more cadets, and they joined in the battle, chasing each other through the clouds, above them, below them, and Surprise… _tried_ to stop them. She somehow managed to mould the part of her mane the bounced in front of her face to into a megaphone shape, and then started to yell 'STOP PLEASE! OR I'LL… DO… SOMETHING!'

Sure enough, that wasn't a very effective tactic and the cloud-ball fight kept going.

"Hmm…" Twilight took note of Rainbow Dash burying her face in her hooves and meeting Twilight's stare as she looked up. Rainbow was clearly anxious about something, most likely the fact that this Academy was so light on the rules that it was appalling to Twilight. Where was the captain, for starters? And why was one of the female cadets asleep on a cloud at a time like this?

"Hmm-"

"Twilight, you keep humming," Rarity told her friend, raising one freshly plucked eyebrow.

"Hm?" Twilight didn't hear her. Rarity just sighed and shook her head.

"Would you mind telling me what you're so contemplative about?" The white unicorn asked. Twilight pointed up at the cadets with one hoof.

"Surprise's methods of training are pretty unorthodox… it's like she has no experience with this at all. Is she even trying?"

"I don't know, Twilight," Rarity told the alicorn, "why don't you ask _her_?"

Twilight stood straight up with a start, giving Rarity a fright. "Great idea!" she agreed, and briskly trotted over to Surprise, who was chatting with Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy while occasionally stopping to yell something up at the cadets… who didn't seem to notice her in the slightest.

"And then that's when Pinkie Pie said- HEY, CLOUDS ARE _NOT_ FOR EATING!"

"No, that's not what I said!" Pinkie told Surprise, who shook her head.

"I know that, I meant that- OH MY GOSH TEMPEST STOP SWINGING CINDER AROUND- she said that- oh hi Twilight!" Surprise then noticed the new arrival.

"No, finish the story!" Pinkie begged Surprise to continue.

"Later okay," Surprise kept flicking her gaze towards the cadets to check that at least some of them were doing what they were supposed to be doing. "So did you want something, Princess?" She asked.

"I just wanted to ask a question," Twilight was about to tell her to just call her by her actual name when the clump of cloud next to her exploded, giving her a huge scare and making her fall backwards onto her rump.

"Surprise!" Scootaloo shook the cloud from her mane, giggling at Twilight's terrified expression. The purple alicorn put a hoof over her heart and did her best to clutch it.

"You almost gave a _heart attack_!" She scolded the filly, who pouted and pointed up at Surprise.

"Surprise taught me that." She accused the white Wonderbolt. Surprise bit her lip and sheepishly chuckled.

"Heh… she's got me there." A bead of sweat ran down her face and dripped onto the clouds below. Twilight noted that the puffy maned pegasus actually looked pretty stressed out. "So, uh… about this question?"

"Yes, I wanted to ask about the way you 'train' these cadets." Twilight replied. Surprise's entire body seemed to droop.

"I had a horrible feeling you were going to ask about that," she sighed in a strangely flat voice. "I guess I owe everyone an explanation… but it's kinda awkward and I promised the captain that I wouldn't tell anypony under any circumstance."

"Really?" Twilight put a hoof to her chin. "Is she ill or anything? Doesn't she have anyone… er, more experienced with this kind of job?"

"Yes. But Silver Lining, Wave Chill, and a couple others are performing in Neigh Orleans. All that's left is Rapidfire, Misty Fly, the Streak Twins, Fleetfoot and Soarin… maybe I should go shove this job on Fleetfoot or Fire Streak?"

"That seems wise," Twilight agreed silently, "but I just thought that you'd put more effort into this job."

"I can't!" Surprise threw her hooves into the air, almost hitting Fluttershy in the face and making the butter yellow pegasus yelp.

"I'd, uh… better stand over there." Fluttershy walked around the conversing mares and went to stand next to Rarity. Surprise looked down at her Cutie Mark.

"Princess, my special talent is springing surprises on ponies and getting them to have fun! Giving orders and making them do hard challenges goes against that! It's not entirely possible for me to give orders the way Captain Spitfire does. I _can_, but I feel super crummy afterwards."

Twilight hadn't considered that before. There were a lot of things about Cutie Marks that she didn't know, but she hadn't ever experienced guilt about going against her special talent. She supposed that if she refused to cast spells and study to learn new ones, then she'd feel guilty as well; the same with Rarity if she decided to get a new job, or Applejack if she chose to live in the city away from her family and Sweet Apple Acres.

"I think I get it now." Twilight looked back up at the cadets. "Still, you should get someone better suited for this position to take your place for the time being. Frankly, it's just not safe to have these pegasi acting so carelessly… besides, I can't stand to see Rainbow Dash so embarrassed anymore."

Rainbow Dash had buried her head in a cloud like an ostrich, while Lullaby and the peach stallion awkwardly stood to the side of her, taking turns talking to her and trying to coax her out of her ridiculous hiding spot.

"You're right," Surprise sighed. "I'll go and get Fire Streak and then hang out with Pinkie Pie."

"YAY!" Pinkie suddenly popped out of Surprise's mane, which ironically didn't surprise her at all since she was used to this kind of behavior from Pinkie Pie.

"Oh yes!" Twilight suddenly remembered something. "Would you mind telling me what exactly happened to the captain?" She asked. Surprise flinched a little at that, which told Twilight one heck of a lot. It seemed like something big was happening with her… and the detective inside Twilight wanted to know more.

"Er… she's not… mentally stable right now," Surprise confessed, her purple eyes shimmering with worry. She must really care about the captain. "She just wants to be left alone until she gets a grip again."

"How long has this been going on?" Twilight had a long list of questions, but she wanted to make sure that she didn't freak Surprise out with just how many she wanted to ask. She didn't even seem to want to answer the ones she had just asked.

"Um…" Surprise shrugged her shoulders, seemingly to herself, "about three weeks." She admitted. Twilight's eyes shot open. How could a pony take this long to recover from a mental shock… though by the looks of things the captain had been suffering completely alone, with only Surprise to help; stuff like this needed professional help, and Twilight knew how hard it was to convince a pony to see a doctor, especially if somepony was as tough and stern as the captain seemed to be.

"Is there a chance of her resuming her position anytime soon?" Twilight asked yet another question. "I'm not gonna drag her out or anything," she assured the white pegasus, almost missing her murmur of _'You'd die.'_

"Of course she'll come out; she has no choice. If the captain doesn't show up to stuff then ponies will talk… there's no doubting that she'll emerge from her little hidey hole at some point, but I think that she'll need somepony to meet her halfway."

"Huh?" Twilight was now officially intrigued. There appeared to be a whole story behind this that she didn't know, and Twilight loved a good story. Heck she'd like to hear this story even if it took over forty chapters to put it all down!

"I think that's enough information," Surprise shook her head and gulped, plastering a smile onto her face. Twilight knew the importance of not being pushy, so she decided to leave Surprise be for the time. Maybe she could get some information from another pony.

"Hey Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo suddenly yelled as loud as she could. Rainbow lifted her head from the clouds at long last; a little shocked to find that some of the white fluffy stuff had stuck to her face in a fashion that made it look like she had a big bushy beard. She shook it off while Lullaby and the peach stallion laughed, before flushing pink and flapping down swiftly to stand in front of her sister.

"What is it squirt?" She briefly made nervous eye contact with Twilight, who just gave her a nod of understanding… which Rainbow Dash didn't seem to understand, ironically enough. Scootaloo pointed up towards the other cadets with a hoof.

"Can you fly me up there to meet all your new friends?" She asked with a big grin. Rainbow Dash nodded and crouched down.

"Hop on Scoots. I've got a lot of ponies to introduce you to," she said with a chuckle. Scootaloo scrabbled onto Rainbow Dash's back with little difficulty, and Dash took off, laughing as Scootaloo let out a cheer. Surprise looked like she was about to tell Rainbow Dash to land and let her passenger disembark, but thought the better of it and shook her head.

"She can fly, can't she?" Surprise asked with worry in her voice. Slowly, Twilight shook her head, but gave the white pegasus a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry about a thing. She's in capable hooves." Twilight smiled, staring after the cyan mare and her little sister. She looked behind her at Rarity and Fluttershy, who was giggling about something or other, and then to the left where Pinkie and Surprise had resumed their conversation. Just then, frantic huffing and puffing came from her right, and she turned her head just in time for Spike to thrust his face into hers, pressing their noses together.

"Twilight! Check it out!" He held up his tail for her to see. "Soarin just signed my tail! And I'm _never_ washing it again!"

A look of horror spread over Twilight's features, and she rapidly shook her head. "No, no, no, nonononono!" She repeated. "You learned your lesson the last time you said that you'd never was anything again, didn't you?"

Spike chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, before looking down at his tail. "Ah well. I'll just take a picture of it when we get home." He decided, and Twilight gave him a nod to show that it wasn't a bad idea. Twilight then remembered something. She recalled something Rarity said to her about Applejack being called away for some matter, and decided to ask Spike about it.

"Hey Spike, do you know what Applejack's doing in there?" she nodded in the direction of the mess hall. Spike shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know any more than the others," he told her. "Something about Braeburn and that's all I know. Soarin said that he just wanted Applejack to say hi to him, but I seriously doubt that's what's actually going on. Meh, it's probably not important."

"Maybe not," Twilight said, mostly to calm her own curiosity. She returned to watching Rainbow Dash introduce Scootaloo to a small group of gathered cadets and tried to forget about the absence of one of her friends.

* * *

"Braeburn?" Applejack called as she stepped through the door. Soarin followed after her and held the door open for Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Braeburn was slouching on the table, so Soarin guessed that they had caught him on one of those rare occasions where he had nothing to do. The gold earth pony looked up from the table, and his eyes widened when he saw his cousin.

"Applejack!" He exclaimed gleefully, bounding over and hugging the orange mare. "It's been forever!" he squeezed her around her neck, almost cutting off her circulation. Applejack didn't seem to be bothered by it though; she knew how overbearing her cousin could be sometimes, after all.

"Actually it's been five months…" Applejack corrected him, not usually one to be specific about these kinds of details but knowing that it would bother her cousin a little bit.

"Ugh!" Braeburn let his face drop into Applejack's shoulder fur. "Who cares?" he mumbled into it, his voice being muffled by the fur. He then lifted his head up and noticed the two fillies. "And Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle are here as we-ACK!" He was suddenly knocked to the ground by the two younger ponies. Soarin laughed out loud as the girls knocked Braeburn onto his back and sat on his stomach.

"Howdy Braeburn!" Apple Bloom grinned.

"Hi Braeburn!" Sweetie Belle chirped.

"Mornin', kids." Braeburn groaned, a little winded from the fall. Applejack chuckled and ushered the two fillies off her cousin's stomach.

"Now now, Ah know you two are excited t' see Braeburn, but there's no sense in givin' him a concussion." she rolled her eyes. Soarin clicked his tongue and hummed in thought.

"You sure about that?" he asked. Applejack and Braeburn gave him unamused stares that were so much alike that it was utterly hilarious, and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle erupted into giggles. Applejack helped Braeburn up and changed the subject.

"Anyway, are ya doin' okay?" the orange mare asked her cousin. Braeburn hesitated before slowly nodding, looking a little suspicious now that he knew his cousin was worried about him.

"Yeah, everythin's just fine," he was lying to himself because in all honesty his main emotions these pain few feels were guilt and shame, "why do ya ask?"

"Soarin implied that you were in a rough patch," Applejack revealed. Braeburn narrowed his eyes and gave Soarin a side glance.

"Did he now…?" his tone was low and dangerous. Applejack nodded, clearly bothered by Braeburn's change in mood. After all, a minute ago he was hugging her like he'd been reunited with a childhood friend, and now he was grumpy.

"Uh… yeah?" Applejack said a little awkwardly. "He didn't outright say it, if that makes ya feel any better?" she tried to make things a bit less tense. Suddenly, there was a smash from the other side of the room, and the three adult ponies looked in that direction. They saw Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle over by the sink, a jug cracked to pieces on the floor between them. Sweetie Belle looked over her shoulder at the grown-ups and pointed to the mess.

"Somepony broke that," she said innocently, while Apple Bloom blushed and took a couple steps back, crouching down as low as she could so that she seemed as small and defenseless as she could manage. Applejack let out a low growl and stomped over to the two fillies, apologizing to Braeburn over her shoulder. Braeburn then marched up to Soarin until they were almost nose-to-nose. Soarin sat on his haunches and did jazz hooves.

"So Applejack's here~!" he sang. Braeburn's face remained stern.

"Cut the crab-apples Soarin, ya obviously made 'er come here so she could deal with the Spitfire problem." his eyes were burning into Soarin's with ferocity. Soarin took a sharp breath before frowning and letting his head drop.

"Yes…" he admitted.

"What the hay were ya thinkin'?" Braeburn whisper-shouted with anger. Soarin slowly exhaled and slanted his eyes to the side.

"I was thinking 'Braeburn needs some help and I could really go for a pie.'" he replied honestly. His earth pony friend let out a growl and raised one hoof as if to grab him before lowing it with a bit of difficulty.

"But ya didn't hafta get Applejack. Why did ya get _mah cousin_?!" He looked to the side to make sure Applejack was still distracted with the girls. She appeared to be snapping at Apple Bloom, who was grinning sheepishly.

"Because my best friend is slumping on a table and writing and rewriting sappy apology/love letters," Soarin deadpanned. Braeburn's eyes went wide and pupils shrank.

"Wha- Ah… Ah've done no such thing!" Braeburn's face turned bright red. Soarin pointed to the left side of the room.

"So I'm sure you'll be fine if I open that cabinet and check out all the mysterious sheets of paper you've been stuffing in there." That made Braeburn's face morph into one of terror.

"N-no! Stop that!" he whined. Soarin couldn't help but chuckle at how pathetic and childish this was. He decided to wind him up even more.

"Oh my gosh! Braeburn's writing a whole lot of letters to Spitfire senpai!" he put a hoof to his cheek and spoke in a bad anime voice.

"Shut up!" The earth pony bounced on his hooves with frustration. "They aren't love letters, they're confidential documents, and neither is a reason to get Applejack involved!"

"When was the last time you talked to Spitz?" Soarin sat down at the table and glared accusingly at Braeburn. The earth pony stood tall and looked down his muzzle at his winged friend.

"That time she flew me home," he answered honestly. Soarin slammed a hoof on the table.

"That was almost three weeks ago!" the co-captain snapped.

"It seems much longer…" Braeburn sighed, looking forlornly down at the ground, "…like five months."

"What seems longer?" Sweetie Belle suddenly popped up on Soarin's right side, making him hump.

"What's taken five months?" Apple Bloom appeared on his other side.

"Girls, maybe you should go outside with Scootaloo?" Applejack suggested. Apple Bloom pouted.

"Aww… but we wanna look around the Academy; right Sweetie Belle?" the yellow filly looked to her friend for a confirmation, and Sweetie Belle nodded. Applejack sighed and looked over at Soarin.

"Ah'm gonna stay here with Braeburn, but would ya mind takin' these two for a walk around?" she asked. Soarin put a hoof on each of the fillies' heads and ruffled their manes.

"Sure. I'm gonna show 'em all the cool stuff," he agreed, getting a hearty 'YAY' from the two kids. Braeburn looked highly offended.

"Yer lettin' _him _watch some _kids_?!" he exclaimed. "Applejack, ya oughta reconsider that!" he warned his cousin, Applejack gave him a small glare.

"He can't be any worse than _you_," she told him, "ya lost 'em more than once when there was a supposed criminal on the loose, so there ain't no chance o' you babysittin' again anytime soon."

Braeburn sighed and glared from his cousin to Soarin. "Ya know, between the two of ya, ya make me feel totally worthless." he sighed, trying to stay optimistic despite the growing misery in his chest. Applejack looked a little guilty at that, and she pulled her hat down a little so that it cast a shadow across her muzzle.

"Soarin, can ya take 'em now?" she asked with her tone sounding a little gentler now. Soarin nodded and stood up, heading towards the door.

"Sure. C'mon girls, I'm gonna show you the gymnasium, the obstacle course, my office, the bathrooms in case one of you has to go pee-pee or poo-poo…" he kept talking as he left the kitchen, the two fillies bounding after him excitedly. Applejack then turned her attention to Braeburn, who was resuming the position he was in at the table when she, Soarin and the fillies first arrived. She moved over to sit in the chair opposite him.

"So, are ya gonna tell me what's goin' on?" she asked. Braeburn just gave her a flat stare that said it all. Applejack sighed and folded her hooves on the table in front of her. "Ah've got all day, cuz" she told him, "Ah'm not the most patient o' ponies, but Ah love sittin' down, so don't count on me getting' bored any time soon."

"Why do ya care?" Braeburn asked. "Why would ya care about some silly li'l thing Soarin said?"

"Because Ah _care_ about _you_," Applejack said as if it were obvious. Braeburn put his face in his hoof and let out a long breath. "Ah promise Ah won't laugh or anythin'; just tell me what's wrong an' Ah'll try n' help ya out." She smiled gently at her cousin. Braeburn placed his hoof back on the table and groaned.

"It's awkward… an' hard t' explain," he fiddled with his tail a little bit. There was silence for a few minutes, and in that space of time Applejack pondered over the possibilities. What could have possibly gotten under her cousin's fur? The last time she had seen him was at the celebration and that was when-

"Oh!" Applejack's eyes lit up with realization, and she exclaimed so loud that it made Braeburn jolt with shock.

"What? What is it? Is there a spider somewhere?" he looked around frantically. Applejack blinked with confusion, but shook her head.

"There ain't a spider, Braeburn." She assured him, unsure as to why he would choose that of all things to be worried about at this point. "Ah think Ah might know what's goin' on is all." she felt a twinge of consequent worry and adoration for this situation.

"H-how…?" he looked a little worried, but Applejack was a smart pony, and she could remember important little details when she needed to. She decided to calm him down a little first before she dropped the bomb.

"Now listen here. Ah'm not makin' fun o' ya in any way, so don't go denyin' anythin'. Ah'm yer cousin, an' Ah wanna be here t' help ya with yer problem. So let everythin' out 'cause Ah'll just get answers from elsewhere if Ah don't. Got that?" she lectured. Braeburn nodded, still looking pretty perplexed. Applejack leaned forward a little and lowered her voice volume.

"This is about the captain, isn't it?"

And Braeburn made no spastic attempt to run away. Nor did he sit up straight, shake his head wildly and toss everything his cousin was saying away. He didn't nervously laugh and call Applejack crazy. He didn't run out of the room blushing. He just sat still…

…and he nodded.

"Yes…" he admitted with a solemn sigh. Applejack smiled at him proudly and reached over to boop him on the nose.

"There ya go! That wasn't so bad was it?" she asked him. Braeburn's face didn't change from a neutral frown, but she got a response from him anyway.

"You aren't Soarin," he simply said. Applejack had to agree that Soarin seemed like the type of guy who'd tease his friends for having mare troubles, and the orange mare wasn't sure that she liked the idea of her cousin hanging around with a stallion that makes him lose confidence and made him shy away from being honest with his feelings. It made her feel pretty guilty for making fun of him when she'd seen him last at the Spring Celebration as well.

"Fair enough," she finally said while rolling her green eyes a little. "So, what did ya do?" she asked, before quickly realizing that he may not have done anything at all. "Ah mean, what did _she_ do? Or, uh-"

"No, no! It's me, all me!" Braeburn told his cousin. Applejack was silent so he could explain. "Ah said somethin' wrong…"

He then went on to explain everything about the flight home, and the things that he'd said to Spitfire once they'd landed outside his house. Applejack listened patiently, her face morphing into one of confusion towards the end of the golden stallion's tale of woe.

"…and she got upset when Ah told 'er she was 'the most amazing' flyer ever t' take t' the skies'. Then she flew away an' Ah haven't seen 'er or talked t' her since." he sighed and took his hat off, putting it on the table beside him. "Ah feel awful."

Applejack blinked with bewilderment, remaining quiet for a minute or two as she tried to process what she had just heard. She put her head in her hoof and looked across at Braeburn.

"Cuz, Ah'm not hearin' that ya did anythin' wrong." she told him. Braeburn threw his hooves into the air.

"AH DON'T KNOW WHAT AH DID EITHER!" he yelled so loud that it made Applejack jump, and she skidded backwards in her chair a little. Braeburn looked mortified at himself and he wrapped his arms around his middle, applying a little bit of pressure so it was like he was hugging himself. The sight made Applejack's heart ache. It seemed like the situation was even worse than she had first hypothesized.

"Hey now, can't ya just ask 'er?" Applejack suggested. Braeburn looked up at her with angry eyes.

"Don't ya think Ah've tried?" he asked with his voice straining as he tried not to shout again. "She won't answer the door t' me. She only ever talks t' Surprise, and judgin' by the fact that Surprise recently slapped me an' said Ah've hurt the captain pretty bad, Ah can only assume that she won't talk t' me ever again."

Applejack wasn't just curious. She was angry. She wanted to know exactly what was going on in the captain's skull and why she was acting this way to her cousin who had done absolutely nothing wrong. She wanted to give this mare a piece of her mind! She had more or less forgotten about her cousin and the captain's potential relationship since the Celebration, but on the off occasion that she did catch herself thinking about her cousin and his crush she had only really looked on the positive side of things. Who wouldn't wanna be the marefriend of a gentlecolt like Braeburn; that's what she had always said when the two of them were foals and Braeburn had had his first few crushes. He was still as adorable when he was smitten now as he was back then, only… he had never seemed to feel this strongly about the ponies in the past. Only now was this seeming to have a visible emotional effect on him. This was definitely not what she had expected to see when she came to Cloudsdale.

Silent as a ninja, Applejack walked around the table and sat beside her cousin, placing her orange hoof on top of his light gold one and giving it a squeeze. "Ya really care about this gal, don't ya Brae?" she asked him softly. "Ah've never seen ya this stressed out before, not even when the cops mistook yer apple stand fer a… er, a different kind o' stand." She bit her lip and glanced awkwardly to the side, remembering an incident from when Braeburn and she were young adults.

Braeburn gave her an annoyed side-glance, but he couldn't maintain his pissed off expression for longer than a few seconds before his features grew sad and he tipped his head downwards. He closed his eyes and held his breath for a little while, before letting it out and placing his hat back on his head. He didn't tear his gaze from the table top as he spoke once again, ever so quietly.

"Ah love her, Applejack."

Applejack blinked and her mouth formed an O shape. She gazed at her cousin with astonishment.

"Love?" she repeated, almost as if the word were foreign. She was positively stunned!

Braeburn raised his head up, but he didn't look at Applejack. Instead he looked straight ahead at the wall opposite them and poured his heart out. "She's a complete mystery t' me; Ah wanna know what it is that goes on in 'er head. Ah felt like Ah knew her pretty well back before all o' this happened… she told me so much about herself at Surprise's birthday party… now it's like Ah know nothin' at all. She seems so strict all the time, but if ya get 'er in the right place then she's just plain charmin'… like fer a l'il while Ah'm not lookin' at the tough captain, or the famous Wonderbolt. Just Spitfire." His cheeks turned a pink color, but he looked pretty relieved to finally be talking about it like this.

Applejack wanted to help him so much… however she didn't really know much about love or any of that kind of stuff. But she _did_ know Braeburn, and if he was really this distressed about a situation then it sure as heck was dire. She needed to get him to confront the captain somehow…

"Hey," she put a hoof on his shoulder. "Ah'm no expert in this field, but Ah can tell that ya really do need t' make things right with the captain," she waited for Braeburn to finish nodding before continuing. "So Ah say that you should go talk t' her, an' if she's really as special as ya make 'er out t' be, then she'll understand and explain what happened."

Braeburn made split-second eye contact with his cousin. "And if she doesn't wanna see me?" he asked. Applejack sighed and frowned, feeling a bit stuck right now.

"Well… if she won't give ya a chance t' make amends then…" she hated to say this, "maybe she's just not the one fer you."

Braeburn's face morphed into one of utter sadness, but he quickly banished it by letting his mane fall down and cover the side of his face. The subtle nod that he gave Applejack afterward signified that he understood completely. Applejack wrapped her forehooves around him and gave him a side-hug, nuzzling his cheek in a comforting manner.

"Hey, if she really opens up t' you like ya mentioned before, then she probably really trusts ya. Losin' your friendship would be the biggest mistake o' her life." She assured Braeburn. The stallion leaned his head against Applejack's and sighed, pleased that she was there for him.

"If ya say so, cuz," he smiled despite himself. Applejack stood up and made her way around to the other side of the table.

"Well, Ah'm gonna head out an' catch up with the others. If ya wanna come too don't hesitate, 'kay?" she told Braeburn. The gold stallion didn't move from his spot at the table.

"Ah'll think about it," was all he said, but hey, it was better than nothing. Applejack left the kitchen feeling less than satisfied about the situation, but she had something new to be concerned about.

She wanted to know exactly what had happened, and why the captain was shutting him out. She thought it over; nopony had seemed to want to convince her to fix things with him… possibly because they didn't even know about it. But what if they were afraid they'd get in trouble over it? Arguing over a personal subject with a boss did seem to be a pretty good way of getting fired to Applejack, but now _she_ was here. Applejack had nothing to lose- she didn't know the captain and she didn't work here, and frankly she wasn't scared of another pony.

Maybe she shouldn't interfere and let Braeburn handle this by himself…?

She thought about it.

Nah, she was gonna do something about it.

* * *

"And then we just chill out until the break is over," Rainbow Dash explained to her friends as she sat down in the mess hall, in the same spot she had been when her friends had first arrived. Scootaloo hopped up to sit beside her, her cheeks still flushed with excitement.

"All of your friends seem so cool, Rainbow Dash!" the orange filly chirped. "Sugar Swoop is so silly!" she giggled. Twilight had to admit that the peach stallion had really hammed out a bunch of puns to make Scootaloo laugh… and in all honesty she didn't know if it was more sweet or desperate.

"Hey Rainbow," Pinkie Pie casually dropped down from above to sit on the table in front of her. "Do you know if Stargazer can predict the future like me?"

Rainbow gave her a baffled look and paused for a minute to figure out how she was meant to answer that. "Wh- why would she be able to predict the future?"

Pinkie rolled her eyes. "Well she seems to be into the stars and stuff, and when I talked to her she spoke just like the gypsies or whatever they are from all the movies. So does that mean she has a Mystical Orb of Fate's Destiny like mine?"

Twilight wanted to facehoof so badly. Did Pinkie Pie seriously believe in stereotypes like that?

"No Pinkie, as far as I know she doesn't have any fortune telling powers. I don't even really know what her special talent is." Rainbow answered. Pinkie gasped and narrowed her eyes, looking confident.

"Then I should go and find out myself!" she decided. She then stood up straight on the table and pinpointed Stargazer's location in the room. "The desire to know everything about this pony… fills me with DETERMINATION!" And then she hopped off the table and walked away.

"I thought Stargazer was lovely." Fluttershy put in her opinion.

"Did you see her mane though?" Rarity suddenly burst out. All the remaining ponies turned to look at her, their matching expressions making it clear that they didn't know why it mattered or why Rarity even cared. The white unicorn realised what she had said and coughed politely. "I'm just saying that it's not something I'd choose for myself." She corrected herself. Good enough, Twilight decided.

"So what are you gonna do next?" Scootaloo put her front hooves on the table so she was eye-level with Rainbow Dash. Rainbow shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm not sure; Surprise will just surprise us." She replied.

"Yep-a-rooni!" The white mare suddenly appeared on the table. Everypony leaned back in shock/fear at the freaky revelation of the wacky Wonderbolt. The whole time the others were internally screaming in terror, Surprise just sat there with a grin on her face, which only served to amplify the creepiness of the moment.

"Uh…" Twilight couldn't get any words out, so she just settled for an uncomfortable groan instead. Nopony seemed to think that this was the incorrect thing to do anyway.

"Fleetfoot's gonna make you do laps around the Academy for your information," Surprise told the gathered ponies, who didn't have any reaction at first since they were still recovering from Surprise's 'witchcraft'. Rarity eventually spoke.

"Oh, um… thank you for telling us." She managed to say, though the smile she had on was obviously forced. Twilight was pretty sure that the tight pull at the corners of her mouth meant that_ her_ smile wasn't real either.

"Oh yeah, that sounds like fun," Rainbow Dash finally came to her senses. "Maybe I could take Scootaloo around with me while I fly?" she asked hopefully. Much to her dismay however, Surprise shook her head.

"Sorry Rainbow Dash, but Scootaloo would weight you down. You'll just get worn out if you fly laps with her riding on your back." She informed the blue pegasus. Rainbow scoffed and folded her arms.

"Say what? Since when has a little weight been a problem for me? I did save three Wonderbolts and Rarity from falling to their deaths and that didn't slow me down." She bragged. Twilight raised a hoof.

"Rainbow, you were already going at an incredible speed when you caught them all, and the momentum you'd gained from breaking the sound barrier was partially carrying you along as you flew. So as a matter of fact, physics was doing all the hard work while you flapped your wings and kept hold of Rarity and the Wonderbolts." She explained.

Needless to say, everypony looked like they hadn't a clue what Twilight was nerding on about.

"Ugh! Never mind!" Twilight huffed; a little ticked that nopony appreciated her knowledge around here.

"It's fine," Scootaloo said to Rainbow Dash, "I'll settle with watching you be awesome."

Rainbow nudged her sister with her shoulder. "Yeah, good point there Scoots." she said with an air of pride in her voice. "Anyway, once we're done me and Soarin can show you around, and you're all gonna love this placed, I promise!" The rainbow maned pegasus vowed. "Twilight will love the Wonderbolt Hall of Fame, Rarity can check out the old uniforms, Pinkie can hang with Surprise and Fluttershy… well Lullaby's here so they can talk about stuff I guess," Rainbow knew that Fluttershy wasn't really into the Wonderbolts at all, but she and Lullaby connected over their shared love of taking care of things.

"Did somepony say my name?" Lullaby trotted up to the group. Rainbow nodded.

"I'm gonna show these guys around; wanna help out?" she asked. Lullaby nodded enthusiastically.

"Sure! That sounds kinda fun." the purple cadet agreed. Rarity silently objected to that under her breath.

"It sounds like a lot of walking to me." she complained, but secretly she liked the idea of seeing all the Wonderbolt uniforms. She had created replicas of them before for when Rainbow Dash was taking the test to get into the Wonderbolt Reserves, but she had never actually seen the real deal.

"It'll be worth it though, right? I've missed you all so much." Rainbow said with a hint of sentimentality in her tone. Fluttershy then did her best to tackle hug Rainbow Dash, but it just looked plain adorable.

"We've missed you too, Rainbow," she nuzzled her friend's cheek, getting Dash to blush. She wasn't too keen on sappy moments like this, but she'd deal with it for the sake of being with her friends again. Twilight and Rarity joined in the hug, and Scootaloo popped up in the middle of them all, an adorable grin on her face as she was engulfed by the hugging ponies. Pinkie then jumped up from behind Rainbow Dash and wrapped her arms around her, placing her head on top of her cyan friend's mane.

"Yay hugs!" She cheered. Surprise and Lullaby watched the whole scene, both smiling at the sweetness of it all. However, Surprise's happiness was 'surprisingly' short lived.

"Surprise, can I talk to you?" Misty Fly approached from her left.

"You already are but yes," she forgot that they were supposed to be making friends and mentally slapped herself for making that comment. Misty absentmindedly fiddled with her hooves.

"Er… Feather Duster wants to see you about something supposedly 'bonkers' because you're, and I quote, '_the most bonkers thing about this Academy'_." she paused before carrying on. "And she took away my cigarettes when I asked her if she was sure of that, and I kinda need those to survive." She gave Surprise a nervous smile. The white mare knew how Misty could get when she didn't have a regular cigarette… and to be honest it kinda worried her, so for the sake of not having an angry Wonderbolt on their hooves, she would help her out.

"Alright, let's go find her," Surprise sighed; she'd rather spend time with Pinkie Pie and her friends, but duty called, she supposed.

"Hey!" Speak of the devil, Pinkie Pie suddenly appeared leaning against Surprise. Misty stepped back in shock but Surprise just grinned and gave her Twinzie a friendly head-butt. The other ponies had stopped hugging and were listening to Scootaloo natter on happily about something.

"Ooh, I have a good idea! Pinkie, do ya wanna come with us to investigate something wacky?" she asked, loving the prospect of Pinkie going along with her and Misty Fly to keep things entertaining.

"Since when do I not wanna investigate wacky stuff?" she then smooshed her cheek against Surprise's and said in a low but chipper whisper. "We _are_ wacky stuff!"

"You… are…" Misty confirmed before Surprise could say anything. Pinkie then bounced all the way into the air and landed back next to Misty Fly.

"Hi there! I haven't met you before. Are you Surprise's friend? Me too!" she hopped up and down like Pepe Le Pew. Misty bit her lip, not really knowing how to answer that.

"This is Misty Fly, and… well she's not exactly my…"

"We aren't… um…"

Misty and Surprise both seemed to not want to offend the other by revealing whether or not they were on friendly terms. Pinkie… took this the completely wrong way.

"Oh my gosh!" The pink mare squealed. She looked from Surprise to Misty Fly, who for once shared the same expression of confusion.

"Is something the matter?" Misty asked, raising one eyebrow. Pinkie slid a little to the side, put one hoof around Surprise and another around Misty Fly and then pulled them towards her rather abruptly in a hug.

"That's adorable!" The bouncy end of Pinkie's mane somehow curled into her wild mess of hair and re-emerged with a camera on the end. Before Surprise and Misty (but mostly Misty) could question what she was doing there was a bright flash, which darn near blinded the two baffled mares.

"Pinkie!" Surprise was laughing despite the fact that she was seeing spots. "What's going on?"

Pinkie then grabbed the photo out of the back of the camera and presented it to Surprise. "Pinkie Pie Picture Service: Taking heart-warming pictures since twelve seconds ago!" she declared. Surprise examined the picture in her hoof with Misty looking at it over her shoulder. The photo consisted of a gleefully smiling Pinkie Pie, Surprise's face her smooshed into her shoulder with her only visible eye red. Pinkie had grabbed Misty around the neck, and so she looked like she was in total distress. If it wasn't for the caption underneath it, Surprise would have laughed at the panicked Misty Fly.

_The Happy Couple_

_(With Pinkie Pie)_

"EEEEEEEEERRRRRRR?!" Surprise reflexively gaped, going rigid at the current position. Misty Fly cringed from behind her and let out a strained groan.

"Holy Moly," she muttered through her teeth, "I look like an ostrich choking on a trumpet."

"That's the problem?" Surprise was a little ticked that Misty couldn't see the issue here. She turned back to Pinkie, taking a surprisingly strict tone with the pink mare. "Pinkie, that's not it! We aren't even friends, let alone _that_!" she was genuinely miffed. Pinkie blinked a few times, looking a little upset that her Twinzie was mad at her.

"Oh…" she flicked the camera back into her mane. "Sorry…"

"It's… whatever," Surprise wasn't sure it was 'okay' but she'd roll with it. "Now let's go find Feather Duster," she wanted to get this done as quick as possible so she could hang with Pinkie Pie. She was eager to return to that candy shop to use the discount cards they'd gotten the last time they had visited. She shoved the picture behind Misty's ear on the way past as a way to get rid of it.

"And I really… _really_ need to smoke." the custard mare said, mostly to herself. Pinkie looked behind her as Misty followed after her and Surprise.

"You shouldn't do that ya know?" she said matter-of-factly before talking to Surprise again. "So who's Feather Duster? Another friend of yours?" She asked.

"Kinda?" Surprise shrugged. "I think she qualifies as a friend; we kinda made it official at a slumber party recently."

"Ooh, we should have a slumber party too!" Pinkie adored the idea. "We can invite Feather Duster and Misty Fly and have lots of cake and ice cream and punch, and have pillow fights and play 'Guess Who's Sleeping, and put shaving cream on somepony's head and stay up all night singing and-"

"_Really_ needing that cigarette right about now…" Misty grumbled.

* * *

**Endnote: Again, I hate that there are such long waits between chapters, but there are a couple of reasons for that.**

**The first is that sometimes there are scenes that I just don't feel motivated to write. My best work is the stuff that I **_**really**_** want to write instead of stuff that's just there for plot progression, and my lack of enthusiasm holds me back from time to time. It gets done in the end, but just a lot slower than I would like.**

**The second reason is that I'm just plain not feeling all that good. Nothing major but it's just that I've been diagnosed with depression and anxiety, and lately they have been **_**kicking my ass**_**. I don't want to go into too much detail but I'm just super down and feeling neglected by people, and kinda hating myself for feeling like this, so that's sorta sapped up my will to write on several occasions.**

**But next Saturday is my birthday so I'm sure that'll be happy! *Fluttershy Yay***

**So see you in part two, which I hope won't take as long. It has a lot of stuff I've waited months to write in it, and the chapter after that is already almost completely written out so hopefully that means fast updates! Woot woot!**


	45. The Secrets We Keep, part 2

MidnightBlaze16- Thank God someone got that reference! I was afraid I'd be wasting my time with that; if Pinkie had DETERMINATION then the world would be destroyed no matter what happens! But seriously, I love Undertale so much… it's kinda my new obsession, so much that I even started writing another story for that fandom. Before I go off rambling I'm just gonna say thank God you got that and don't forget to brush your teeth before crossing the street. ;)

RosaSilvermist- Thanks for the birthday wishes!

Amellia Rose- Applejack's scene in the next chapter is one of my favourites in the entire story; our apple horse deserves more badass moments.

YoungBlood23- This is why it sucks that I can't get chapters out sooner. I love getting all of these positive messages!

Luna'snight625- Thanks for the encouragement; I'll try and make sure I keep staying positive. And thanks for the birthday wishes too! Maybe once this blasted story is over I'll write a connected one-shot involving a sleepover with those five. It'd be awesome! xD

Ponyloco- Heh. Wow, I appreciate that you took the time to make me feel better like that. I find that talking to someone who has experienced what you're going through and knows how you feel is best because therapists are usually robotic idiots who only half-listen to what you say and then give you meds that don't work. Heck that's part of the reason why I wanna go to psychology classes in the future. I really wanna give you a hug right now because nobody should have to go through what you've gone through and I feel like there's not enough I can say right now to provide comfort. But I really do love how you've gone out of your way to cheer me up, and please be aware that you succeeded. I'll try to be more communicative with my family and try to become happier with who I am. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support. *cyberhugs* Also, it's fine that you reviewed twice- we've all made that mistake in the past when we review outside our accounts ;)

IS- 3- Thanks! And thanks for remembering the whole Bluepony issue. Also, emails don't show on this website, sorry. Try spacing it out in a PM and I can totally send it to you. Uvidimsya! ;)

**As a final note so people don't get on my case about it, yes I did change how I write Fleetfoot's lisp. Instead of replacing every 's' with a 'th' I'm just gonna add an extra 's'. This will be applied to all past chapters as well. Also, 'as' will not become 'ass'! I am Sassy and I live to ruin your fun! :P **

* * *

"She's so awesome!" Scootaloo exhaled as she stared up at Rainbow Dash, who was flying in circles around the Academy at impressive speed. The orange filly's eyes were full of stars as the blur of colourful pegasi soared around the cloudy building, the streaks of blue, gold, and whatever other colours the ponies consisted of kinda looked like a rainbow spinning round and round like a tornado. Scootaloo thought it looked kinda pretty… though mostly it was just epic.

She wished she could be up there with Rainbow Dash- she'd give anything to be able to fly by her side, race with her; maybe someday she'd even fly fast enough to be able to pull off a Sonic Rainboom. Scootaloo looked over her shoulder at her tiny pair of wings and fluttered them a little bit, her smile faltering as she saw the familiar hummingbird like motions they made, and she sighed.

Useless. That's what the bullies at school called her wings; according to them she was more of a chicken than a pony, and even chickens could fly better than her. It was horrible to say the least, having these wings. Sometimes she felt all alone, like she was the only pony in the whole of Equestria who had this problem, and more often than not she found herself asking 'why?'

Why did she, out of all the other pegasi in the world, have to be born with these stupid wings? Every other pegasus in her class had developed or develop_ing_ wings, so why didn't she? What did she do to deserve this? On occasion when she, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle went to Sugarcube Corner they saw Mr or Mrs Cake fussing over the twins when they tried to be 'helpful'. Pumpkin Cake had gotten into the habit of levitating donuts off the counter and into her mouth when nopony was looking- it got on her parents' nerves, but at least she was just putting food in her mouth this time around. And on random occasions Pound Cake would flutter up to a shelf and grab a bag of flour. It always made him crash back down to the floor due to the weight, but ponies got the idea that he just wanted someone to pour flour all over themselves. It's a good thing they had Pinkie to do that. But Scootaloo was a little peeved that Pound Cake could fly and _she_, an eleven year old pony, could not. At least Sweetie Belle was getting the hang of her magic, but she couldn't even get four feet off the ground.

On her most recent visit to the doctor, he had examined her wings for what felt like the quadrillionth time in her life and she had voiced her concerns to him. But as usual, it had been the same stupid response. He had just told her that she was a very late bloomer and that her wings would grow eventually. But he had told her to exercise in case that sped things along. Every day for three weeks she had crouched down and then made her legs go quickly straight, and she sat on her haunches and made windmill motions with her arms. But after a while she got sick of it and when nothing happened she gave up entirely, figuring that the exercise thing was just bogus.

"Hi there!"

"Ah!" Scootaloo whipped round until she was eye-to-eye with the light blue Wonderbolt who was commanding the cadets that afternoon, Fleetfoot.

"You okay, kid?" she asked. Scootaloo flushed pink; a little embarrassed that Fleetfoot had caught her starting so forlornly at her wings like that. The orange filly shrugged and tried to shake it off.

"Yeah it's nothing," she replied hastily, trying to pinpoint Rainbow Dash in the whirling mass of cadets in the sky. Rarity, Fluttershy and Twilight sat a little way off with Spike sitting on Fluttershy's back, and Scootaloo had initially stepped back to have a wider view of the flying. Despite Scootaloo declining being bothered by something, Fleetfoot seemed determined to figure out what with up with the little filly, and she scooted to the side until she was sitting right next to her.

"C'mon kiddo, I can alwayss tell when a pony has problems," she lisped. Scootaloo thought her lisp was pretty cute rather than silly like Rainbow Dash did. She'd heard Rainbow talk about Fleetfoot before and she had done a funny over-the-top impression of her. But hearing Fleetfoot now, Scootaloo could see that she was nothing like that; nothing like Twist from school's lisp, and barely noticeable at all.

"Am I that transparent?" Scootaloo was honestly a little jittery from speaking to a Wonderbolt. She had seen Fleetfoot at the Spring Celebration, but she had spent most of it trailing after Big Macintosh so she hadn't had a chance to even say hello, really.

"Incredibly," Fleetfoot chuckled, "now tell me what'ss going on with you sso I can help." she was very insistent on lending a hoof.

"Er…" Scootaloo knew that there was no escape from this, "it's my wings." she admitted, standing and spreading them out as best she could to show them to the older mare. Fleetfoot clicked her tongue and circled around Scootaloo, peering at every inch of her wings from every single angle she could find before sitting down in front of the filly and humming in thought.

"It doeth look like they're a little on the titchy thide," she mused, making Scootaloo blush a little. It was super embarrassing that a Wonderbolt was talking to her about her flawed wings.

"I know," she muttered, trying not to sound too grumpy. Fleetfoot was trying to help her out anyway, and hopefully there would be some constructive criticism incoming. Words of wisdom from one of the best flyers in the world was just what Scootaloo needed… sure she got them all the time from Rainbow Dash, but maybe what she needed was to see things from another pony's perspective.

"Sso I'm guesssing that your problem is that you wanna fly but can't?" Fleetfoot raised an eyebrow. Scootaloo looked up at her with big purple eyes and sighed.

"Yes…" she replied quietly. Fleetfoot ran a hoof through her fluffy white mane and briefly looked up at the cadets and then down at her stopwatch to make sure that they were still flying around the Academy like they were supposed to. There were still a few minutes left until they had to fly back down so Fleetfoot figured that she could use that time to help a filly out with her problem.

"It'ss a sstory as old as time," she began, secretly enjoying the look Scootaloo gave her as she attempted to be mysterious. "When we're babies most pegassi have ssporadic burssts of flight that dissappear after a while. After that it'ss all a big confusing as crap journey to ssomehow regain our flight. In my opinion it'ss a sstupid rule to have us fly as kids, and then lose the ability for a few years before getting it again. Do you think that makes any ssensse?" Fleetfoot grilled the filly in front of her.

"It doesn't!" Scootaloo jumped high into the air, her frustration with her wings pouring into this conversation. It was good to be talking about this with somepony who wasn't Rainbow Dash, Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle at long last. A new talking buddy was just what the doctor ordered… she _wished_.

"Glad ya agree, kiddo," Fleetfoot gave Scootaloo a friendly wink. "Anyway, mosst pegassi at ssome point along the line going from baby to adolescent gets pretty pisssed off with how long it takes to learn to fly again, and everyone's always ssaying sstuff like 'you'll learn eventually' or 'just have a little patience' and it gets on your Luna damned nerves, am I right?"

"Yes!" this mare understood her!

"But deep down you're convinced that you'll never learn to fly and the only reasons ponies are telling you that you'll eventually ssoar is because they either don't care or they're too caught up in their own ability to fly to give damn about you."

"Well maybe that's a stretch…" Scootaloo admitted. She knew that Fleetfoot was only trying to be helpful, and providing one's own views and opinions on things were what kept conversations and arguments flowing… and on occasion caused humiliation, embarrassment, fire, explosions, collisions, tears, war and death.

"Eh, maybe?" Fleetfoot shrugged. "Anyway, how old are you right now, kiddo? Eight? Nine?"

"Eleven," Scootaloo replied.

"Oh…" Fleetfoot's ears pointed straight up and her mouth formed a straight line. Clearly this hadn't been the answer she'd expected.

"Lemme guess, you've never heard of an eleven year old filly who couldn't fly," Scootaloo rolled her eyes, preparing to face the facts that she was an abnormal filly with wings that wouldn't look out of place on a housefly.

"Lissten, you're not the only filly like that," Fleetfoot assured her. Scootaloo had a feeling that she knew what Fleetfoot was getting at.

"You didn't fly until you were eleven?" she guessed. Fleetfoot scoffed and flicked a hoof.

"Nah, I flew first when I was nine," she revealed. Scootaloo's shoulders sagged and she sank down into the clouds.

"Darn…" she mumbled. Fleetfoot crouched down and put a hoof under the filly's chin, lifting her head up until they were eye to eye.

"But I know ssomeone who didn't fly until they were eleven; at least that'ss what Ssurprise tells me."

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow and sat up straight again. "Well, who is it?" she asked, desperately wanting to know. Fleetfoot tilted her head in the direction of the Academy.

"Captain Groucho," she replied. Scootaloo could officially be coloured surprised.

"The captain had underdeveloped wings like me when she was my age?" she asked. Fleetfoot let out a second scoff and shook her head.

"Nope, her wings _were_ developed, sshe just plain couldn't fly," she began telling the story, "according to Ssurprise, when the captain was eleven sshe was a blank flank that couldn't fly," she explained, and Scootaloo's eyes lit up with interest.

"How did she learn?" She breathed, waiting for inspiration to slam into her like a train. Fleetfoot straightened out her mane as she continued her tale.

"Ssurprise offered to teach her, and after a while sshe taught Sspitz the ropess." She stated. "That'ss all there is to it, apparently."

Scootaloo was still unsatisfied. This didn't help her in any way. "Well how do I learn to fly with these stumpy wings? What if they _never_ develop? That _is_ possible!" she began to sweat as her fears started scampering about in her head like a crazed herd of cattle. Fleetfoot raised a hoof.

"Hey, I know ssomepony who could help you," she put a hoof around Scootaloo's shoulder. "The janitor, Feather Duster, has underdeveloped wings like you- possibly," she said to her. "Talk to her. Sshe's figured out wayss to fly that sshe could probably teach to you. No ssweat."

Scootaloo's eyes widened. "That sounds like a great idea!" she gasped. "I'll go see her and learn how to fly! It's genius!" she jumped up and wrapped her hooves around Fleetfoot's neck.

"THANK YOU!" she yelled, making the light blue Wonderbolt's ears rattle. She lowered herself down to put the filly down on the ground.

"It's no problem, but don't get your hopess up. Feather Duster can be pretty grumpy, and sshe's… basically a lesss threatening Ssaddlef Hitler." she looked to the side with annoyance. Scootaloo did feel a little disheartened at that, but she was confident that if she said the right stuff she could convince this Feather Duster to tell her all of her secrets. Fleetfoot looked down at her stopwatch and for a moment her eyes bugged out of her head.

"Oh sshoot, I sshould have called the cadetss down two minutess ago! Bye, kid!" she flapped high into the air and blew her whistle as loud as she could. "Everypony get back down here! It'ss over!"

Scootaloo trotted over to sit next to Fluttershy, who was waving up at Rainbow Dash as she descended from the sky wither her fellow cadets. Spike looked down from Fluttershy's back at the orange filly.

"Hey Scootaloo, you look happy," Spike noted, "what were you talking about back there?" he nodded behind him to where Scootaloo had recently been speaking with Fleetfoot. Scootaloo decided it wouldn't hurt to tell Spike about what had happened.

"I just told her about my wing problems, and then she told me about a pegasus named Feather Duster who could help me out," she explained. "She has underdeveloped wings like me, so she can teach me how to fly like this," she then stupidly tried to demonstrate by trying to fly, and ended up falling onto her face. "It… looks like I need it," she admitted, her cheeks turning pink.

"I… wasn't gonna say anything," Spike looked awkwardly to the side. Scootaloo shrugged and stood up, shaking her feathers and fur until all the clouds that had latched onto her when she fell got flicked off.

"It's not like I'm not used to it Spike," she told the little purple dragon, "besides, it'll sound a lot less, um, horrible coming from you."

Spike shook his head. "Nah, I'm not gonna make fun of your wings. Friends don't do that," he said, "well unless it's playfully," he was reminded of some of Rainbow Dash's teasing. Scootaloo reached up onto Fluttershy's back and gave Spike a friendly nudge.

"Thanks Spike," she giggled, and Spike absentmindedly started twirling his autographed tail around one claw.

"Meh, glad I can be around to not be a jerk," he couldn't think of any other way that was better to put it. Scootaloo let out a laugh and waved as Rainbow Dash and the other cadets finished getting pep-talked by Fleetfoot and started heading towards them.

"Welp, we're gonna do one more exercise but after that it's fun time!" Rainbow informed her friends. Rarity sighed in relief.

"That's great," she told the cyan pegasus, "I don't want to sound unsupportive but watching you fly around in circles like that did make me feel a little queasy," the unicorn was a little dismayed that since she was a magical pony in a land full of bright colours her face turned green instead of white when she was sick. If this was realistic then she would have turned white and nopony would notice; but no, she had to be stuck with turning green. And green was not her colour at all.

"Meh, Fleetfoot's just letting us do some stretching for the rest of the day so we can cool off, so I'm not really gonna be moving from one spot for the next hour or so," she explained. Rarity let out a breath and fanned herself with one hoof, still begging that there wasn't even the faintest shade of green on her cheeks. Twilight raised a hoof.

"Rainbow Dash, I would just like to say that this is much better than you and your friends' performances this morning. Fleetfoot certainly knows what she's doing," she gave a nod of approval in the direction of the light blue mare. Rainbow gave a lopsided smile.

"Yep, she's cool. I still wish Spitfire would reappear, but I can live with this."

* * *

"I keep telling you! There is no way you'll live after this!" Feather Duster was yelling at an annoying orange pony who had asked her for directions a while ago. The mare was very insistent to 'knock some sense into yer captain'. Basically, this crazy pony was dead-set on going on a suicide mission, and frankly Feathers would rather not clean up a puddle of blood from Spitfire's rug. And like heck she was dragging a smelly dead body out of there.

"Excuse me!" the orange mare waved a hoof in front of her face, "Did ya hear what Ah just said? Ya just zoned out!"

"I had things on my mind, okay?" the dusty brown mare rolled her eyes. Applejack raised an eyebrow.

"Like what?" she sighed. Feather Duster casually examined one forehoof.

"Do you want an honest answer?" she questioned the taller pony, who she really wanted to get away from in all honesty- ironic.

"Yep, Ah do. Ah'm the Element o' Honesty, after all," she answered. Feather Duster didn't change her position but angled her eyes upwards to meet the green ones of the other pony.

"I was imagining dragging your corpse off the captain's desk," she said as if it were nothing. Applejack's pupils dilated and she took a step back. "What, you wanted an honest answer so I gave you it."

"Is this normal behaviour fer you?" Applejack asked warily, a little terrified of this small pegasus.

"You'd better believe it," Feather rubbed her hoof against her chest to shine it, and Applejack suddenly heard approaching hoofsteps. She looked over her shoulder to see Pinkie Pie approaching chipperly with Surprise and Misty Fly following suit.

"Hiya Applejack!" Pinkie stopped to the side of her fellow earth pony. "Wanna check out this wacky thing with us?"

Feather Duster gestured widely towards Applejack. "This _is_ the wacky thing, tailhole!" she half-yelled. Misty sneered down at the smaller pegasus.

"There's no need to snap; she didn't know!" the custard mare defended Pinkie Pie. Feathers scoffed and blew some of her mane out of her face, blatantly ignoring the young Wonderbolt.

"Um… Applejack isn't exactly wacky…" Pinkie cocked her head to the side, "unless she's more related to me than I thought. Should I start calling you Applewack?"

"No, Pinkie! Ah just wanna talk t' the captain, an' li'l miss… that's it, just li'l miss- here won't help me out!" she didn't care about sparing Feathers' feelings now. Surprise raised a hoof.

"Feathers, can you help her out so I can go use the restroom?" the white Wonderbolt asked, trying not to visibly show that she needed to pee. Misty gave her an annoyed side-glanced and shook her head disapprovingly. This was certainly not a topic of conversation to be had in the middle of a hallway if you asked her.

"She wants to talk to the captain about her brother's problem," Feathers rolled her eyes and explained in the laziest fashion she could manage.

"_Cousin_!" Applejack hissed through clenched teeth, her ears flattening against her skull with frustration. Feather pointed towards her face.

"Does this look like the face of somepony who cares?" she asked rhetorically, and Applejack let out a breath through her snout that made a puff of steam come out. Pinkie stepped between the two mares, not mentioning it out loud but clearly wanting to put some kind of barrier between them before Applejack killed Feather Duster.

"Hey! What's up with Braeburn? He always seems so happy, so why would he have a problem?" the pink pony asked. Applejack loved Pinkie's innocence, but the excitable earth pony liked to pretend that not all ponies could have problems. Applejack wasn't about to tell her otherwise and burst her cheerful little bubble of pinkness.

"It's personal an' he wouldn't like it if Ah told y'all." she said to the surrounding ponies. Feather Duster leaned against the wall and stared at the floor.

"Her cousin has the ho-"

"That's enough outta you, ya l'il varmint!" Applejack forced Pinkie to the side and raised a threatening, clenched hoof at the small brown mare, who for a split second really did look like she was going to poop herself. However, she quickly returned to her pissy attitude.

"Wow, your hoof strikes fear into my heart." she droned sarcastically, "Ya know, if you get a hooficure you can fix that pretty quickly?"

"So how does the new paint look?" Misty suddenly spoke out of nowhere. Her weird outburst got the attention of all the other mares. After an awkward pause, Misty nodded her head to the side. "We, uh… w-we did get some new paint. Is it nice- oh who cares, I just don't want anyone to die," she admitted. Feather Duster groaned and pointed at Applejack.

"Neither do I; that's why I'm telling Country Cassidy over here that she shouldn't talk to Spitfire! Got it?" she explained. Misty cleared her throat.

"Feather Duster, I will happily continue this argument with you, but now that I have retrieved Surprise for you, can you keep up your end of the bargain and fork over my cigarettes?" the custard pegasus held out one hoof. Feather Duster rolled her eyes and reached into her mane (she hadn't un-learned that trick from the slumber party in hell), pulling out Misty's pouch of cigarettes and passing it to her.

"Thank you very much," Misty then trotted over to a window, opened it, lit a cigarette and then started puffing, the stress somehow visibly melting off her. Pinkie sighed and shook her head.

"Maybe if I showed her pictures of damaged lungs and the harm that smoking could do to a pony then she'd stop that nasty habit," the pink pony suggested to the others. Misty let out a breath of smoke and then looked over her shoulder at the puffy maned earth pony.

"Addiction is a powerful thing… and so is my hearing for that matter," she explained before going right back to smoking. Pinkie leaned to the side to whisper in Applejack's ear.

"I'm going to get her an e-cigarette for Hearths Warming," she then leaned to her other side to whisper in Surprise's ear, "don't tell her about it though, 'because I want it to be a surprise… so I guess that won't be a problem for you." The pink earth pony gave a big smile. Surprise changed the topic.

"This isn't about Smokey Joe over there, this is about Spitfire, Braeburn, and now Applejack has gotten herself involved so we don't really have a choice but to help her out." she explained. Feather Duster snorted and folded her hooves.

"Why do we have to help her out? We could easily just shove her out the door, is that not good enough for you?" the small mare plotted. Surprise sighed and placed a hoof on her forehead, not liking how stressed out she was- she was too adorable and fun to be stressed!

"Look, this has all been going on for long enough. Any longer and ponies are gonna start to suspect that something is wrong. Besides, I have this really great feeling that Applejack could really help us out; help _her _out… help _them_ out."

"I'm not usually one to care about secrets, but should you two be talking about this with Pinkie standing right there and Misty in earshot?" Feather Duster gestured from one mare to the other. Pinkie raised a hoof, lowering her voice so that Misty couldn't hear her.

"I already know about Braeburn being totally head over hooves for Spitfire; I just didn't know that they were in a bad situation." She frowned. Applejack raised a brow.

"How they hay could ya know that. Ah only found out about it not too long ago, so how could you be talkin' about it as if it's nothin' new. _Ah'm_ still gettin' over the shock muhself!" the orange mare said to her pink friend. "Was it your Pinkie Sense?"

Pinkie put a hoof around Surprise. "You do realise that my Twinzie here writes to me about every detail of her life, and I do the same with her. I knew about this like a month ago!"

"And… ya didn't think t' tell me about it?" Applejack asked, wanting to know why Pinkie would keep information about one of her family members a secret. Applejack was expecting a long explanation about how Pinkie was forbidden to by a made up secret society or something, but instead she simply said:

"Nope!"

After a long pause consisting of everyone except Misty staring at Surprise, and Pinkie just smiling innocently at Applejack, everypony just decided to move on from this conversation.

"Look, all Ah wanna do is help mah cousin out; he's a sweet stallion and he really likes this mare. And if the way she acted when she was with him was any indication then she just might like him a little, too. Ah wanna help 'em both out so they can move on from what happened. By the looks o' things it could do the whole Academy a doozy of good." Applejack explained. Feather Duster seemed to soften a little bit at the orange pony's speech, but shook her head and muttered 'mushy shit' under her breath loudly on purpose so that the others knew she was against this maniacal plan of Applejack's.

"Your loyalty to Braeburn is really sweet, Applejack," Surprise said to her, "and I believe that you can fix things if you try. You seem pretty eager to give it a shot, anyway."

"Ah _am_." Applejack nodded fervently. "Fer the good and happiness of all o' you Ah'm gonna put things right if it kills me!"

"There's a high chance that it will," Feathers stated pointedly, "just sayin'."

"Ignore her," Surprise shot a glare at Feather Duster, "me and Pinkie are behind you on this."

"Hey Misty!" Pinkie called over to the custard pegasus, who had finished smoking and was closing the window. She looked over her shoulder at the pink earth pony.

"Yes Pinkie Pie?" she asked, trotting back over to the group.

"You're supporting Applejack too, right?" she asked hopefully. Misty sighed and slowly nodded.

"If you really think you can talk some sense into Spitfire then I'm willing to have faith in you. Things need to get back to normal." She agreed, giving Applejack a smile, which the Element of Honesty returned.

"Ugh!" Feather Duster spun around on her hooves. "Don't even do it, because I know what happens next. This is the part of the movie where everyone in the room stares expectantly at the one pony who hasn't agreed, and they won't leave them alone until they convert to their side," she scoffed, "well that is _not_ going to work on me, smartasses! I'm gonna convert without your prompting to prove that you don't need to follow the clichés all the time." She strode over to stand in the middle of the group. "See, I have converted. And all of you ponies can suck it!" she raised her middle wingtip and gave Surprise the stink eye.

"Welp, now that yer all on board, can y'all lead me to the captain's office?"

"Right this way," Misty fly started walking down the hallway to the right, followed by Applejack, then Surprise, then a bouncing Pinkie Pie, and then Feather Duster bringing up the rear. Surprise leaned forward to whisper something to Applejack.

"Don't tell Feather Duster this, but I was just gonna leave her there while we took you to the office," she confessed. Applejack sniggered and covered her mouth with a hoof.

"She sure is pretty adorable for a mare that thinks she's an incarnation of Satan," Misty Fly said to the ponies walking behind her. Pinkie giggled and put forth her own opinion.

"I think she's nice; her behaviour probably has something to do with wanting to seem tough despite her height." She said. Applejack raised a brow.

"Why'd you suspect that?" she asked. Pinkie held up her front left hoof, which was twitching.

"Now _that_ was Pinkie Sense."

* * *

"Where the _heck_ is Soarin?" Rainbow Dash poked her head into the staff room, where she was hoping Soarin was lounging around. Surprisingly though he wasn't there… the only pony present was Lightning Streak, who was fast asleep and spread across the sofa on the right side of the room with a magazine over his face. It was a pretty silly thing to observe, and Rainbow wished that there was some way she could take a picture of him and then taunt him with it… or better, she could sell it to Fire Streak and then _he_ could humiliate his brother.

"Rainbow Dash, why are you staring at him?" Rarity asked, moving to stand next to her cyan friend in the doorway. Rainbow chuckled and told her.

"I was just thinking of taking a picture of him, copying it and then posting it all over Cloudsdale as a prank," she plotted. Rarity rolled her eyes and sighed.

"What do you get out of pranking people?" she asked, beginning to walk away. Rainbow Dash thought back to the start of April.

"Hung from the ceiling," she replied. Rarity looked over her shoulder, baffled at what the heck Rainbow Dash was talking about, but didn't say anything else about it.

"I wonder where Applejack is," Fluttershy murmured, "she should have caught up with us by now, right Twilight."

"She does seem to be taking her time… but hey, she might just really want to talk to her cousin. She doesn't get to see him all that often after all," the purple alicorn hypothesised, but Fluttershy hummed and shook her head.

"But doesn't she want to hang out with Rainbow Dash? It's been so long since we've been together like this and she's missing out." The butter yellow pegasus sounded worried.

"And Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom are still hanging around with her and Soarin," Scootaloo pouted. "If they were gonna do something fun the least they could do was come and get me!"

"Hey Scoots," Rainbow draped a wing over her little sister's back, "now that they're gone you're the only filly who gets my attention." She winked, trying to find a silver lining to this situation. Scootaloo did perk up at that, and she affectionately butted her head against Rainbow's shoulder to show that she appreciated her trying to cheer her up.

"Maybe something's gone wrong?" Spike suggested, jumping down from Twilight's back after deciding that he could walk by himself. Twilight let her right ear drop with confusion.

"Why would you think that?" she asked. Spike gestured around at the group of ponies.

"Because it's us; no matter what we do something always goes wrong. It seems like we can't go to the market anymore without a monster attacking Ponyville… have you seen how tired everypony in town is of this same charade?" Spike explained. "So why should we rule out Applejack, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom getting carried away by a giant winged eyeball or something?"

"I'm sure they haven't been taken away by a giant eyeball Spike," Rainbow chuckled at the little dragon's theory. He raised one claw.

"Giant _flying_ eyeball, Rainbow Dash," Spike tapped his noggin to tell Rainbow to pay attention to detail, and the blue mare smiled, rolling her magenta eyes. She missed these silly conversations with her friends… sure she had plenty of silly conversations here with Soarin, Braeburn, Lullaby and the others, but it still wasn't the same as hanging with these guys. Nopony could replace them.

"We'll find 'em," Rainbow assured her friends, "oh, and did I mention that this is the first stop on our tour of the Academy: the staff room." She put on a stereotypical tour guide voice and waved a hoof in the direction of the room. "This is where the Wonderbolts do ordinary pony things behind the safety of a wooden door that everypony forgets to lock. Wonderbolt butts have sat on those very seats guy. Real life Wonderbolt butts."

"Butts…" Lightning Streak rolled over in his sleep and fell off the couch, landing on his face with a loud thump. Everypony cringed at the sound of face hitting floor, but Lightning Streak somehow managed to snooze through it, the magazine from before somehow landed on the back of his head. Rainbow decided that this was the right time for them to move on.

"Anyway, let's keep going this way," she took to the head of the group as she escorted her friends to the next location on her imaginary map of the place. She led the others down the hallway until they reached the bathrooms. She stood in the doorway facing her friends and tilted her head to the left.

"This is the stallions room- don't go in there ever… except you, Spike," she explained, having heard stories of how disgusting it was in stallions restrooms. She then tipped her head to the right. "And _this_ is the mare's; if anypony wants to go do it now because I'm not sure how many times we'll walk past this place over the course of this tour," she said, making sure to keep her voice high like a guide. It was making her friends laugh, and that made her happy. Pinkie Pie would be proud… if she would just freaking show up!

"Whoa, Pinkie's gone too!" Rainbow hadn't even noticed until now. Twilight and the others glanced around, but sure enough their pink friend was nowhere to be seen.

"Is it… bad that we didn't see her leave?" Fluttershy asked, some of her long pink hair flopping into her face as she dipped her head. Twilight didn't give Fluttershy a direct answer but just gave a single hum instead, as that response could be taken either way. It was a trick Twilight had learned long ago when it came to yes or no questions, and was actually a good psychological way of both getting out of answering the question and for the person asking to get their way, since they will almost always hear what they want to hear. In this case, Fluttershy heard a yes.

"Maybe we left her behind by mistake?" the yellow pegasus suggested. Rarity moved to stand beside her feathered friend

"Do you really think it's _possible_ to leave Pinkie behind? I'd reckon that even if we did so on purpose she would find us if she wanted to." The white unicorn comforted Fluttershy. She still didn't seem convinced that everything was alright.

"But what if she's mad that we didn't notice?" she asked with big, adorable eyes. Rainbow made a 'pssh' noise.

"She wouldn't be mad; and even if she was she'd probably forget about it in twenty seconds and offer us peppermints," she knew Pinkie Pie pretty well, so that would probably be her exact actions. Pinkie wasn't one to hold a grudge after all.

"She'll show up," Twilight assured the others, wanting to keep everypony who was left in the group in high spirits. If they couldn't (for some reason) all be together for this tour then the least she could do was make sure that nopony was worrying about anything. Rainbow Dash still had another month at the Academy, and this was a rare opportunity in the amount of time for them to be together.

"Hey, what's that?" Spike suddenly asked, hearing some clanking noises coming from a little way down the hall. Rainbow bet that the little dragon would love what was coming up. She moved away from the restrooms (at last) and hurried along to the big double doors concealing the source of the noise that Spike has heard.

"This is gonna be awesome, Spike-a-roo," Rainbow bumped her butt against the door and knocked it open, and Spike's jaw dropped.

"Oh my gosh!" he scurried up to stand in the doorway and excitedly hopped from foot to foot.

He was looking at the Wonderbolt's gym!

"Er…" Fire Streak awkwardly stared at the group from within the room. "He was halfway through bench pressing a large set of weights, and the surprising intrusion of the four mares, Scootaloo and Spike caused him to lose focus a little. Luckily he managed to regain his focus before he took a dumbbell to the throat. "Can I help you?" he asked. Rainbow shook her head.

"I was just-"

"WHEE!" Spike cheered all of a sudden. Everypony's eyes were averted to the left side of the room, where Spike was bouncing off one of those giant rubber balls that nopony knew the use for (seriously, _what_ are these things used for?)

Twilight quickly called out to him. "Spike, now is not the time for-"

"Woohoo! Check me out!" There was a whirring noise from the other side of the room. Everypony looked in the opposite direction to see Scootaloo running on a treadmill. "Maybe I could be a racer pony!" she didn't know the exact name of the 'racer ponies'.

"We'll get them out of here, sir," Rarity said to Fire Streak, raising a delicate hoof and giving him a wink to ensure that they wouldn't get in _too_ much trouble. Fire Streak hoisted the dumbbell onto the hooks above him and slid off the bench press.

"That appears to be a good idea," he said to nopony in particular.

"Whoa!" Spike bounced high off one of the balls and landed on his face on a crash mat. "I'm okay!" he enthusiastically pumped a claw in the air. Rainbow cringed a little as Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy rushed in to stop the chaos, and let out a long sigh. She locked eyes with Fire Streak, who gave her a slightly stern glare.

"I thought Soarin was going to keep all of you in check!" he snapped, more annoyed at Soarin than with anyone else in this room. Rainbow exhaled and shrugged her shoulders.

"He's disappeared," she told the cream stallion. Fire Streak huffed and rolled his eyes.

"Why am I not surprised?" he groaned.

"Gyah!"

Fire Streak flinched as Scootaloo rocketed past him, shooting off the treadmill and crashing into another rubber ball. Rainbow let her ears droop, trying her best to look embarrassed despite how hilarious all of this was. She spoke to herself out of the corner of his mouth.

"Soarin, where the hell are you?"

* * *

**Endnote: Yes, we will see Soarin, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom in the next chapter (first).**

**Okay so The Secrets We Keep isn't ending here like I planned, so It looks like we're getting another chapter added to the ever-growing list. I swear it will end before we hit 60 chapters (a sixty chapter long story written by me sounds terrifying, by the way).**

**So for the past two weeks I haven't really had much focus on this (surprise surprise) because of personal crap with my friends, who I'm beginning to lose my trust in. God, people wonder why I spend so much time online; you guys on here are better than my friends over here in my own freaking town.**

**I'm under a lot of stress at the moment, and likely will be for weeks to come, but that is my excuse for taking so long with this. I want to finish this story at some point in the next few months and that seems like an impossible task unless stuff changes fast, but I will try my hardest to try and get part 3 of this arc out sometime next week, then I'll finish the chapter after that, and after _that_ I'll finish the Mane Six's visit and take a break to get the next chapter of My Little Bloopers out. **

**The last reason this has taken so long is that I've recently become obsessed with the web-comic-turned-YouTube-series, Homestuck and have been watching it almost nonstop. Is anyone else out there a Homestuck fan? If you are then you are amazing and I love you.**

**Welp, the next chapter has a bunch of good content and hopefully that'll pump me up enough to write it… I miss when I got one chapter out per week.**

**Oh! And be sure to check out the poll on my profile. Some people may get it, but if you don't then… just do it anyway. It's for a story of mine. ^^**

**Ciao! ;)**


	46. The Secrets We Keep, part 3

**Authors Note: OKAY! So guess what!? This isn't the last part of the arc? Are we surprised by this? NO OF COURSE NOT! IT'S ME! Oh well, four parts never hurt anyone, right? As much as I'd like this story to be over so I can take a break there's still a lot to do… okay that's a lie, there's actually not much left to write except the GHM ending (at last) and the final stretch. My goal is to get this done by summer, so let's get cracking. *sigh***

**Captain Alaska- I need to give Fleetfoot some more 'screen time' since she's so cute and funny. And I felt like it would be a good idea for Scootaloo to get some advice from a not-too-focused-on pony instead of a typical candidate for advice giving like Dash, Soarin or Spitfire. And I can't wait to write the interaction between Scoots and Feathers. Also, I seriously think that a few of the Wonderbolts are bigger SpitBurn shippers than me! The biggest fan is definitely Surprise. And I was hoping that you'd like that part with Applejack- I was laughing the entire time I wrote that. Oh, and a couple of your suggestions are featured in this chapter, too! ;)**

**Amellia Rose- Thank you for the patience, dear friend.**

**YoungBlood23- Yeah I'll get over it. I have better friends in other places after all. Yeah, the internet is very often a place of refuge for those with nowhere else to turn. As a blooming psychologist I could very easily break into an enormous rant about this topic but then there would be more of that than the chapter. I've always wondered why no other woman I know goes online much at all (I mean this place is frigging awesome, why wouldn't they want to?!) but I guess they simply care more about... I dunno, shopping or texting or whatever it is they do. I do sometimes wonder what normal girls do ^^. Ah, screw them! Anyway, we've all gotta stick together on here, so if you ever wanna talk, don't hesitate to PM me. As a popular 3D animated Disney movie once said: "You've got a friend in me."**

**Magical Shield- Compared to a bugbear and frigging Cerberus, what's a flying eyeball gonna do?! BTW, if a flying eyeball appears in the show now I'm gonna freak out.**

**Ponyloco- Aww, tears were not my intention, but I'm aware they weren't tears of sadness so much as tears of tenderness. Kindness is such a hard thing to come by nowadays (it's a good thing Fluttershy doesn't know of this world's existence) and that just bums me the hell out. I've sworn to myself that I'll ensure that I will always show kindness and sincerity to everyone who deserves it just to keep things a little more peaceful. Maybe dedicating my entire existence to standing out from the others and trying to maintain the harmony in any small way possible has made me more aware of the shit that happens, but I just keep reminding myself that it'll all be worth it when all is said and done. Once again, thank you for your support and I'll keep what you said in mind in the future. I'm relieved that there are pleasant souls like you out there. That knowledge makes everything better.**

**Drunkenness- My birthday was great! Nothing fancy happened, I just got some fast food with my family and ate cake, but it was still fun! And I'll make sure to get some rest. Haha! It's so ironic that I'm typing this sentence at goddamn midnight!**

**Luna'snight625- Welp, you'll find out straight away what they're up to in this chapter. And it feels so good to be writing Soarin again! I've missed this dork! :P**

**Nightmare Star- Whoa! You seriously spent the entire week reading this?! I… I am officially impressed! That is a hell of a lot of dedication. H-hey… I know the feeling of "Oh my God where the heck is the next part?" Did… did you feel any of that? Seriously, that would be great… ahem, but anyway thank you for giving this thing a read! And Spring Song and Paradise are coming back in this very chapter. Is it really a surprise that I don't particularly enjoy writing Spring Song? She's no villain, but she is a bitch… but onto the subject of Spitfire's story (aka the darkest thing I've ever written) I'm pleased that it managed to have that effect on you. That is what I was going for after all… God I've never made so many people cry; I feel really guilty. But yeah, the SpitBurn ship shall prevail… hopefully. ^u^**

**Also, we're over three quarters of the way to 100 favourites. Hopefully I can make it there before the story ends. ^^**

**Now let's get part three (oh my god nothing has taken this long to get out. Chapter 35 would probably be split into ten parts if I wrote that now. Ugh) the heck over with! Move forth for some ParaSong angst, a long scene entirely built around dealing with mental disorders (just thought I'd give those people some representation), Soarin being Soarin, and Twilight reviewing the ponified Harry Potter series.**

* * *

"And this is the very bakery that Surprise and I trashed on our graduation day after both a celebratory party and a trip to the local bar," Soarin gestured towards the bakery. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle put their hooves against the glass window of the shop, looking at a poster that had been pasted on the inside.

"Why is yer face on this thing?" Apple Bloom jabbed a hoof at it. Soarin cringed and bit his lip, more at the bad photo of a younger him with custard smeared over his face than the fact that this was a warning that stated 'If you see this stallion in the store, call the police immediately.'

"Like I said, Surprise and I trashed the place. Her poster is inside… and it looks worse than that," he huffed at the picture, wondering why they didn't take some other one. Heck, they could have used one of the embarrassing pictures from his high school year book but no, they had to go with a zoomed in headshot of him that was snapped from the security camera. His eyes were crossed because he'd just crashed into the counter and he had a moustache etched on to him (by Typhoon) in black marker. He still didn't remember all of that night…

"Rarity says that going to bars is bad," Sweetie Belle looked accusingly at Soarin. "They give you weird drinks that make your brain go funny," she made a 'cuckoo' sign by whirling one hoof around in a circle near the side of her head. Soarin cleared his throat and looked awkwardly to the side, knowing that his alcohol tolerance was very low. There were many kinds of drunks, Soarin had learned over the course of his life. The kind of drinker that drank until they turned completely dopey (like him), those who could barely get past a second glass without dancing on a table (e.g. Surprise), those who drink when they're sad to try and get away from it all (e.g. Spitfire, and sometimes Soarin as well) and those who just can't seem to drink enough to get fully intoxicated (e.g. Misty Fly). He only drank on special occasions unless he was in a really bad spot, and he was pleased that he had gone at least seven years without getting arrested for trashing a store specializing in baked goods.

"It suddenly occurs to me that I shouldn't be discussing alcohol with children," he said out loud, and then turned around and trotted away from the store with the fillies in tow before somepony could put two and two together and realise that the dumb stallion on the poster was the same one standing outside the bakery. Apple Bloom galloped to catch up with him, looking over her shoulder to make sure that Sweetie Belle was following, since she wasn't as fast as her.

"So where are we goin' now? An' shouldn't we head back t' the Academy to tell the adults that we're gone? Ah don't think Applejack would like it if me an' Sweetie Belle went for a walk around Cloudsdale and they were back there lookin' for us inside. She can be… a little overprotective sometimes." The yellow filly explained. Her unicorn friend sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Can we not talk about that?" she asked, having less than fond memories of Applejack's overwhelmingly obsessive nature when it came to ensuring that Apple Bloom was safe and sound in literally any situation that anypony could think up. It was just plain absurd.

"Do I wanna know?" Soarin asked, somewhat liking the idea of getting the dirt on Braeburn's cousin. With all the teasing that he did to his friend it might make a nice change for the two of them to team up and tease Applejack instead. Braeburn had told Soarin his fair share of stories about Applejack, and how she behaved as a filly, teen and young adult. His personal favourite was one about how in elementary school Applejack brought a pitchfork from the farm in for show and tell thinking that it was a magic trident and had tried to make the teacher disappear by jabbing her with it.

"Please don't make me talk about it," Apple Bloom grumbled, and Soarin finally got the message that it was a touchy subject for the little filly. Well, Soarin had been around many ponies with whom you couldn't take about certain things so he'd had a lot of practice in the art of closing one's mouth when one needed to.

"So how would you guys like to go get a bite to eat at the Hayburger?" Soarin asked. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom gasped and lit up at the notion, but their faces fell when they realised something.

"It… doesn't seem fair that we're doing this without Scootaloo," Sweetie Belle told the stallion, and Apple Bloom nodded in agreement. Wow, Soarin thought, these two were super loyal to their friend. Rainbow Dash must have made a good impression on all three of them. But yes, he could see why Scootaloo would be envious of her friends hanging out with him without her. Heck, Scootaloo was the pony he had looked forward to seeing the most, but yet here he was Scootaloo-less. Hmm… well he had a solution.

"Let's just get some carry-out and we can take the food back so she can join us," Soarin suggested, and his two filly friends seemed to like that idea. He pushed the doors open and looked around for any familiar faces. Since the last time he had been in here had been a complete and utter disaster he wanted to take care not to draw too much attention towards him, should he be humiliated in front of his guests. To his relief, nopony seemed to notice the 'idiot' walking in through the door, and he casually walked to the end of the line, Sweetie Belle standing on his left side and Apple Bloom on his right.

"So what do you want? Three hayburger Goodie Meals?" he guessed, picking the first thing for kids that popped into his head. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle licked their lips and nodded, making contented sounds of agreement. Well, that was all Soarin needed to know that he had made the right decision. Ha! Kids were so easy to figure out. He was the King of Babysitters; a fact that he couldn't wait to brag to Braeburn about later.

"So Brae seriously lost you guys?" Soarin asked, looking down at each of the fillies in turn. Apple Bloom gulped awkwardly and adjusted her bow before suddenly becoming interested in a smear on the floor.

"Yeah… it was mostly our fault though and he wasn't feelin' too well at the time," she confessed. Sweetie Belle hummed in agreement and looked at the poster on the wall that depicted all of the (cheap, crappy) plastic toys that they could get in their Goodie Meals.

"I feel kinda bad that he got the blame," the white unicorn filly admitted, and it was then Apple Bloom's turn to hum. Soarin knew that Braeburn often got the short end of the stick. It had happened when they were younger, and it had happened ever since. Heck, he knew for a fact that it happened before that from the many times Braeburn had complained about his overbearing family. Soarin was kinda proud of the fact that despite all of that Braeburn was still one of the strongest ponies he knew.

"We should do something nice for him," Apple Bloom piped up, and Sweetie Belle hopped onto Soarin's back so she could look down at her earth pony friend.

"Like what?"

Apple Bloom shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know yet," she said, "but we could get Scootaloo in on it and we could come up with somethin' together."

Sweetie Belle smiled and nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah I like the sound of that. Maybe we should get Applejack to pitch in as well and then all of us would have apologised for all the times we, uh…"

"Screwed him over?" Soarin suggested. All of a sudden his pupils shrank and he slapped a hoof over his mouth, remembering that he was talking to a pair of fillies. Oh crud, this was the alcohol thing all over again. Why didn't he have any interaction with kids?! He needed to go with Surprise to some of those kids meetings that she told him about all the time. He loved the idea of the Wonderbolt Fan Club for Foals but the prospect of actually visiting it had never really appealed to him. He knew that young foals were sticky booger-eating poop machines most of the time, no matter how adorable and sweet he found them… and he was kinda ashamed to admit that one of his worst fears was being the thing that the foals wiped their snot on. Actually his even worse fear was that one of the foals would wait until it was their turn to sit on his lap to take a picture or something and then they would poop or pee right there and then…

"Um, sure?" Sweetie Belle didn't seem to know what that meant (thank Celestia.)

"I'm gonna help out as well," Soarin decided straight away, and Apple Bloom and Sweetie belle appeared to be pretty excited at the notion of working with their new Wonderbolt friend to apologize to Braeburn.

"This is gonna be the best… thing ever!" Sweetie Belle cheered, jumping off Soarin's back and spinning around in a circle. Just then the three ponies heard someone clear their throat behind them, and they all looked in the direction of the noise. A few miffed looking ponies were standing there.

"Yeah that's great, pumpkin," a gruff looking stallion at the head of the group said to the trio, "but could you perhaps move forward in the line; I'm late for frakking work!" he snapped. Soarin and the fillies looked forward and noticed that there was nopony in front of them and they had been talking for so long that everypony in front of them had already bought their food and left.

Wearing uncomfortable smiles, Soarin and the girls moved to the counter.

* * *

"So, she's in there?" Applejack asked the others, looking over her shoulder at the four mares that had accompanied her on her mission to set the captain right. Feather Duster, who was leaning against Misty's Fly's side casually, nodded her head and clicked her tongue.

"Yup. This is the last stop that the Train to Hell is going to take. Enjoy your trip into the Devil's Lair and don't bother sending me a postcard." The small mare said snarkily. Of course, Applejack didn't much care for her sarcastic remarks right now. She was attempting to avoid conversation with this overbearing pegasus altogether, but such a goal seemed completely unavoidable. Seriously, how could such a tiny pony have such a big mouth on her?

"It's not too late to back down," Misty was a little hesitant for Applejack to go forth with her plan. "No, don't get me wrong, I want you to help Spitfire… I'm merely concerned for you. She can be a little… discourteous when she doesn't want to partake in a discussion."

"Ah'm tough, Miss Fly," the earth pony assured her, "there's no need t' worry 'bout me." She put a hoof to her chest to make her look more determined, and slapped a brave smirk onto her face. Surprise and Pinkie then dropped down on either side of Applejack, and each put an arm around her shoulder.

"We've all got faith in you," Pinkie said with a movie-esque hero-follower voice.

("I don't," said Feather Duster.)

Pinkie leaned to the side and whispered into Applejack's ear. "I haven't been this proud of you since you admitted you have a thing for bipeds."

Applejack hoped that nopony had heard that.

"We have full confidence that you shall return and save the academy from the abyss," Surprise copied the same voice. They then unhooked their arms from Applejack's neck and stood beside Misty and Feather Duster, saluting in sync with each other.

"I still have to pee," Surprise added out of the blue.

Applejack thought it would be wise to at least have a backup plan.

"So, what should we do if the captain gets mad at me? As in, is it possible fer her t' get so pissed that she tries to kill me with a chair or somethin'?"

Feather Duster stepped forward with one wing raised. "Yes, it is indeed entirely possible. And if that happens I can predict exactly what will go down," she looked at each of her fellow mares. "Surprise is going to wet herself, Pinkie's going to scream, Misty's going to run away, I'm going to laugh, and you're going to die."

Applejack scuffed the carpet with her back legs to put them to a better use than kicking this mare through a wall. Surprise excused herself and began walking down the hallway.

"I'm gonna pee, so catch me up on what's happening when I get back, okay?" she asked. Pinkie waved after her Twinzie.

"I won't leave out a single detail," she promised, making the motions that signified a Pinkie Promise. Applejack decided that it was time to get this show on the road, and she raised her hoof to knock on the door.

She was satisfied to catch Feather Duster flinching out the corner of her eye as she rapped her hoof against the door thrice. A raspy voice sounded from the other side.

"You do realise that I've just been sitting here listening to your conversation for the past five minutes?" the pony who was undoubtedly the captain informed the motley crew of ponies outside her office. Applejack cringed a little at that… they weren't exactly off to the best of starts. She whispered to the others.

"Keep quiet," she then turned back to the door and cleared her throat. "Ah wanna talk t' you, miss." She said straightforwardly. There was a small pause before a response was given.

"Who the hay are you?" she asked. Applejack knew that the captain couldn't see her, but she straightened herself up and puffed her chest to make herself seem more intimidating nonetheless.

"Ah'm Applejack. Ya know, Braeburn's cousin," there appeared to be no reaction, "an' Ah wanna speak t' you about somethin'. Can Ah come in?" she asked.

"I'm busy." Spitfire replied bluntly. Applejack knew that it was an excuse as old as time itself, and one can never be too busy. What's two minutes of your time, anyway? No. She was not going to take no for an answer.

"No you aren't, now open the door," Applejack could hear Pinkie Pie and Misty Fly whispering to each other timidly behind her back and tried her best to ignore them both. At least Feather Duster was keeping her trap shut for once in her life.

"You don't have any right to tell me what I can and can't do with my time Miss Applejack, now I would appreciate it if you let me get back to work." She was keeping her voice level, but she could not stop her frustration from creeping into her tone.

"This may not matter much t' you, though Ah sure as heck reckon that it means more t' you than yer lettin' on t' anypony, even yerself," she paused for a moment to let that sink in, "but this matters a lot to me, and Ah'm at least gonna try mah hardest t' get ya t' listen to me."

"I'm already tuning you out," came the captain's response. Applejack smirked, the comeback just coming to her naturally.

"Ah know you aren't, miss Spitfire," the earth pony put her hoof against the door. "yer listenin' t' me, not 'cause ya can't ignore me, but because ya don't want to." She was getting into the pegasus mare's head, she could feel it in her gut. "Now Ah'm gonna say this as clearly as Ah can, and Ah want you to pay attention. Ah'm not gonna force ya t' talk to me, though if ya want to Ah can easily make mah… cohorts here leave us alone. Ya have the opportunity to explain what's goin' on t' me and Ah'm not gonna judge, and together we can work something out so everypony walks away from this happily."

She looked behind her at the other mares, who were all staring at her in awe. Pinkie was chewing on a red vine that had appeared from seemingly nowhere. The orange mare then turned back to the door, staring intently at the paint on it as if it were the hidden captain herself.

"Now if ya let me in we can talk about this mare to mare. Ah'm gonna try t' convince you t' do the right thing," she sighed before finishing her little speech, "and if ya still ain't persuaded and ya want me t' leave afterward, Ah will… and Ah'll never bother you ever again."

The period of silence after that seemed astronomical to Applejack, and for a minute she really did begin to suspect that the captain was ignoring her; when suddenly there was a quiet sigh coming from the office, and the captain finally gave in.

"Come in then."

Applejack looked at her companions and flicked her head to the right to signal their departure, and they left without saying another word, though Pinkie hopped over and gave Applejack a pat on the shoulder as a way of wishing her good luck. Once they had vanished around the corner (probably to seek out Surprise and inform her of their orders to leave Applejack and Spitfire alone) the orange earth pony pushed the door open, surprised to find that it hadn't been locked at all. Maybe the captain had just forgotten, but it wasn't like somepony who wanted to be alone would forget to lock the door.

The captain was staring straight down at some papers on her desk, trying to read the fine print on a form as Applejack closed the door behind her politely. The slight flop of the golden mare's left ear suggested that she was a little nervous, and Applejack decided to make things a little less tense.

"So whenever ya wanna start talkin' Ah'm ready," Applejack made her way over to the spare chair on the other side of the desk and hopped onto it, pushing off the front of the desk with her hind hooves so she could give the captain enough space to not feel uncomfortable or awkward.

"I'm ready anytime Miss Applejack," Spitfire looked up briefly from her work to make eye contact with the earth pony. "So if you have something to say to me go ahead. It's highly unlikely that your word will make any difference to what's going on in my bucked up mind but you can sure as heck take a crack at it."

"If you insist," Applejack shrugged, though she was still as eager as ever to put a stop to all of this madness. She sat up straighter in the chair and stared, unblinking, at the uniform clad pony, making sure to keep her face calm and stern. "Ah want you to explain t' me what exactly happened that night. You were flyin' mah cousin back t' his place and then ya had some kind o' mental breakdown?" that was what she understood so far. "Why is that, miss?"

Spitfire's lips quivered a little and she glanced to the side, not liking the topic of conversation in the slightest. She narrowed her eyes and stared back at Applejack, trying to intimidate her.

"It's extremely personal, Applejack; I have never been able to talk about it without breaking down and I'm probably not gonna start now," she snapped. Applejack raised an eyebrow and broke eye contact for just a second to ponder the possibilities. At least the captain was admitting that she had a problem; her confession of her mental state was probably accidental since it was clear to Applejack that the golden mare had been drinking. There was an open bottle of whiskey to her left and there was even a sluggish tinge to the captain's voice that hinted at her being a tad tipsy. Though this may be a good thing since most ponies let their guard down the easiest when they had a little bit of liquor in their systems.

"So it's some kinda Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder thing? It doesn't surprise me since yer a military pony." She added that last part to remind Spitfire that she wasn't alone on this topic. If there was one thing Applejack was good at besides farming and being honest, it was understanding how other ponies felt. She always found it simple to put herself in other ponies' positions and fathom what their motives were, and this was no different. She had met several older ponies who had suffered through some hard times in their lives and it had clearly shaken 'em up pretty bad. Though the captain looked pretty young and hadn't had as much time as all those ponies to get over what had happened to her, and Applejack imagined that if this had been a fairly recent occurrence then it was even worse to live with.

"Yes…" Spitfire replied quietly. "…you seem to be acquainted with this matter already, and that makes a refreshing change. Ponies are normally so ignorant…" she cut herself off once she realised that she was praising Braeburn's cousin. That is not what she was intending to do. Applejack scooted a little closer to the desk.

"Ah know. But Ah ain't one o' those ponies ma'am," she assured the captain, who was looking to the side at the small bottle of whiskey that she had half-heartedly attempted to conceal behind her inbox. "Ah'll listen t' anythin' ya hafta say, and Ah won't criticize any of it until you tell me the entirety of your side of the story. There's no need to be afraid anymore, ma'am."

Spitfire's breath hitched and she clamped her eyes shut for a moment, internally shouting at herself for not wearing her shades. They were hanging around her neck but it seemed stupid to put them on now since this stupid earth pony would probably think she was using them to hide the fact that she was crying or some shtick like that… which she definitely wasn't trying not to.

"I'm not scared." She insisted, making intense eye contact with the pony opposite her. Applejack tried her best not to look concerned at the shimmering in the captain's eyes that signalled that she was holding back tears. This seemed to be more severe a topic than she had previously hypothesized.

"Do you want me to leave?" Applejack questioned. She half expected the captain to say yes and kick her out the door, but she allowed a small smile to work its way onto her face when the golden pegasus shook her head. "That's the kind o' attitude Ah was expectin' outta you," she was well aware of the fact that she was talking to the captain in a manner similar to that of which a parent would talk to their angsty teenage kid, but that seemed to be working on her anyway. She decided to help the captain release her emotions a little easier by repeating something that Big Macintosh had said to her once before when they were younger. "And ya can let out them waterworks as well if ya want. After all, ponies don't cry because they're weak Spitfire; they cry because they've been strong for way too long."

Spitfire furiously rubbed at her right eye with a hoof, mentally scolding herself for letting her pain be so blatant. "Why are you doing this?" she asked. Even her therapist had not been so… she couldn't figure out what word to use in this situation. Great, of all the times for her brain to not work… oh who was she kidding; her brain was screwed.

"Because Ah have a chance to make things better and to help a pony in need," Applejack replied, smiling gently again. Celestia damn it, Spitfire hated that smile. It was just so nice… too nice! The golden pegasus let out a bitter chuckle and tried to keep her cool.

"Is this a common trait amongst the Apple family?" she asked, recognizing that annoying niceness. "To be so aggravatingly kind for no darn reason?"

Applejack felt her chest clench with pride for her cousin. "Ma'am, if ya give ponies a chance then you'll see that it isn't a family trait at all. There are a lot o' ponies who care about you, ya know? Those guys out there for example; Surprise was hangin' out with you at the Celebration, and she seems t' regard you pretty highly."

Spitfire sighed and folded her arms, nodding once. "Yes she's my… best friend." she said those last couple of words quietly. Applejack hummed and smirked, thinking about how odd a pair of friends they were. Oh well, if there was one thing she had learnt over the past few years it was that friendship came in a variety of shapes, sizes, ages and races.

"And what about Misty Fly? You seem close." Applejack pushed forward some more, interested to see Spitfire's views on the ponies who were so concerned for her wellbeing.

"Misty, well…" Spitfire was clearly really bad at communicating her emotions. "She's nice, and I'm glad she's around; she's kinda the only scrap of sanity in this screwed up place and I like her…" you could practically hear a switch being pulled in the captain's head. "Why am I telling you this horsecrud?" she asked, a little pissed off. "Crap, you're making me say these things and I hate it."

"We can stop at any time, remember?" Applejack reminded the pegasus. "Do you want to?"

"N-no…" Spitfire admitted, wondering how she could talk to this earth pony she had just met easier than she could with Surprise or Misty or Soarin or Silver Lining. Applejack leaned back in her chair.

"And why don't ya wanna stop?" she raised an eyebrow, wondering how the captain would go about answering this one. Spitfire stared at her angrily for a moment and began to say something, but faltered and began sputtering out meaningless jibber jabber. She hadn't been this uncertain about something in a long time. Why did she want to talk about all this painful shite with Applejack? It had been six years since it happened for crying out loud; she'd survived six and she'd survive six more, and another six more if she needed to. Because she was strong…

…and she had been for so long...

...too long.

Spitfire let her head tip forward until her forehead was pressed against the surface of the desk and she let out a long, exasperated sigh.

This was hell...

* * *

"This is my room," Rainbow pushed the door to hers and Lullaby's dorm open, and Lullaby, who was indeed inside, jolted up from her spot on the bed and snapped the book she was reading shut, though she relaxed when she saw that it was just Rainbow Dash and her friends. She sighed and tipped her head back so it bumped against the headboard.

"Knocking, Dash. Knocking is good." She mumbled. Rainbow chuckled and stepped aside to let her friends inside.

"Sorry Lullaby, I didn't think you were here." The cyan mare told her purple friend. Lullaby raised an eyebrow and sat up, opening her book back up and searching for the page that she had been on before she had closed it.

"Why wouldn't I be here?" she asked. Rainbow closed the door after Fluttershy walked in.

"I thought you went somewhere with Smart Set after training," she replied. Lullaby looked perplexed.

"Since when do I hang out with Smart Set?" she asked. Rainbow shrugged and jumped onto her bed next to Spike, who was checking out Rainbow Dash's light blue, cloud-patterned bedsheets, and Scootaloo, who had hopped onto one of her pillows and was curled up into an adorable little orange ball.

"Fair enough then; I just don't pay attention to who you do and don't hang out with," she said. Lullaby shook her head and rolled her eyes before burying her nose in her book again. This immediately caught Twilight's interest and she trotted over to her fellow purple pony to see what she was so immersed in reading.

"What book is that?" the princess asked curiously. Lullaby looked up for a brief second.

"The fifth Harry Trotter book," she answered. Twilight smiled and put on that face that she always got when she was about to go into one of her long book rants.

"Oh no," Rainbow mumbled, leaning over and whispering to Scootaloo and Spike, "gather round kids, it's time for Twilight's beloved Harry Trotter special."

"Nice. Ponies always say that it's the most boring in the series because of its length but if ponies looked beyond that they could see just how much thought the author put into all of these plotlines. I mean, the series as a whole is a masterpiece but this book is where things seem to really get started. Sure the end of the last book was pretty intense, and even _I_ got the chills, but I still find that book to be the weakest- probably because of all the unnecessary subplots in the mix. Sure this book isn't perfect, but it's definitely in my top three, and I've recommended it to pretty much everypony I know." She ended her long speech and smiled widely. There was a short pause before Fluttershy slowly put her hoof up to get the others' attention.

"She's… not kidding. She really has recommended the series to all of us," the yellow pegasus confirmed, and Rarity nodded to show that the pink maned pegasus was right. Lullaby chuckled and gave Twilight a smirk. Rainbow Dash put a hoof on Scootaloo's shoulder.

"And that, Scootaloo, is what boredom is all about." She put on a false smile. Twilight pressed her lips into a thin line and glared at Rainbow Dash.

"It's _not_ boring!" she insisted. "I thought you liked books!"

"I do," Rainbow replied, "I just prefer a specific genre over another one. Is that such a big deal- action over fantasy? Just like you prefer fantasy over action?"

"I think that Harry Trotter counts as action," the purple alicorn recalled the many hoof-biting fight scenes and such that she had read in all seven books. The ones in the later novels were some of her favourite scenes.

"Does Harry Trotter ever skim over boiling lava with his wings tied behind his back by strapping some old frying pans that he had previously thought of as junk to his hooves and sliding off the side of a gulley?" Rainbow asked, remembering one heck of a badass moment from one of the Daring Do books.

"Well no. For starters, he's a unicorn, and-"

Scootaloo started to get bored of listening to the adults argue about books, and decided that she would go for a walk.

"Hey, I'm going to get some fresh air," she said to the others, but they were do focused on the argument to pay her any attention. The orange filly just shrugged and trotted out the door. Being a young filly, she didn't really take into account the trouble she could cause by doing this. She only really had one thing on her mind right now: finding Feather Duster and getting that advice she needed off her. But where could she be?

Deciding to go left, Scootaloo headed back in the direction of the gym. Maybe Feather Duster was in there exercising her wings. She must do that all the time to be able to fly in her condition. Scootaloo wondered what the mare she was searching for looked like. She must have super big muscles, and a long mane that billowed in the wind as she soared through the sky. Her coat must be super sleek and shiny, just like some of those superhero ponies from those comics Spike had shown her.

She was so pleased that Fleetfoot had given her this information on Feather Duster otherwise she may not be as hyped up to find this mare as she was right now. She was so intent on this little mission of hers that she didn't even know what to think anymore- she was surprised at her own determination at this point.

It would be amazing to get the chance to talk to somepony who understood her pain a little. Heck, from what Fleetfoot had said, it may have even been a good idea to get advice from the captain, but since she was nowhere to be found and she had only had trouble with the actual flying and not the wings part of her predicament, then finding the pony with the tiny wings seemed to be the more appropriate choice. After all, it would be nice to have a teacher who had the same condition as her, and maybe they could even become friends.

Of course, if Feather Duster proved to be no help whatsoever then it might be somewhat disillusioning…

…but of course that thought had never even entered her mind.

She made her way down to the gym, and before she even reached the door, she heard voices from within the room. She edged along the hallways like a ninja, humming her own theme music under her breath as she did so, before pressing her ear against the door and eavesdropping.

"We have one month left. Why are you suddenly doing this now?" a voice Scootaloo had never heard before came from the other side of the door. Some grunting could be heard, and Scootaloo placed one purple eye to the gap between the door and the hinges.

"Because the last month is where things get serious, Paradise," a higher voice said between huffs and groans, "so we need to get fit! We need to work out, train hard, and that also means no fatty foods- so that means no muffins!"

"No fair!" the first pony complained, with an apparently full mouth. Scootaloo finally managed to find a spot in the gap that she could comfortably see through, and observed two mares in a pretty baffling situation. The one who had spoken first was a tall green mare with a short blue mane and tail. She was holding a blueberry muffin that had a bite taken out of it in one hoof and her cheeks were puffed up from the food she had stuffed in it. She was standing at the side of a bench pressed, where the second mare- a light pink one with bulging green eyes and a bob-cut mane consisting of many variants of blonde- was struggling to lift up the giant dumbbell braced above her.

"It's totally fair," the pink mare said to her green friend, "we need to build our bodies into flying machines for the final quarter of the boot camp and to do that we literally need to change every aspect of our lives for the better; that includes our food."

"So you're saying I can't have any sugar for a month?" the green mare, who Scootaloo had heard was called Paradise, gaped after swallowing her mouthful of muffin. The pink mare grunted and nodded, attempting once again to budge the dumbbell. It was still no use and it remained in the same spot it had been in since Scootaloo had started watching. It was actually pretty funny.

"Yes! From now on it's only fruits and vegetables, okay?" The pink mare looked expectantly at her companion. Paradise frowned and looked to the side, a few strands of her blue mane falling into her eyes as she imagined giving up snacks; it just seemed to laborious for her.

"We all need a little sugar now and then, Spring Song." Paradise tried to reason with her bossy friend, whose legs were kicking around with all the effort it took to try to make the dumbbell move. Scootaloo was secretly hoping it would fall on her stomach. Who the hay would want to ban sugar?! It was just plain crazy!

"Well if I don't give up sugar then how will I become strong enough to lift this thing?" she pointed her snout up at the dumbbell. Paradise kneaded her temples with her hooves and then stood up straight, placing her muffin to the side.

"Maybe you should have started with the lighter weight and worked up from there?" Paradise gestured towards the stack of smaller dumbbells. Spring Song grunted again and looked up at the green pegasus.

"No, that's stupid. If it weren't I would have thought of that." The pink mare (hopefully) lied to save face. Paradise sighed and looked away from her friend, annoyed but clearly trying to hide that from the blonde pegasus.

"Whatever- you go ahead but I really don't wanna change my entire lifestyle because of this. It's bad enough that my sleep schedule's been changed," Paradise lamented. Spring Song let her arms flop to her sides and she let out a long breath before responding.

"Well then say bye-bye to the Wonderbolts, Paradise. Don't you see? Nopony else is doing this. They all think this is just a silly little boot camp that's for 'fun and stuff'. Whereas the two of us are aware of what's at stake, and therefore will be the only ones working hard enough to be the best cadets. You should feel lucky that I'm letting you in on this 'cause I could just as easily have kept this genius idea all to myself, and by extension the guaranteed spot in the Wonderbolts." Spring Song lectured. Scootaloo found herself rolling her eyes. This pony sounded pretty darn stupid to her.

"Um…" Paradise started to explain something to her friend. "Since when were we promised a spot in the Wonderbolts after all of this? As far as I know, when we saw the flyers promoting the boot camp, it just said that it was a training program for potential 'Bolts. Maybe you read that differently from me, but it said nothing about it being some kind of ritual for being accepted into the team."

Spring Song huffed and sat up, glaring at the dumbbell more than she was glaring at Paradise. "It's _implied_. It's probably just a trick to get people to miss out on the chance!" she explained. "And stop being the voice of reason; you're supposed to be the Dumb Friend." The pink mare's words made Scootaloo narrow her eyes in annoyance. That's _not_ how friendship works!

Paradise stood her ground, standing as tall as she could, which was kinda pointless considering how tall she was compared to Spring Song. Scootaloo had not even seen Spring Song stand on all fours yet and she was already certain that she only barely came up to Paradise's shoulder. "Have you ever thought that maybe I don't _want_ to be the Dumb Friend. I don't wanna sound mean Spring Song, but you can be a bit of a jerk sometimes, and that makes the other ponies a little… mad at you? And I don't want you to be upset and alone, so I stick by you- just like I have since that day we met. I promised myself that I wouldn't let you wallow in loneliness ever again, but because of that ponies think that _I'm_ a jerk too! Apparently there's some rule that only jerks hang out with jerks, but I think that's a pretty silly thing to think, huh Spring Song?" Paradise looked to her friend, hoping for her to agree. Spring Song had her arms hanging over the dumbbell and was staring at Paradise with a… weird expression. Her face was totally blank expect for the slight sag of her eyebrows and a barely noticeable smile. She took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly, blinking a couple of times before meeting Paradise's gaze.

"I kinda lost count of how many times you called me a jerk in the past twenty seconds," the bossy pegasus said to her green friend. Paradise's breath hitched and Scootaloo couldn't help but wonder if she had broken into a sweat. Paradise took a cautious step backwards and gulped, stammering a little before managing to get a coherent reply to come out of her mouth.

"O-oh… I didn't mean that, Spring Song. I'd hoped that you were aware of that." she anxiously clapped her front hooves together as she fell to her haunches. Spring Song shook her head and sighed, her muscles going limp for the first time since Scootaloo had started watching them. She had been pretty tense from attempting to move that dumbbell. She slid off the bench press and strode up to Paradise, standing in front of her and glaring at her in a way that was in no way threatening, but somehow… dejected. How the heck did that make things seem worse?

"Are you unhappy being my friend?" she asked in a quiet voice. Scootaloo had to strain her ears to be able to hear a word she was saying. She realised that she shouldn't be eavesdropping, but with all the silly weightlifting that had been going on she couldn't resist. Paradise opened her mouth to answer, but all that came out were a few strained croaks. Spring Song's ears flopped down against the sides of her head and she sighed. "Well tough, okay? You're all I have now and I plan to keep you."

Paradise didn't seem to like the sound of that. "No!" she raised her voice a little, "We've had this conversation before, Spring Song. You're my best friend in the world and I care about you a lot; maybe even more than you'll ever know, and I only want what's best for you!"

"Because you feel sorry for me, I get it." Spring Song sat back on the bench press. Paradise sighed once again and pulled Spring Song back to her hooves,

"No. I was gonna say that you're pushing yourself too hard and you need to slow down. You're gonna get yourself crushed if I don't step in," the green mare's voice was full of concern. Spring Song rolled her eyes, but said nothing else. "I know you're competitive, but you don't need to work yourself senseless in order to succeed."

"That's something that losers say to make them feel better about themselves," Spring Song said flippantly, pressing her lips into a line and looking away in a rude manner. Paradise facehoofed and groaned, muttering something under her breath.

"For somepony fussing about being called a jerk, you sure have no problems with calling me a loser," she pointed out, but did not dwell on Spring Song's hypocrisy. "But I _am_ afraid of you hurting yourself with all of this stuff. To be blunt, it's a stupid idea and you should know better- you're always saying that you're the smartest pony here."

Scootaloo let out a silent snort at that, stifling her laughter with one hoof.

"Hey now," Spring Song raised a hoof, "Paradise, I'm flattered. But I think you might be selling Ray short."

Paradise raised one eyebrow, a frown appearing on her features. "Ray?" she echoed, not looking forward to one of Spring Song's lovesick rants.

"Ray. Let me tell you, _Ray_ is the _best_ when it comes to brain stuff," she said. There was a long break during which neither mare said anything, until it was broken by Paradise speaking in a flat tone.

"Okay, that… was literally the most moronic thing you've ever said," she told her friend. Spring Song tutted and flipped her mane, giggling and beginning to talk in that irritating way she always did when she talked about Ray. Scootaloo didn't really care for all of this mushy stuff, but she did find these two ponies funny, and she was afraid that if she left now she would miss something hilarious. Come to think of it, she should probably go back and tell Rainbow Dash and the others that she's doing okay… and she still needed to find Feather Duster for that matter. Oh well, it would have to wait. This kind of stuff didn't happen every day, unless you could stand to watch Rarity shamelessly flirt with salesponies.

"Paradise I'm telling you. Ray- _What. A. Guy!_" Spring Song kept on yakking. Paradise sighed and attempted half-heartedly to talk some sense into the pink cadet.

"Spring Song, are you really telling me that Ray- a simple stallion with a dumb mohawk- is your smartness superior?"

"What if I am?" Spring Song smirked. "Also, it's 'intellectual superior'. Smartness is a word used to describe a type of pain."

Paradise gave Spring Song a look that stated '_Are you hearing yourself?' _but of course the pink dimwit didn't notice. The taller mare decided to raise a point.

"How would you even know how smart Ray is? He hardly says anything!"

Spring Song (of course) had a reply for that as well. "Oh, he has other ways of letting his thoughts be known. He has his ways, Paradise." She repeated the part near the end of her sentence for no apparent reason other than to sound wiser, I suppose. Paradise shook her head and made a humming sound to accompany her motions. She intently looked down at Spring Song and spoke.

"No he _doesn't_ have his ways. He likes sports and superheroes and if I haven't said it before then I'll say it again- I hate his hairstyle- and he is pretty tall and that's all there really is to say about Ray," she considered knocking on Spring Song's head for extra effect but thought better of it. "Please don't change the subject Spring Song; we were having a serious conversation!"

"What conversation? You mean the workout thing? I'm getting confused, are we talking about my muscles or Ray. Don't get me wrong I'm fine with either but I'd like to just focus on one at a time 'cause I can't pay attention to stuff all that good."

"Yes! The workout thing! You could so easily get hurt doing stuff like this. If that weight-thingy fell on you then you could break your ribs or puncture a lung or something else that I don't wanna think about in case I throw up. And if you do overwork yourself or get hurt then it could _cost_ you the spot in the Wonderbolts- if it even exists. And I agree that you could make a valuable addition to the team, but more importantly _I_ need you to be in top form. I'm your wing, remember?" Paradise lectured, her voice level beginning to rise. She could only do this when the two of them were alone thanks to Spring Song's dumb rule about her having to be the 'dumb friend', because "_all the cool ponies need a dumb friend_."

"Hey, why don't you go easy on the yelling; somepony could hear us and that would be embarrassing," the pink mare said. Scootaloo smirked to herself, proud that she was here for this. She felt just like the undercover spy ponies she'd heard about before. "I told you to relax about the whole 'lead pony/wing pony' shtick. You've just gotta believe in me when I say that everything's gonna turn out fine; I've got this all under control. I am jacked tight the hay into this thing in so many ways that I don't even know what to say anymore!"

"That doesn't make me feel any less worried!" Paradise said shrilly, struggling to keep her voice down. "Sometimes even when you're chill and relaxed I can't tell whether or not you have too must faith in your confidence, but when you say the same type of stuff in this crazed post-depression euphoric state of yours it just sounds freaking insane! You walk around with so much pride and arrogance that it makes it hard to talk to you about the subject, and to bring up the fact that your behaviour is a big problem!"

"Well Paradise, if I'm always happy and full of pride then how is it a problem?" Spring Song picked up Paradise's muffin and gave it to her, which she was pretty thankful for because she had forgotten that she'd put it down in the first place.

"HOW ARE YOU NOT SEEING THIS?! Paradise snapped, before munching on her muffin again to try and ease the anger she was feeling. Scootaloo had a feeling that if this kept up something awesome would happen… or something horrible. She was personally hoping for something awesomely horrible.

"I'm not… oh, have I been being a bitch to you without realising?" Spring Song actually looked a little upset at that, and her ears drooped. Paradise's right eye twitched.

"Yes, but that's not the problem I'm talking about _now_!" the green mare stamped her hoof to keep her friend's attention. I've already explained that when you are in these states you somehow get dumber, case in point; you've just now tried to lift a dumbbell the same weight as a small carriage! Have you considered instead of keeping this idea to yourself that you should share it with the other cadets in the hopes of forming friendships? Have you learned nothing from all the weird friendship magic stuff that's been going on for the last four years?" Paradise looked like she could keep talking for hours.

"Friendship's hard okay? Every once in a while ponies like you and Ray come along, but nopony understands me the way you do, and because of that my old friends all got pissed at me or ignored me. It's just _too hard_!" the pink pegasus enunciated those last two words extra carefully.

"I know it's hard!" Paradise started to actively shout now, "It's meant to be hard! And stop. Comparing me. To Ray!"

"Oh, my bad," Spring Song (sort of) apologised. "I don't mean to keep bringing Ray up… if he were here he'd probably say something like "_That's offensive_," to you, and then I'd tell him that I still think he's awesome and then he'd smile and I'd try to pretend that I don't care."

Paradise let a snort of steam out through her muzzle, and Scootaloo could tell that she was about to blow. Her face was even beginning to turn a frustrated red colour. Any second now…

"Well you _do_ care. You care in the most annoying way possible, and you bring it up every chance you get, which drives me FREAKING INSANE!" the green mare scuffed her hooves on the floor. Spring Song chuckled and nodded, pacing back and forth as she rambled on.

"Yeah, but he probably thinks it's cute right? I mean who doesn't find me adorable? Don't you think I'm adorable Paradise; I mean just-"

Paradise's temper boiled over and she let out a thunderous growl of sorts, spinning around and rearing up onto her forelegs, tucking her back ones in and then thrusting them at the dumbbell on the bench press with all her might. The dumbbell was knocked clean off its holder, flew across the room, slammed against an upturned crash mat, and then landed on the floor again with a loud thump.

Scootaloo's jaw dropped open and she nearly died from the flood of awe she felt. That was totally worth standing there for fifteen minutes and getting a cramp in her front right leg. Paradise was a _badass_! She wondered if Rainbow Dash knew her well; she needed to find out more about this pony.

Looking upon the two mares in the now silent gym, Scootaloo observed the rise and fall of Paradise's chest, and the look of shock on Spring Song's face that almost matched Scootaloo's except for the fear that was so clear on the pink mare's. Paradise stared at the floor while Spring Song stared at the dumbbell, and it stayed like that for what must have been three minutes. Finally, Spring Song turned to the side to look at Paradise, her bob-cut blonde mane flopping over her left eye slightly.

"Do you hate me now?" she asked weakly, as if the question had been asked before. Paradise let out another shuddering growl and clenched her teeth, her entire body beginning to shake as the answer erupted out of her like a maniacal green volcano with wings.

"**NO****!**"

* * *

"WHEE!"

"THIS IS SO COOL!"

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom cheered as Soarin ascended higher into the air. Soarin looked over his shoulder at the two happy fillies riding on his back. Sweetie Belle was hanging onto his neck and Apple Bloom had her forelegs wrapped around Sweetie Belle's middle, so it looked like she was giving her friend an adorable hug as she held on. Soarin would have made conversation with them but that was impossible due to the bag of food in his mouth. What made the situation even worse was that the scent of the food was wafting into his nostrils and making his mouth water. He was a little afraid that he would drool into the food, so he tried to ignore the smell and focus on something else.

He found himself thinking about Scootaloo of course, and how guilty he felt that she was missing out on this. She was probably bored… well, she was with Rainbow Dash and she loved her, so maybe it wouldn't be all that bad. He knew how amazing it was to hang around with the cyan mare…

Then he thought about the previous day, and how desperate his marefriend had been when she asked him to keep their relationship a secret. Of course, Soarin wasn't all that okay with the plan- he wanted to let everyone know that he and Rainbow were an item. He wanted to be able to kiss her in front of other ponies to show how much he cared. He wanted to catch her when she was alone and maybe… (He blushed) engage in a passionate makeout session, perhaps? He wanted to invite her over to his place to watch TV while cuddling on the couch.

Maybe they could even Fly together…

No, that was probably a stretch. Soarin had never felt love before, and he knew that Flying should only be preserved for a pony you care about more than anypony in the entirety of the world. All he knew was that he cared for Rainbow Dash more than he'd cared about any other mare in the past, but he had no idea if that meant he was _in love_ with her. He had always been told that once he was in love he'd know, but he couldn't be more in the dark with this topic.

He wished he could get some professional help with this, but it wasn't like he had much of a choice when it came to a potential counsellor. Braeburn would be a good giver-of-advice… if he were any good at the things he needed help with. If he needed help with apple farming then Braeburn would be the perfect pony to go to for assistance, but unfortunately that wasn't the case right now. If he could be bothered to make a trip to the library Soarin would probably be able to go and get a book to look up what love felt like… actually he'd go to a book for apple farming too while we're on that subject.

Then there was Surprise… who would probably be a better candidate for a counsellor than his best friend. Although, when Soarin thought about it he didn't even know if Surprise had ever been in a relationship. It's true- he had known her since he joined the Academy, but he had never seen Surprise interested in somepony romantically. He hadn't even got the faintest idea what Surprise's deal was. Stallions? Mares? Balloons? He supposed that he had just settled on the idea that Surprise didn't _have _a deal at all.

Spitfire was one of his closest friends, but there was no way he was going to risk his life just to get some advice. There was also the fact that the golden mare had told Soarin repeatedly that she would never engage in matters of the heart… though she was so clearly just being a drama queen about all of that. And with the romantic tension that may or may not exist between her and Braeburn it was probably the worst possible thing to discuss with her at this point. Why did all of his friends have to be so screwed up?

Basically he was surrounded by the worst possible ponies to go to with these kinds of problems. A small part of him wished that the red mare from so many chapters ago would reappear so he could rant at her about his emotions for no reason other than to let off steam. And her light bulb cutie mark might actually give her a good idea… unless her special talent was simply changing light bulbs. Hey, it's always a possibility.

He slanted his eyes down to see that they were flying over the Academy. Oh crud, he almost overshot. Jolting a little in the air, he spun around and began to descend, gliding the rest of the way down to the ground while the two kids on his back whooped and cheered. When he touched down on the ground the fillies let out groans, disappointed by their ride ending. Soarin placed the bag of food on the ground so he could speak.

"All passengers off please," Soarin said in a train conductor voice. Giggling, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle jumped off his back, bouncing a little on the clouds. Sweetie Belle trotted over to the bag of food and sniffed it, licking her lips a little.

"C'mon, let's hurry inside and find Scootaloo so we can eat this," she said impatiently. Soarin nodded and picked the food back up, more worried about getting caught outside with two children that he hadn't had the permission to take out in the first place. He just needed to get them to the kitchen and pretend that he'd been there the whole time. With luck Braeburn would back him up if he needed the extra help. Maybe he would be feeling up to it after his pep talk with Applejack… he wondered how that went.

Thankfully they made it to Braeburn's (lair) kitchen without running into anypony who might have ratted them out to Applejack or Twilight and met Braeburn, who was… microwaving a bunch of pre-made mini pies. The look Braeburn got on his face when Soarin and the kids walked in on him taking the pies out of the microwave was like one that somepony would have gotten if they'd been caught robbing a bank… though the look of shock on Soarin's face probably didn't help.

"You are a _traitor _to your career!" the pegasus accused his friend, who bit his lip and gulped, turning pink. "You make such a big deal about baking everything yourself and now you're too damn lazy to just roll out some pastry and do it! Shame. On. You!"

Braeburn stammered a little before noticing something. "Well yer the one bringin' fast food into mah kitchen. Didn't we have this whole stupid petty argument about this exact subject back when this whole story _sucked_?" Soarin sighed and shuddered, not wanting to think about those dark times.

"Yeah, but if you're breaking the rules then so can we. Can we just make an exception this one time? We're both confused and annoyed at our romantic lives and we deserve to eat stuff that doesn't take an hour to make damnit!" the light blue stallion banged a clenched hoof on the table.

"Hey! We ain't eatin' without Scootaloo," Apple Bloom reminded her new older friend, who sighed as he tried to ignore his burbling belly. All he bloody wanted was a frakking hayburger!

"Fine then; Brae, do you know where Rainbow Dash and her little party are?" he asked. Braeburn shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.

"No idea. Ah know that Applejack went to go find 'em after she made me blubber at 'er like an idiot… but that's the last Ah heard of 'em. Sorry buddy." Braeburn put his little pies onto a plate, looking at them longingly and wishing that they would magically cool down so he could have a sad snack. Maybe Soarin could join him and they could wallow together- wait a minute!

"Hey, how come _yer_ all confuddled about yer love life?" he asked, not sure when this had started since this hadn't been bothering him when last they spoke. Soarin placed the fast food on the counter beside the microwave and turned to speak to Braeburn.

"I was just flying back here and I did what had to be one of the most dangerous things possible," he began ominously, and Braeburn simply gave him an unfazed stare.

"There's no way that whatever ya did was dangerous," he shook his head, used to this kind of behavior coming from Soarin by now. Either he was lying to make things seem worse than they actually were or he was exaggerating. Soarin let his pupils shrink a little and he took a step close to Braeburn before replying.

"I started to _think_!" he revealed. Braeburn's own eyes widened at that and he felt a chill run up his spine.

"Okay, yer right. That is a l'il dangerous," he agreed. Soarin nodded in agreement and shook himself to try and get a grip.

"Anyway, I just started thinking that maybe Dash doesn't want the same things I do from our relationship," he confessed. Braeburn sat down at a stool by the counter and folded his arms on the surface.

"Yeah, go on," he said once he had shifted into a comfortable position. Soarin didn't bother to find a stool to sit on but he did just lean against the counter.

"Well, she doesn't seem to want the intimacy that I want- and I guess I don't blame her 'cause she's… her. But sometimes I just wonder if… man this sounds so pathetic… if I mean as much to her and she means to me." He felt like a fool. Braeburn simply snorted and brushed his mane to the side.

"Ah don't know what yer confidin' in me for. Ah'm the _worst_ pony to come to for this sorta thing." he said. Soarin threw his hooves into the air.

"I know! That's exactly what I thought to myself while I was flying like ten minutes ago," he recalled. Braeburn frowned a little and his body seemed to droop a little.

"Wow…" he looked down to the side. "Ah know that shouldn't hurt much but… it kinda stings that you'd think that," he rubbed one shoulder with a hoof. Soarin sighed and shrugged his shoulders, giving his friend a smile.

"Hey now, if it makes you feel any better I thought of you first," he told the earth pony. Braeburn stared at him and blinked a couple of times, and looked away for a second before facing Soarin again, looking a little befuddled.

"Ya know, it actually _does_?" he wasn't quite sure what to make of that. Soarin smiled to himself.

"You can't beat Soarin Skies when it comes to being a considerate friend. I am simply the best there is." he bragged, puffing out his chest and running a hoof through his slicked back mane that had way too much hair gel in.

"You like Rainbow Dash?!"

Soarin then realised that the two fillies were still in the room with them and he sputtered out a word that is best not mentioned. This resulted in a rather difficult to describe routine involving Braeburn scrambling to covering Apple Bloom's ears and then yelling at Soarin with a bunch of countryisms that Soarin didn't totally understand. After Sweetie Belle told Soarin off for swearing in front of children and wouldn't stop, Soarin chugged a bottle of washing up liquid to 'wash his mouth out', but of course it tasted like he was swallowing acid sauce and he stuck his head in the sink to try and get rid of the suds that were forming in his mouth and throat. Braeburn then made a fuss over Soarin getting puddles of water all over the counter while Sweetie Belle levitated the fast food out of harm's way with her magic. Once Soarin had resurfaced from the sink and Braeburn had given him a sharp slap round the face to calm him down the room became quiet again.

After that, Soarin leaned against the counter, hyperventilating and trying not to focus on the last remaining traces of the soapy liquid in his mouth… he feared that it would never leave him and all the pies he ate in the future would taste like lemon zing soap. Braeburn sat back on the stool and fell forward onto the counter, holding his head and repeating "_Ah'm in mah happy place_" over and over again. Apple Bloom simple covered her mouth with her front hooves to muffle her sniggers while her cousin and his friend wallowed in the fading tension of the whole clusterbuck that had just went down in the kitchen while Sweetie Belle folded her arms with a 'serves him right' face on. Eventually, Soarin looked across at the two fillies and wondered what the heck he was supposed to say now. Maybe they had forgotten that they had even asked the question in the midst of all the chaos that had just occurred. Rainbow Dash didn't want anypony to know, and if he had accidentally spilled the beans to these kids then he was royally-

"So is Rainbow Dash yer marefriend or not?" Apple Bloom asked as she and Sweetie Belle hopped up onto a couple of the chairs by the table.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHH!" Soarin internally screamed.

"Um…" Soarin looked to Braeburn for assistance but it seemed like his buddy was still out of order for the time being- flopped across the counter like a ragdoll in a stetson. He then returned his gaze to the two fillies, who were awaiting the answer with eager smiles. Ack, there was no way out of this. If he didn't answer them they would probably go and ask Rainbow Dash herself and then she would know that he let them hear of their relationship. But if he told them then they'd gossip. Why the heck couldn't Rainbow Dash have just let this whole thing be out in the open?

"Er… yes?" he replied in the form of a question. He felt his heart freeze when he saw the girls gasp and squeal.

"I mean, uh, no!" he tried to take it back, and the fillies just stared at him with confusion. "I-I mean… we are, but she doesn't want anypony knowing," he just came out with the truth. He was worried that lying would send off Applejack's personal bat signal or something and she'd come running to kick his Pinocchio-esque butt. Sweetie Belle nodded to herself.

"So this is like one of those secret relationships in Rarity's dumb books?" she muttered mostly to herself. "Oh no, are you two going to die?!" she gaped. Apple Bloom sighed and shook her head.

"Of course they ain't gonna die; do you get all o' yer knowledge on this stuff from yer sister's books?" she asked. Sweetie Belle nodded and tapped her hooves on the table.

"Y-yeah… I've asked her about romance stuff before 'cause she's practically obsessed with it, but she told me that she couldn't explain it before I learned about something that had to do with birds and bees… and then she told me to go clean up my room." Sweetie Belle recited a story. Apple Bloom rolled her eyes.

"Hey, can you two pay attention for a second?" Soarin walked around one of the rows of ovens to the table and sat down opposite the fillies. He waited until he had their undivided attention before talking. "Rainbow Dash will probably hate me for life if she knew that you two knew… about us, that is. Would it be so hard for you guys to keep this a secret? Just for a little while?" he even made puppy dog eyes for extra effect. Sweetie Belle frowned and looked down at the table.

"But wouldn't Rarity and Applejack and the others want to know about this? Rainbow Dash is their friend, and friends are supposed to know about these things, right?" she asked. Soarin cursed Rarity for ever so slightly educating Sweetie Belle in the ways of the heart with her dumb romance novels. Soarin nodded.

"Yes, they would like to know and there's a big part of me that wants to tell them myself, but I need to make Rainbow happy, and she's happiest without them being aware of this. You want her to be happy too, right?" he asked. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle nodded slowly, but the former seemed concerned with some other ponies.

"Well, _you_ don't seem very happy. An' what about Scootaloo; we never keep secrets from her. The Cutie Mark Crusaders are all about trust and honesty, an' if somepony knows somethin' then the rest of the Crusaders need to know as well. It's the CMC law!" the yellow filly was serious about this little path she and the other two Crusaders had made. Soarin sighed and face hoofed, figuring that it wouldn't hurt if Scootaloo knew as well. He couldn't leave the little orange filly out of the loop. As for his own happiness, he could live with the others not knowing as long as he and Rainbow Dash were cool.

"Okay, fine. Tell Scootaloo, but _nopony else_, do you understand me?" he raised his voice a little get make sure that they understood just how serious he was about this. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle still looked uncertain. Wait! Soarin got an idea! And it wasn't dangerous!

"Maybe you'll get your Cutie Mark's in keeping secrets?" he suggested. The two girls' eyes went wide at that and their jaws dropped open. After a few seconds of… that, the pair jumped up on the table and began hopping up and down.

"Yeah! Cutie Mark Crusaders Secret Keepers!" they cheered. Even Braeburn raised one limp hoof and let out a feeble 'woohoo' to try and join in. Apple Bloom began galloping towards the door.

"C'mon, let's go find Scootaloo an' tell 'er about this great idea!" she called over her shoulder as Sweetie Belle leapt down from her chair and raced after her.

"Wait for me!" the white filly called as Apple Bloom barged though the door. Soarin followed after Sweetie Belle, quickly calling for Braeburn to watch the food while they were gone, and that he should feel free to eat the hayburger that Soarin had bought for him.

And for some reason, that made Braeburn feel a whole lot better.

* * *

**Endnote: I am SO sorry!**

**NOTHING should take this long to come out and I honestly feel pretty bad for having such large gaps between chapters. Motivation is a hard thing to find nowadays is all. Also, I had to update My Little Bloopers.  
**

**But hey, I hope you enjoyed the third quarter of this annoying arc, which WILL be concluded next time. I'm hoping that after that, the updates will speed up. I think it's because there are so many story lines going on in this particular arc and I'm having trouble keeping track of all of them. I was going to add another scene in but I figured that since this was already pretty long compared to my last few chapters it could be held off for the beginning of the next one.**

**As I write this it is 4:30 in the morning and I am exhausted- so let this alert you to the fact that I am working on this! I will never stop until it is complete; there will be plenty of time for a break after this is done so I will hold out until then. **

**Anyway, for those of you who want something good to read while you wait for this (assuming this story of mine qualifies as 'good' to you) I have a solution. I've decided to be a good friend and do a promotion!**

**Seriously, if you haven't already, go and read Fallen Eagle by my internet brother-from-another-mother Captain Alaska! It's brilliant and is worth the read, and it'll give you plenty to peruse while you wait for me to stop procrastinating over here! To be honest, without Captain Alaska and his support this story would probably have been cancelled ages ago, so if you can, go and give him some thanks by reading his masterpiece.**

**Okay, well see ya next month then… I'm purely saying that because every time I say that something will be out soon it never is. Ciao! ;)**


	47. The Secrets We Keep, part 4

**Author's Note: Get ready to be _not_ surprised!  
**

**Yeah! Who's already guessed what I'm going to say? I'm sure someone out there has figured it out! If you guessed that there's going to be another Goddamned part to this arc then you are correct! Yay, you got it! Give yourself a pat o the back because of my idiocy! :D**

**Just do it! Celebrate, for I am so bad at judging the length of these things. This was getting so long and taking too long to get out that for peace of mind I just decided to split the final part in two. Really, if my bad judgement was a motorcycle then it just jumped across a frakking canyon! The crowd goes wild with dismay, and then commits mass suicide!**

**The good news however, is that since most of the next part is already written it should be out rather soon. And the one after that will be out not long after that, too. So it should be smooth sailing for a couple of weeks. I miss the weekly updates thing...**

**Okay, onto the replies.**

Litestardt- Hey there dude, it's good to see ya back. I'm glad to see ya didn't just get bored of this story and took a hike ^^. And I frigging LOVE Twilight so it's such a relief to write her. She's definitely one of my favourite ponies to write because she's such a cute little nerd, so I guess it's a good thing my next pony story will have her as one of the main characters, huh? Great to see you too, Lightning! *scratches him behind the ears* I've missed you, too! And we'll get to see the conclusion to Spitfire and Applejack's discussion right now(ish) and I hope months of planning this scene was enough… yeah I've rehearsed that scene over and over in my head so that's how ya know it's gonna be a possible train wreck. #MyBrainIsADisasterZone

Luna'snight625- I KNOW RIGHT FINALLY SOMEONE GETS OFF THEIR FLANK AND FIXES THIS SHITSTORM! And the fact that you thought her name was Ping Pong was hilarious! You've likely been mixing her name with Paradise's or something, 'cause Ping Pong and Paradise sounds more like a bad evil duo than it does with their actual names. And Soarin does seem the kind of guy who would put his marefriend's happiness before his own and not notice it unless someone points it out. It seems like a pretty easy thing one can find oneself doing if you think about it; you _would_ want to make your significant other happy no matter what the cost. Well at least I would. Great, now I wanna give Soarin a hug!

Amellia Rose- I'm pleased that you liked the chapter. ;)

YoungBlood23- YES! I completely agree with you. It's great being able to listen to people's problems and then assist them in finding a solution. And it's nice to know someone now who fully understands the sense of self-worth one can get from helping others. It's a good thing that you're considering this as a career path, because there are a lot of people out there who need someone to look out for them and make them feel better. Seriously you have earned a large portion of my respect on this day, my friend.

Captain Alaska- Yay I love reviews like these! I love to pretend that you're the book critic reviewing my work in detail… which I guess you kinda are? Yes, you're my main-review-man. ;)

Snow Hurricane Blue- That's actually a pretty good idea, guys. I can actually see that happening if they ever get married. Applejack getting a letter first thing in the morning from Braeburn who's worried he's going to lose his wife, and then AJ writes back saying that he's just being insecure and that he and Spitz will love each other for the rest of their lives… crap now I need to add that to my fanfic ideas list. I have enough stuff on there! :P

Drunkenness- Dear lord! 0_0 Well… imagine whatever you want, it's not like I'm one to stop you. ;) In answer to your question, no I don't ship Mac with Luna, but I do think that the pairing is pretty adorable. I read the comic that inspired it and it was great! And thanks for wishing me luck! You're awesome! *cyberhugs*

**And thanks to Captain Alaska for helping me out when I was stuck. ^^**

* * *

"You're gonna love the food here," Lullaby said to Fluttershy as the two mares stepped into the mess hall. The pair of them had managed to slip out of Rainbow Dash and Lullaby's dorm room while Dash and Twilight were bickering about their book genre preferences. It had been funny for the first ten minutes, but after Rainbow Dash had repeated the words _"But Daring Do is awesomer!" _for the fifth time, Lullaby had caught Fluttershy's attention and the two of them escaped together.

"Well it's Apple Family food, so I already know it'll be delicious," Fluttershy said sweetly, and Lullaby giggled. She liked the yellow pegasus a lot because of their shared love of caretaking, and she had a feeling that Fluttershy was pretty fond of her too due to the shine Angel Bunny had taken to her when he had first been introduced to Lullaby. Somehow Lullaby could get him to eat his breakfast, something that baffled even Fluttershy.

"Well Braeburn did get fired from his old job because his food was cruddy, so we can't rule out the possibility of the same thing happening here." She wanted to freak Fluttershy out a little, and judging by the way the butter colored pony's eyes dilated in worry she had done exactly that. Fluttershy was simply adorable.

"I'm just kidding, Fluttershy," Lullaby nudged her friend in the side as they approached the food counter. Fluttershy nodded her head slowly.

"I know that," Fluttershy told her purple friend, "I just don't really like the idea of finding a worm in a slice of pie," she explained. "…Actually there's no 'really' about it. I just flat out hate the idea of finding a worm in a slice of pie."

Lullaby giggled and nodded. "Yeah, that doesn't sound very pleasant at all," she stuck her tongue out and faked a gag, getting Fluttershy to giggle with her. Fluttershy really did choose a slice of pie from the food counter and Lullaby scooped out some carrot sticks onto a plate, leaving a few bits on the counter for Braeburn when he returned since he wasn't in the kitchen. The pair of mares sat at the table closest to the windows, pleased that the glass stretched all the way from the floor to the ceiling so they didn't have to crane their necks to see outside. There wasn't anypony out there, but the purple tinted sky was surprisingly pretty, and it made things a lot nicer to look at.

"So, uh… what do you think of the Academy?" Lullaby asked Fluttershy, who was happily nomming on her pie. The yellow mare licked the crumbs from around her mouth and smiled.

"It's lovely up here. I don't really miss living in Cloudsdale very much, but this place reminds me of some of the good things about this place. You and Rainbow Dash seem like pretty good friends- same with all of the others cadets." Fluttershy replied. Lullaby sighed and she crunched one of her carrot sticks, casting a glace to the side at Ray, Tempest, Free Fall and Butternut, who were sitting on the other side of the room.

"Mhm…" she didn't know whether or not she should tell Fluttershy about the whole Ray thing. Actually, after just a few short seconds she figured out that it was the crappiest idea she'd had in weeks. Ray seemed to have moved on anyway and Rainbow Dash didn't like to be associated with anything to do with romance- and Lullaby had sat through a long lecture the previous night about why she shouldn't talk about her relationship with Soarin with anyone, and the consequences she would have to face if she did so.

"Are you okay, Lullaby?" Fluttershy looked closely at the other mare, who shook her head to snap herself out of her thoughts. She met Fluttershy's gaze and nodded, deciding that while she was with the pink maned pegasus she didn't need to focus on the little problems she and her friends were having.

"I was just lost in thought, I guess," she winked to show that she wasn't being bothered by anything, and Fluttershy bought it. She sighed and continued gazing out the window.

"It seems so peaceful up here; it's something about the clouds, I think. The meadows near my cottage are nice, but when you lay down in the grass it's not nearly as comfy as clouds." She said. Lullaby nodded. She had engaged in cloud watching with Fluttershy when she had gone down to Ponyville for visits with Rainbow Dash, and since she has barely been on the ground in her life, the experience was quite exciting. The ground felt pretty rough and bumpy compared to the soft cosiness of the clouds that she had been used to her entire life. She wondered how Fluttershy (and Rainbow Dash for that matter) could stand it… actually, she had wanted to ask Rainbow why she moved to Ponyville in the first place- it seemed like an odd place to live for somepony who loved being in the air.

Lullaby looked across the table at the still-happily-eating Fluttershy, easily figuring out why _she_ would want to live on the surface. She was a little afraid of heights, and the animals in Ponyville fascinated her. She had received her Cutie Mark there, and it didn't seem like she could put it to its proper use in the clouds, so it all made perfect sense that she would want to live there. But Rainbow Dash was different; she had gotten a Cutie Mark because of her amazing speed and Sonic Rainboom, loved flying more than anypony else Lullaby knew, and wanted to be in the Wonderbolts… yet she chose to live in Ponyville.

"You're, uh… lost in thought again," Fluttershy booped Lullaby on the nose, startling her into reality again with a confused noise erupting from her throat. It kinda sounded dumb- she hated it when she started daydreaming and lost all control of her face and the sounds she made. Fluttershy just found it funny though.

"So, how many times have you been to the Academy now?" Lullaby asked her fellow feathered friend. Fluttershy swallowed her mouthful of pie and looked off to the side.

"Twice now," she replied, "this time's a lot less, um… exciting?" she couldn't seem to think of the right word to describe her past experience at the Academy. Lullaby folded her hooves and placed her chin on top of them, looking up at the other pegasus with interest.

"I _have _to hear this story," she invited Fluttershy to speak. Fluttershy sighed and shuddered, looking a little uncomfortable now. Lullaby gasped, and sat up straight, waving her forehooves in front of her frantically. "I mean, you don't _need_ to tell me if it makes you feel uncomfortable."

Fluttershy shook her head. "No, it's not that… I just feel a little silly every time I think about it." She admitted, a cute blush dusting her cheeks as she recalled the memories. Lullaby grabbed one of her carrot sticks and used it to poke Fluttershy on the end of her nose as payback for the boop she had received from the mare not too long ago.

"I promise I won't laugh or make fun of you or any of that stuff," she said, crossing her heart. Rainbow Dash had told her about Pinkie Promises, but she couldn't remember how that went, so she hoped Fluttershy would settle for a plain ol' regular promise. Thankfully, she sighed and nodded.

"Okay, so the last time Rainbow came to the Wonderbolts Academy, Pinkie Pie got a little… paranoid about it, to put it lightly." Fluttershy chuckled. Lullaby rolled her eyes; after meeting Pinkie a few times she could fully understand Fluttershy's reaction. She was… quite the character. "She wouldn't go three feet away from her mailbox in case she missed a letter from Rainbow Dash, and… it was pretty hard to watch."

Lullaby bit her lip, nodding her head slowly. She didn't know who she felt the sorriest for right now. Also, she wanted to know if Pinkie Pie knew how mailboxes were supposed to work. "Okay, so what does this have to do with the Academy?" Lullaby told Fluttershy to carry on with her story.

"Oh yeah, um… well, Twilight gave Pinkie the idea to send a care package to Rainbow, and we wound up having to deliver it in person to calm Pinkie down. And then our hot air balloon got caught in a tornado."

Lullaby blinked a couple of times. That was certainly a twist, and Fluttershy had said it so casually too… honestly, she didn't really know how to feel about that. She decided to bounce in her seat with anticipation. "What next, what next?!" she grinned. Fluttershy giggled and carried on with her tale.

"Me, Pinkie, Twilight, Rarity and Applejack started falling, of course. And that's when Rainbow Dash saved us!" she looked pretty proud of her friend. Lullaby tutted and interrupted.

"Hello? I want details! How did she save you?" she leaned forward a little more.

"I'm not exactly sure how the physics worked, but she flew around a group of clouds to bunch them together… and we all bounced off them; then some cadets caught us and we were safe again." She concluded. A couple of things caught Lullaby's attention.

"Well, if clouds are packed together tightly enough then they can make a suitable barrier; it's like how we're able to fall twenty feet from one cloud onto another and we'd land safely…" she smirked, "and speaking of flying- why weren't you?"

Fluttershy sighed and tipped her head downwards, making some of her bubble-gum pink hair fall over her left eye. "That's the part I was embarrassed about," she admitted, blushing again. Lullaby felt laughter rising up in her throat, but bit her tongue to keep it down. She had promised Fluttershy after all.

"I suppose anyone could forget if they were surrounded by their falling friends and afraid of heights," she said, not really believing herself in the slightest but doing it for the sake of Fluttershy's dignity. The yellow pegasus smiled gratefully and finished off her slice of pie.

"Thanks for understanding," she uttered with a small grin, and Lullaby shrugged.

"No problem," she winked at her again and returned to her carrot sticks. She was about to ask Fluttershy how Angel Bunny and the rest of her animals were doing when three more ponies entered the room.

"See, I told you we wouldn't be the only ones here," Pinkie said to Feather Duster and Misty Fly, who rolled their eyes in sync. Pinkie then noticed Fluttershy and Lullaby sitting on the far side of the room and rocketed over, somehow kicking up a cloud of dust in the process until she was standing right beside the two of them.

"Hi Fluttershy! Have you met Feather Duster and Misty Fly yet? They're so cool!" she chirped, and Fluttershy shook her head. Lullaby cleared her throat and Fluttershy turned to face her again.

"'Cool' may not be the best word to use," she lowered her voice to ensure that the approaching mares didn't hear her. "don't tell them I said that though."

"I won't," Fluttershy replied as she suddenly grew aware of somepony hopping up to sit beside her. She looked to the left to see the little brown mare (this must be Feather Duster, going by her Cutie Mark) giving her a once-over, and she looked away uncomfortably, not liking the judgement she was so obviously receiving in the mare's head. Pinkie sat on the other side of Feather Duster and Misty Fly took a seat next to Lullaby.

"Hello," Misty smiled over at Fluttershy, "are you enjoying the Academy?" she asked the exact same question Lullaby had asked before. Fluttershy nodded and smiled, grateful that Misty seemed nice.

"I am. Very much," she said in that sweet voice of hers, and Pinkie giggled.

"Of_ course_ you like it here," the pink mare said as if it were obvious, "the most fun pony in the world (besides me) works here. Surprise is gonna show up at any moment and then you can see the two of us in action together," Pinkie squealed with delight and Feather Duster groaned.

"So many eye rolls up in here," she mumbled.

"How is Surprise going to know where we are?" Misty Fly asked.

"HI!" Surprise suddenly popped up in the seat next to hers, and Misty promptly jolted with (guess what) surprise and clutched her chest. Fluttershy was a little startled too, and grabbed hold of Feather Duster, squeezing her like a teddy bear and trying to calm down. She didn't even notice that the small mare was writhing in her grip until she said something about it.

"Lemme go ya doe-eyed wussy!" she managed to escape Fluttershy's death-hug. Fluttershy flushed pink with embarrassment and looked away. Lullaby reached over and patted her on the shoulder in an act of sympathy while Misty Fly glared at the mare at her side.

"What is wrong with you?" she asked. Then she noticed something hanging around Surprise's neck. "And what are you wearing?"

Surprise stood up on the table, showing off the…blue bathroom towel hanging around her neck. "Check it out guys, I found the hoof-towel lying on the floor beneath that weird towel dispenser thing; now it's my amazing Cape of Surprise-ness"

Pinkie burst into laughter, Lullaby smirked, Fluttershy started to giggle, Feather Duster sighed, and Misty Fly grimaced.

"Surprise, I can't believe that you're wearing that as a cape; ponies have cleaned their hooves on that and with our current janitor you don't know when it was last washed."

Fluttershy expected Feather Duster to take offense to that; however she instead stole one of Lullaby's carrot sticks and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, she has a point."

Surprise plopped back in her seat beside Misty Fly. "You should show Mistress Surprise some respect, missy," she poked the custard coloured mare on the end of her muzzle. "Don't even pretend that the cape doesn't make me look a certain percentage cooler."

Judging by Misty's glower at her white furred colleague, she couldn't.

"Case in point; I look amazing," she puffed out her chest and flipped her mane as best she could.

"You look like a superhero on a drunken weekend," Misty deadpanned, and Lullaby let out a snort of laughter, making Surprise blush a little. The white pegasus folded her arms on the table and pouted.

"I look cool…" she muttered tapping her hooves together.

"You look like an absolute _moron_!"

"Okay, this is gonna go on forever if somepony doesn't intervene," Feather Duster, to everypony's shock, was the one who spoke out to the bickering Wonderbolts. "Seriously, your arguing is even started to piss _me _off! And you do _not_ wanna do that. I've got a table full of idiots, a mouth full of yelling, and a tortured psychological profile full of completely hysterical emotions and unaired grievances at practically everypony."

"She has a point," Pinkie didn't look particularly happy at the situation. "You guys seem to argue a lot and that's not good for a friendship. You two need to work out your differences so you can learn to get along."

Misty stuck her nose into the air and gave Surprise a pointed side-glance. "You did say that you'd help me out with my… flight issues," she paraphrased what she actually meant. "Remember when we had that party from hell at your place? Hmm?"

"I…" Surprise recalled their talk at the end of the slumber party and sighed deeply. "…did say that."

"Great!" Pinkie cheered, looking happy once again. "You two can bond over that while flying at the same time. What better way for two Wonderbolts to make friends, am I right?" she looked to the table's three other occupants for approval. Lullaby and Fluttershy nodded while Feather Duster snorted.

"As long as you two stay away from me while you're flying; I don't wanna hear any more of your squabbling or I'll shoot you both with my heart attack ray," the little brown mare gave the two of them a death glare. Fluttershy's jaw dropped open.

"Do you really have one of those?" she asked worriedly. Feather Duster sat there with a stern look on her face for a minute before exhaling and rolling her eyes.

"Not _yet_," she confessed.

"How about we talk about something happy?" Pinkie asked, secretly worried that if she didn't do something about the tension somepony would end up killing someone. "How do you think Applejack's doing?"

"Well she's alone in the room with the captain so she can't be in a good state," Feathers sighed, reaching to grab another carrot stick but being swatted away by Lullaby, who proceeded to tell her to get her own food.

"Oh come on," Surprise looked over at Feathers, "Spitfire's not that bad; and she's only been in there for like ten minutes-"

"Oh my gosh, she's probably already dead," Feather Duster snarked, getting glares from Misty and Surprise in return. Fluttershy and Lullaby shared a confused glance and looked over at Pinkie, hoping for answers.

"What's Applejack doing?" Fluttershy asked. Pinkie put a hoof to her lips and made a 'shoosh' sound.

"That is strictly between the four of us," Pinkie gestured around at herself, Feathers, Misty and Surprise, "and Applejack."

Fluttershy looked a little sceptical, but she shook it off, knowing better that to bug ponies about their secrets. That wasn't the right thing to do, and everypony was inclined to have concealed knowledge. Lullaby shrugged it off as well, figuring that she would find out in time no matter what.

"This is gonna work," Surprise addressed the ponies that were in on the secret. "Applejack's gonna fix things with the captain and she'll be happy again. We should become a team of superheroes of fix ponies' friendship problems!"

"Ahem," Pinkie cleared her throat. Surprise looked up and Pinkie gestured to Fluttershy and then at herself, reminding Surprise that such a team of ponies already existed.

"Oh. Uh… yeah," she blushed. "But anyway, we should still help Braeburn with his problem. And then we could help Feather Duster with Fire Streak, and-"

"Wait," Feather Duster held up her hoof. "Are you seriously suggesting that we become a Shipping Squad?" she blinked, glossing over the fact that Surprise had mentioned her specifically in her examples. Surprise shook her head.

"No! You can't interfere with something like that. All I was suggesting is we help Braeburn get over himself and then help you to not be so shy. We need to let romance run its own course." Surprise explained. Misty hummed in thought, which got Surprise's attention.

"You like Fire Streak?" Lullaby looked across at Feather Duster, who folded her arms, her pupils shrinking a little.

"What? No!" she insisted. Lullaby knew how riled up the dusty mare could get when something bothered her, so she got an idea of her own and put it into motion.

"Well that's good then. I heard that another cadet, Paradise, has a thing for him too. You could even ask the stallion himself because she'd made it perfectly clear to him in the past. Maybe I'll let Paradise know that she doesn't have any rivals," she said it as nonchalantly as she could, and Pinkie let out a few silent giggles, but Feather Duster seemed to be a little bothered like that, even if she said the opposite.

"Why are you telling me this?" the mare quirked her right eyebrow all the way up, a bead of sweat rolling down her temple. "Why should I even give a damn? I don't, for the record."

"This is an interesting idea," Misty suddenly said, getting everypony's attention. Surprise looked horrified.

"Oh no, what are you gonna do?" she flattened her ears against her head.

"Feather Duster gave me a good idea. We really could sort out ponies' romantic problems if we wanted to. All we'd need is the right set of wits and a plan." She told the white mare. Surprise gasped and threw her arms in the air.

"What did I _just_ say? We can't interfere with stuff like this. Love is a very delicate thing Misty Fly, and it could shatter if it's touched the wrong way." She spoke wisely, which Misty just ignored.

"No, it's a good plan. And it wouldn't be interfering; it would just be nudging ponies in the right direction. I've always wanted to be a romance guru like that." Misty admitted, turning a little pink. Surprise tutted and shook her head

"You have completely lost it Misty Fly; I can't even believe you're being this insensible. This is the kind of thing Lightning Streak would do if he'd been drinking too much."

"Hey now, this makes perfect sense," Misty insisted, making Surprise groan. The other ponies merely looked intrigued to find out how this was going to go, and remained silent. "It's just a matter of precise scheduling- let me show you." Misty pulled a black felt tip pen from her uniform pocket and began drawing a large square on the surface of the table.

"What are you doing?" Fluttershy stretched past Misty to get a better look at what was happening. Misty commentated on her work as she drew.

"It's totally simple; just hold on while I draw the guidelines."

"Oh no," Surprise folded her arms sternly, giving the mare (who wasn't even looking at her) a glower, "you are _not_ drawing a shipping grid."

"It's not a shipping grid Surprise, it's an organizational chart. Look, I'm drawing rows and columns for each pony we know."

"It's a grid!" Surprise gestured at the drawing on the table. "You are drawing a grid! I refuse to let you draw a grid for something like that!"

"Will you just look? These cutie mark drawings represent ponies, and these little symbols here represent the relationship they have with others. This way we can keep track of how the ponies act around each other so we can make everything a lot more harmonious around here. It's a great plan."

"Put the pen down!" was all Surprise said… or snapped. Surprise reached forward with one hoof and grasped hold of the pen, and Misty sputtered a little, trying to shake her off.

"Hey! Cut it out!" she barked.

"Don't draw a shipping grid! Do. Not. Do. It!" Surprise tried to use force to sway her colleague's decision.

"It's not a shipping grid you insensitive idiot!" Misty tugged on the pen as hard as she could, realising that as she and Surprise fought for it they were making crazy scribbles on the table. This was not her primary concern right now, however.

"This is really messed up! Will you just put the pen down?" Surprise lowered her voice a little, but only got a determined "NO!" out of Misty Fly. The other ponies continued to just stare. And I mean _every pony in the room_. "I'm not going to let you make a grid to organize our Celestia damned dating lives! This is some straight-up crackerjack noise and I will not stand by and let you go on with it!"

"Screw you (excuse my language everypony) now let me draw!" Misty gritted her teeth in frustration.

"Stop drawing the shipping grid then!

"It. Is. Not. A. Shipping. Grid!" Misty drew out every word as clearly as she could. "This isn't shipping you asinine buffoon, it's called _common sense_!"

"You are not going to draw anything that even _faintly_ looks like a grid!" Surprise decided to take things up a notch and used both hooves to try and rip the pen from Misty's grip. "Don't draw any connecting squares or arrangements of polygons! You will not draw a chart for the goal of arranging the lives of ponies with their respective friends/enemies/lovers/crushes. That is exactly the kind of thing I do not want to see you draw!"

"Oh look, I just drew a square!" Misty glared right at Surprise. "Get ready to see a lot more of those baby!" she was trying to sound tough, but since it was Misty Fly she failed miserably.

"Oh my gosh, don't draw any more squares! Nor will I let you draw any trapezoids or quadrilaterals or rectangles or… whatever other angles there are. And for the love of Luna you'd better not draw a rhombus!" Surprise listened off as many shapes as she could that remotely resembled a square. Misty put one hoof against her chest and puffed it out, tightening her grip on the pen a little more as she did to ensure that Surprise didn't swipe the pen while she was talking.

"In my vision I am imagining a gorgeous structure of lines and symbols, interlocking with perfection at ninety degree angles. I picture this wonderful pattern as a container for the splendid amalgam of our combined shipping desires."

"No! No! NO! That is precisely what you _shouldn't_ be drawing!" Surprise groaned, starting to perspire.

"Oh look, it's another square!" Misty, along with everypony else, stared at the 'square' Misty had managed to draw whilst fighting again Surprise. "Well… sort of? Ugh, it'll have to do!"

"No you baka!" Surprise tugged hard on the pen, pulling Misty to the right roughly. Misty was pretty strong though, and she managed to start fiercely trying to draw some more.

"Here it comes…" she grunted. "My… first ship! It's going… in the square!"

"Put the Luna damned pen down you poop!" Surprise insulted Misty as best she could without getting too graphic.

Fluttershy heard something to her side and she glanced to the left to see Feather Duster holding a big bag of popcorn, shovelling the puffy snacks into her mouth with wide eyes and a _smile_ (Fluttershy shuddered). "Um… shouldn't you maybe try to stop them from arguing?" she suggested. Feathers snorted and almost sent a few husks of popcorn spraying across the table.

"Pfha! That's rich, Butterslice," Feathers forgot the yellow mare's name, "nope, but this gives me a great idea!"

"What is your idea…?" Fluttershy asked nervously, and Lullaby and Pinkie Pie turned (some of) their attention to the tiny-winged pegasus.

"The IWL," she waved one hoof across the air. "Idiot Wrestling League. I can charge 75 bits a pop for ponies to watch these nimrods wrestle each other!" she plotted, her eyes practically becoming the shape of bits. Lullaby rolled her eyes, and Fluttershy looked awkwardly away, though Pinkie seemed to actually be _considering it_. Good grief…

They all put their full attention on the two "duelling" mares just in time to see Misty Fly putting her other forehoof into use and grabbing the pen even harder, which just added to the insanity of the scribbles that were being etched onto the table. It's a good thing it wasn't permanent marker or Spitfire would be even angrier at them.

"This is sick! What would happen if the other Wonderbolts found out you were doing this, Mist?" Surprise tried to reason with the custard 'Bolt.

"Doing what?" Misty hissed through gritted teeth, having to lean right against Surprise now to have a comfortable grip on the pen.

"Monitoring their personal relationships in a crappy grid you drew on a mess hall table!" Surprise rolled her eyes. "DUH!"

"Who says they have to know? You're not meant to know a superhero's true identity!" Misty refrained from breaking into a full lecture about secret identities.

"Put the cruddy pen down!"

"No! I'm drawing here!"

"Step away from the hideous scribble table," Surprise tried to push Misty away, but the custard pegasus kept fighting back.

"Get lost!" Misty huffed, beginning to sweat a little as well. The entire room was now silent except for Misty and Surprise, but neither of them cared. Even the ponies sharing the table with them were too busy watching the two battling mares to give a flying feather about being embarrassed.

"You're messing up the table!"

"You… YOU SMELL BAD!" Misty spat out a pretty pathetic insult.

"Don't call _me_ stinky, Misty Fly! You are the _master_ of smelling terrible! Did you notice that when you were standing by those freshly painted walls some of it was dripping off because of your foul odor?" Surprise took a hoof away from the pen for a moment to fan it in front of her nose for extra effect.

"My cat's brought things home to me that smell better than you!" Misty shot back, almost wincing as Surprise grabbed her hoof instead of the pen to try and pry it off. "And just so you know, literally _everything_ she brings home to me is either a dead animal or literal feces!"

"Oh, well…" Surprise tried to think of a good insult to retaliate with, "…you smell like if a dog pooped on… its own butt!" she almost face hoofed but remembered that she was meant to be fighting Misty Fly. She was going to win this, she swore to Celestia herself! "JUST GIVE ME THE PEN!"

"No it's mine!" Misty knew that Surprise wouldn't steal anything… though knowing her she would simply 'confiscate it' and return it to her in several days' time. Ugh, she wasn't going to let her take the pen anyway! It was then that Misty became aware of the shapes that Surprise's tugging was making on the table.

"Mist, whoa! What are you doing?" Surprise looked at her with mock horror. "Why are you drawing all of those willies? How do you even know what they look like?"

"I'm not drawing those! You're making me draw them! Stop it!" their strength was more or less equal now, with Surprise pulling Misty Fly this way and that to make more of the disgusting scrawls.

"No chance! This table is now our raged-fuelled Ouija board of willy." Surprise dubbed the table, and Feather Duster burst out _laughing_. Fluttershy looked absolutely terrified at that, and she had only just _met_ Feather Duster!

"No, stop! Gah! Shoot!" Misty's eyes went wide as Surprise finished yet another crude drawing. "YOU DREW THAT ONE! You. Drew. That. One!"

"Are you sure?" Surprise giggled slightly evilly. "That's the crazy thing about Willy Ouija. You can never truly know who drew them. Was it you, or me, or maybe a gHoOoOsSsSt?" she spoke is a spooky voice.

"UUUURGH! Let go of me!" Misty tried her hardest to pull her hooves away. She wasn't even completely holding onto the pen by this point, but Surprise was securing her hooves in place.

"Give me the pen," Surprise told her once again.

"No!" Misty snapped.

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Fine! Take it!" Misty loosened her grip entirely on the pen.

"Nope."

"WHAT?!" Misty looked at the older Wonderbolt in disbelief. Surprise was drawing a little easier now that Misty wasn't putting any effort into keeping hold of the pen any more.

"We're still drawing." Surprise told her, and Misty got right back to tugging, now desperate to get away from this psychopathic mare.

"Let me go you heinous moron!" she yelled.

"Are you kidding me? This is a _masterpiece_, Misty Fly. We've _got_ to see this through!" she smiled, enjoying this way more than she probably should.

"I'm trying to let go of the blasted pen but you won't let me!" Misty wondered if Surprise could be charged for this. She was being held here against her will and to make matters worse she was growing aware of the fact that every pair of eyes in the room was on her and Surprise right now.

"We are deeply into this now; we are ingrained in this at this point!" Surprise used a big word to get Misty to cooperate. Of course it didn't work, and Misty started to struggle a little harder.

"You crazy mule!" she was sweating profoundly by now.

"We're running out of room, so let's scoot a little to the right." Surprise moved a little, and Misty was tugged a little too hard, falling right against Surprise and finding her face in her rival's yellow mane. She managed to wrench her right hoof away from Surprise's hold and pushed against the side of her head to hold her away, and in return Surprise detached her own left hoof from the pen and wrapped her arm around Misty's neck, drawing her in close so that her cheek was smooshed against her chest. Misty growled and pushed harder against the white mare's head.

"This disputation is becoming uncomfortably physical!" Misty voiced her concerns aloud. "Get the hay away from me!"

"What are you talking about?" Surprise drew a curve with the pen.

"You _know_ what I'm talking about!" Misty angled her eyes up as high as they could go. Surprise shook her head.

"I'm pretty sure I don't."

"Yeah Misty, she doesn't know," Feather Duster called out from her spot between Pinkie and Fluttershy. "now shut up and draw another peni-"

She was interrupted by Fluttershy placing a hoof over her mouth and shaking her head at her.

"All of this physical contact is getting a little out of hoof!" Misty tried not to pay too much attention to where her face currently resided, or to the growing blush on her face.

"Oh, so it's like _that_?" Surprise caught on. "Well you can think about this situation in whatever way you like, but to me this is a good old-fashioned throw down!"

"Why don't you good old-fashioned _let go of me_!?"

Misty noticed that Surprise's towel-cape was hanging over her right shoulder and she reached her neck forward, grabbing it in her teeth and shaking it, trying her hardest to get Surprise to release her.

"Hey, quit biting my tow- CAPE!" the puffy maned mare snapped.

"BUBCK NYOUF!" Misty's curse was muffled by the towel. With one final shove, she and Surprise both tumbled off their seats and onto the floor with a loud crash. The observers did nothing other than change their positions so they could still see. And Feather Duster was actually_ crying _with laughter now!

Surprise stood up, noticing that Misty Fly had gotten tangled up in her cape in the fall. It was wrapped around her middle once and then it twisted once more to cover her face. She was flailing around like a headless chicken, and it was absolutely hilarious to everypony.

"Are you kidding me?" Surprise muttered, and Misty tried to yell but was muffled by the towel. "Hold still." Surprise stood on her hind legs and grabbed Misty around her waist. Then with a deep breath, she reared all the way back, suplexing Misty over her head so that the cape unravelled. Misty landed on the table and Surprise landed on her rump, both battered and bruised enough to last… oh I don't know, maybe a week knowing these guys, am I right?

"Welp," Feather Duster stood up, crumpling up her now empty popcorn bag and dropping it down on the table. "That was fun, but I have places to be and countries to destroy," she hopped down from her seat, whistling a cheerful tune as she walked out the door.

It was a while before Misty could manage to see straight; however when she did she found herself looking straight at Lullaby. And that reminded her of something Spitfire had said to her and Surprise a while ago.

"Oh, um… Lullaby, we need to talk to you." She slurred, trying not to focus on the room spinning.

* * *

Feather Duster headed towards the cleaning closet knowing that if she locked herself in there nopony would be able to disturb her naps. And after a show like that in the mess hall she could think of no better way to carry on her day that to have a couple hours of snoozing. So she wore a charming smile as she trotted towards her destination, whistling the Imperial March as she went, her eyelids already beginning to droop as she got ready for her slumber.

Considering that she hated this job and the napping was the only thing good about it, she could get a kick out of her colleagues' idiocy every once in a while, and this thing with Misty Fly and Surprise took the award for the most hilarious thing ever to happen in her presence. As much as she hated to admit it, she wouldn't mind hanging around those two so much if they kept up their act.

Turning the corner, she suddenly bumped into someone, and just like that her perfect mood shattered around her. A little pissed off; she shook the stars out of her eyes and looked up to see… nopony? That was weird. She looked straight ahead and then found herself staring into a pair of big purple eyes. She looked the filly before her up and down, wondering who the heck this was and why she had never seen her before. She was all set and ready to yell at her for being in the way, but seeing as this was a kid and she wasn't heartless (a completely different thing from evil) she decided to go easy on the young pegasus.

"Sorry punk," she said, getting up and walking around the orange filly, a tad embarrassed that the two of them were roughly the same size, her being only the slightest bit taller than the kid she had just bumped into. Ah well, she wouldn't let a little collision get in the way of her good mood.

She had only walked about three feet away from the filly when she heard a loud gasp from behind her. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the kid staring at her with wide eyes. You'd have thought she had found herself face-to-face with a celebrity or something… and Feather Duster looked in the other direction specifically to check that there wasn't a famous pony there. She stood still and awkward as the filly continued to gawk at her, until she'd had enough and spoke to her.

"Is something wrong? Do you wanna take a picture?" she asked bitterly. The filly slowly got to her hooves, wearing a huge smile.

"Are you Feather Duster?!" she asked.

Now _that_ was unexpected. Feathers had to run that through in her head a few times to make sure that she'd heard that correctly. Had one of her evil schemes caught the attention of a potential disciple? As much as she liked that idea, she suspected that there was more to it than one of her plots captivating a young mind. That was _always _the case. Sigh.

"Yes…?" Feathers had no idea how anypony in the universe could be excited to see_ her. _Maybe this filly was simply crazy? The orange child trotted forward enthusiastically until she was directly in front of her. And then she seemed to examine Feathers as if she were a painting on display in an art gallery. What in Equestria was going on in this kid's head?

Here's what was going on in Scootaloo's head. She was looking Feather Duster over, looking for epic qualities she was probably keeping hidden somehow. She had built up an image of Feather Duster in her head, and had supposed that she would look a lot more badass than this. It was almost disappointing to find out that this was what she really looked like. Pale brown eyes; fur the color of dust, a slightly unkempt mane that actually looked like a mane rather than an actual hairstyle, similar to how Scootaloo wore hers as a matter of fact. Her wings were indeed rather small; barely bigger than Scootaloo's own wings, and that was _good_. She could finally get the advice she needed.

"Your wings are just like mine!" Scootaloo displayed her wing's for the mysterious flyer to check out, and Feathers (still confused) went along with it, humming to confirm that she could see her wings. "Fleetfoot told me that you can fly. Is it true?!" Scootaloo's eyes were wide with wonder, and Feather Duster felt something within her. Pride? A filly was fascinated with her, and that had never happened before. And since it most likely never would again, there was no way she was just going to send her away and tell her to stop being a weird stalker.

"Yeah, I can fly," she fluttered her wings and hovered into the air to demonstrate, and Scootaloo almost full-on fangirled. This was just getting weirder and weirder.

"I need to ask you something. Uh, please?" she added, making sure to remember her manners so that she would be on this so-called amazing mare's good side. Feathers was beyond baffled by this point and she decided to keep going to see just what this filly wanted with her. She landed back on the ground.

"Okay then…" was all she could think to say. Stuff like this didn't happen to her… ever. So she figured that she had a right to be a little hesitant about this. There were two things that were strange about this actually; the first was that somepony actually wanted to see her and the second is that this pony was a _kid_, and Feathers hated kids. What did she do to bring this upon herself?

"How did you learn to fly?" the filly asked, purple eyes wide, round and sparkling. Feather Duster thought that she had this figured out now. This kid wanted to ask her for advice because she had the same underdeveloped wing condition as her. As a matter of fact, Feathers couldn't recall meeting many ponies with this condition- maybe one or two a long time ago? It was quite a rare thing after all. Less than 3% of pegasi had this problem, anyway.

"That's a really boring story, ya know?" Feathers warned the filly of what she was getting herself into. The orange kid shrugged.

"I don't care. Fleetfoot told me that you were a pretty good flyer, and so I knew I had to see you!" she gushed. "You must be so _awesome_!"

Awesome? Feather Duster could think of many words to describe herself: sinister, creepy, malicious, lazy, careless… but awesome was not one of them. What the heck had Fleetfoot been saying to this filly to make her think of her as awesome? She wasn't sure if she should thank her light blue colleague or yell at her. Also she was now aware that ponies talked about her behind her back… yikes that was horrible to think about.

"Er… yeah, I'm cool?" she raised a brow and looked at the wall, where her tiny shadow was cast upon the fresh paint. She was small and weak, and her only hope of ever being strong was constructing objects of mayhem in her lab (basement), and if she was really honest with herself she was flattered that this kid thought so highly of her after only just meeting her. "So what's your name, punk?" Feathers asked, wanting to know the name of her new… fan?

"I'm Scootaloo. I'm Rainbow Dash's little sister and I came up here from Ponyville to visit her, but then when she was training Fleetfoot told me all about you and how you could teach me to fly, so I snuck away from Rainbow Dash to come find you and I heard these two silly mares arguing and then I came down this hall and BAM here I am!" she belted out, finishing with a big grin. Feathers took a while to respond.

"Um… you want me to help you learn to fly?" she was having a hard time processing all of this. Since when did children come to her for help? Since when did _anyone_ come to her for help? She had been surprised enough that Misty Fly had (allegedly) offered her a place in her stupid shipping super hero squad, but this? This was just crazy.

"Who better?" Scootaloo asked as if it were obvious. "And you can tell me all about what it's like flying with tiny wings." She looked like she was on cloud nine. She loved the feeling of having a kid look up to her, and there was no chance in Tartarus she was going to let it end so soon. Smirking, she nodded her head and ruffled the filly's mane.

"Okay punk. Sure, I'll help you out," she tried not to grin any wider as Scootaloo hopped up and down in glee.

"I'm gonna learn how to fly!" she cheered. Feathers hoped to Celestia and Luna combined that she could help the kid out somehow. Nevertheless she decided that she needed to make sure that the filly's expectations of her weren't _too_ high. The chance of actually teaching Scootaloo to fly first time were 5%, and the margin of error was… about 4%... point five…

"This is great! Thank you!" Scootaloo butted her head against Feather Duster's, and the janitor swore that she would die of cuteness. This kid was just such a sweetheart, and Feather Duster would never call anyone that… except her old pet fish, Minion. But she'd eventually dropped some illegally bought toxic waste in his tank by mistake and he'd died. That was one hell of a depressing day…

"Meh. Okay, great, if you insist. It won't be as great as…" oh boy, should she really be doing this, "that time I was flying pretty close to the ground in the Kalamarei desert." The two of them began walking again; Scootaloo listening to every word Feather Duster said like each syllable was part of an ancient incantation. "The sand and dust flowed after me in a wave and… it must have looked pretty good from a distance." She made up a story. She loved the admiration that was splattered all over Scootaloo's face. She wished she could take a picture of it so she could look at it whenever she felt down.

"Is that your special talent?" Scootaloo looked at Feather Duster's Cutie Mark, which was exactly that to match her name. No, Feathers had discovered her talent while visiting her parents at work when she was little. Her mother and father were the maid and butler for Prince Blueblood, and Feather Duster had even had the displeasure of having to play with the little shite (who was almost as bratty a foal as he was a full grown stallion) and on one of those particular times where Blueblood was whining at Feathers for cheating at Monopony, she had grabbed her mother's feather duster and bopped him upside the head with it. She'd been grounded for a month but she had her cutie mark- which she decided meant that she was destined to overthrow royalty. And so her evil villain career began!

"Yes." Feather Duster lied instead.

And then-

"I also once took out a full grown dragon's eye with my bare hooves."

* * *

"Scoots? You in there?" Rainbow Dash peered into the mare's bathroom. "I know I talked about how awesome the bathroom was a whole lot but I didn't think you'd stay in here for half an hour…"

No reply.

Rainbow sighed. She'd excused herself from the dorm room while Twilight was gloating about winning their book argument. She'd noticed that at some point Lullaby and Fluttershy had already left (lucky) and so had Scootaloo. She had no idea whether all three of them were together or not though… and she hoped she would find them quickly because the dorm room was boring and she didn't want to leave Twilight, Rarity and Spike in there alone for too long.

Sheesh! Why was she having such a hard time keeping track of all her friends? She had no idea how many groups there were now… maybe four? Wait a second. Rainbow Dash counted up the groups in her head.

Lullaby, Fluttershy and Scootaloo had all slipped away while she and Twilight had been arguing, and she had no idea whether all three of them were together or not. Fluttershy wouldn't go off on her own so she would most likely be with one of the other girls or both. That made a maximum of two groups. Applejack, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had been gone almost from the start (which sucked. What the heck, Applejack!?) and she suspected that they were all still together since Applejack would definitely take care of kids in a strange new place. Celestia knew where Pinkie Pie had vanished off to; she had probably gone off to hang out with Surprise, knowing her. Rarity, Spike and Twilight were still in Rainbow and Lullaby's room, and now Rainbow Dash herself was standing outside the bathroom wanting to find Scootaloo. The others would be fine by themselves, but Scootaloo was a kid, and she didn't want her to accidentally fall off a cloud. And where the hay was Soarin in all of this? Was he still with Applejack and the Crusaders she had taken with her on her visit to Braeburn "_to say hi_?"

Pfft. She decided that she'd go check out the kitchen for a trace of her friends next. Maybe Scootaloo had met up with Applejack and the other Crusaders and was wandering around with them? Maybe each group was trying to find the others? Boy, maybe she should have made her friends come up in shifts to make things easier to keep track of… but that wouldn't have been as fun.

"You in here, Scootaloo?" she made her way to the gym and pushed open the doors. She found a few cadets in there working out of talking… and somehow a large dumbbell had wound up on top of a crash mat. Had Bulk Biceps come for a visit without her knowing and tossed it over there? Nah, that couldn't be it…

"I should get tracking chips for all of my friends…" Rainbow Dash muttered to herself as she left the gym behind. After a little more searching she found herself heading towards the entrance doors. Maybe they were in the training grounds… and right now she didn't care who 'they' were. She just wanted to find _one_ of her friends.

As she placed her hoof against the doors to pull them open, it opened very suddenly all by itself and Dash jumped backwards with a jolt, almost toppling onto her rump… she actually would have if not for the fact that she flapped her wings to hover at the last second. Regaining her balance, she looked towards the door and saw Soarin standing there, looking pretty horrified at what he'd just done. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were by his side, looking just as dumbfounded. What? They were looking at her as if they had never seen her before.

"Oh thank Luna, at least I've found _some_ of you." Rainbow Dash swooped over to them and stopped just in front of Soarin, about to give him a hug but refraining from doing so at the last second. "Where have you been all this time?" she asked, deciding not to pester her coltfriend about the tour he had meant to take her friend son that she had wound up taking them on instead. Soarin chuckled and shifted his eyes around, trying to figure out a way to explain this that wouldn't give away anypony's secrets… or get him in trouble.

"Um… that is a _good_ question," Soarin hummed loudly, sucking at being subtle. "Well… me and the girls here hung out with Braeburn for a while, and then I showed them around the training grounds," he replied. Rainbow Dash nodded before moving on to her next question.

"And where's Applejack?" she hadn't seen Applejack since she and the others had arrived. Soarin narrowed his eyes, thinking for a little while, and then looked up to meet Rainbow's stare.

"I don't know," he admitted. "She made me look after these two while she spoke to Braeburn and when we got back to the kitchen she was gone. I don't know where she is now… somewhere around here?"

Great, so it was still a mystery as to where Applejack was. Rainbow sighed and ran a hoof through her rainbow mane; it flopped into her face a little after that but she didn't really care. Rainbow then noticed that Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom had been quiet the entire time she'd been talking to Soarin and looked over at them. The pair of fillies were standing to the left, staring at the two pegasi with wide eyes. This, in a word, was weird.

"You two look like you're watching Sapphire Shores talk to… Soarin I guess?" Rainbow could think of no better celebrity to replace the one in front of her with. Sweetie Belle opened her mouth as if she were about to yell something with a great enthusiasm… and then she shoved her hoof in her mouth. Apple Bloom was biting her lip as well, and her eyes were darting between Dash and Soarin.

"Apple Bloom… is something up?" Rainbow asked, starting to get a little worried. Apple Bloom and the other Crusaders were usually so comfortable around her, so why the heck was she and Sweetie Belle suddenly paralyzed and unable to say anything to her? Were they intimidated because Soarin was here? No, that couldn't be it because it seemed to her like they had been hanging out with him all day. So what could it be?

Looking at her coltfriend, she could have sworn that he was sweating a little, too. Maybe it was just because he'd shown the fillies a few tricks? Why the hell were these three acting so strange? She expected this behavior from Soarin… so much that she regarded it as his normal behavior by this point. But now it… oh no, had Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom been hanging around with him so much that his dorky traits were starting to rub off on them?

Of course, this was just a silly idea, but it was still fun to think about.

"Never mind," Rainbow tore her gaze away from the kids and spoke to Soarin again. "Anyway, have you seen Fluttershy or Lullaby?" she got yet another disappointing 'no' from the Wonderbolt and she sighed. "Have you at least seen Scootaloo?"

"Oh! We're looking for her now!" Sweetie Belle pulled her hoof from her mouth, getting a little bit of slobber on the floor in the process. "We got food and we need her to eat it with us… also we wanna say stuff to Braeburn."

"Say stuff?" Rainbow questioned, narrowing her eyes in confusion. Apple Bloom sighed and shook her head.

"Do we hafta tell that story again? Some people can get bored o' hearin' that same thing over n' over again," the expression on her face probably matched the faces of anyone faced with that story, so Dash agreed that she would just skip that part. It probably wasn't all that interesting anyway.

"Look, how about we all team up and go look for Scootaloo?" the cyan mare suggested, wanting to take a route other than the classic 'let's split up' cliché. That _never_ worked out!

"No-" Soarin began to exclaim, but upon seeing the weird look that Rainbow Dash was giving him, he just kinda got stuck letting out a long 'oooooooooo' sound. The light blue stallion eventually got a grip and went full Soarin on them all.

"-oooooooice idea Rainbow Dash!" he faked a smile and tried to act casual (something that Soarin could _never _be on purpose). "I have absolutely nothing to say that would appear in the slightest to be disagreeing with your amazing idea. In fact, I don't think _any of us_ have _anything _to say_ at alllllll_!" he looked pointedly at the Crusaders, who had their cheeks puffed out as if they were holding their breaths. "Let's go find Scootaloo shall we?" he started walking down the hall, and Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom scurried after him.

Blinking a few times to try and sort things out in her head, Rainbow concluded that something had happened while Soarin was hanging out with the Crusaders. Had he taken them somewhere or… strapped them to the Dizzitron when they mistook it for a Ferris wheel? Maybe she should stop expecting the weirdest of things from Soarin. She liked the dude a lot, so she didn't want to flanderize him… though she was uncertain as to whether you could flanderize someone who actually existed outside of fiction. She would have to ponder that in a little more detail sometime.

"Hey, wait for me!" Rainbow flapped across the room to catch up with the others, walking slightly behind the other three ponies to keep an eye on the Crusaders from behind. The two young girls were talking to each other in hushed and agitated voices, and when they noticed that Rainbow Dash had suddenly appeared close by they shut up entirely and kept walking. Okay, something was definitely going on, and they clearly didn't want her to know about it. Did they secretly know where Applejack was but they didn't want to tell her because it would give away some big surprise. Did something happen with Braeburn and they deliberately skipped the story with the intention of keeping _that_ a secret? Life would be so much easier if you could just read others' minds.

But, of course, that meant Rainbow Dash and Soarin's own secret would be on display for anypony curious enough to look to see.

And she just wasn't prepared for that. Not yet.

* * *

"Why, don't ya wanna stop, ma'am?" Applejack repeated her question to the captain, who was passing the bottle of whisky between her hooves and trying not to uncork it. She was pretty good at sobering up (unfortunately?) but she didn't think that she would make this meddlesome mare in front of her any less concerned of her feigned well-being if she got hammered right in front of her. She slid the bottle to the side and sighed, still not giving an answer.

"You are the only one who can answer that question," Applejack told the captain, folding her hooves on the desk and smiling a little, "and Ah think that when ya do it'll help shed some light on this. Ah wanna help ya find a solution t' your problems. Don't ya want t' be happy?"

"Of course I do. What a stupid question." Spitfire scoffed, trying deliberately to drive the orange earth pony away. However Applejack seemed to have caught onto that tactic, so that was all for naught. Ugh, Spitfire had been through plenty of trials and challenges in her life but for some reason this was her toughest opponent yet. And Applejack wasn't using fire or cannonballs as ammunition; she was only using words. So why were these having more of an effect on her than pills or alcohol. The former never did a thing and the latter just numbed the pain for a small amount of time, but the things that this mare was saying to her was making her feel things. What exactly these 'things' were she wasn't sure… but what mattered was that those things existed at all.

Was it because she was his cousin? She didn't think so… nopony had really talked to her on such an emotional level like this… ever. Therapists talked about the science behind it, but Spitfire didn't care about what kind of brain problems she was having, she wanted to know how to get over it so she could forget about all of her dumb past problems and move on with her life; well, she was sure that if she bribed a scientist they could zap her brain with a laser to remove the memory but there was always a chance that that could fry her entire head, and…

Oh.

She wanted to move on with her life.

She had just admitted that to herself… and she had meant it. She knew that it was true. It wasn't because she was his cousin, not at all. The mare's effect on her occurred to her as soon as she realised just who she was _besides_ that.

Honesty.

She was the Element of Honesty. And Spitfire was being honest with herself. It all suddenly made a lot of sense… though she hadn't previously been aware that the Elements had some kind of invisible friendship pheromone floating around them that made the ponies around them be more mindful of what was better for them? Then again, Rainbow Dash had changed her life a lot in the short couple of years since she had met her, and if that wasn't friendship magic then she was out of ideas for what it could be.

"That look…" Applejack got Spitfire's attention again, and the golden mare looked up, trying her best to maintain her neutral expression, but Applejack had already seen her dumbfounded gape. Ugh. "That's the look of a pony who's just had some sorta epiphany." She was wearing that stupid smile again. Oh, did Spitfire want to slap that smile off the orange mare's face.

"I remain just as unenlightened as I was ten minutes ago, Miss Applejack," Spitfire's expression barely changed. Applejack shook her head.

"Nnnope. Ah don't believe that fer a second. Now, please for the love o' apple dumplings, will ya answer mah question. Why don't ya wanna stop talkin' to me about this?"

Spitfire didn't know how to react. She knew the answer, but it sounded stupid to her… she wanted to continue with her life, but she wanted to continue it in a healthier, happier fashion than she had been for the past few years. She thought of everything that was going on around here right now. After having a mental breakdown she had hidden herself away in her office, leaving the Academy in the hooves of Surprise, who she knew couldn't order ponies around at _all_, the cadets were behind in their training (she had been planning on introducing something new into combat training but didn't know if there was enough time left now), paperwork was piling up because she was having so much trouble concentrating as of late, and the only ponies who knew about her problem were too scared to confront her about it. And that's what Spitfire had wanted. She had been driving them away on purpose because the mere thought of what happened was enough to send her off the rails and she didn't need other ponies' pity.

But the way Applejack was talking to her now made her feel safe and secure. She was gazing at her with the same kindness and sincerity that stood out so prominently in her cousin. Why were these ponies suddenly barging into her life like this? She hadn't been smothered with this much attention (except from the press) and concern since Typhoon, and…

"Here," Applejack suddenly passed her a tissue, and Spitfire became aware of the wetness rolling down her cheeks. Oh crap! She ignored the tissue and just wiped her eyes roughly with her arm and- crap that was probably gonna make them look red and sore. Damnit!

"I'm sorry- I mean, no I'm not… I, urgh-" Spitfire proceeded to swear and face hoof, cursing herself a thousand times over. Applejack just chuckled and nudged the tissue a little closer to Spitfire, just in case she changed her mind about using it and accepting her help. Although it looked like she was getting closer to doing just that.

Applejack decided that it was best if she waited and let Spitfire talk first this time. Maybe if she just held back until Spitfire herself was ready to communicate then things would run a lot smoother. It literally took eleven minutes of silence before Spitfire said anything at all, and Applejack just sat there patiently. She was staring at her desk through angry narrowed eyes the entire time but she tried to make her words come out as calmly as possible.

"I… I want to move on." She admitted, and she refused to look up at Applejack and see the dumb smile that was waiting for her. She was _sick_ of that smile. "I want it all to end…" she added. And then suddenly nothing mattered. It didn't matter that she was sitting here talking about all of this to a pony that she had just met. It didn't matter that the shit in the Academy had hit the metaphorical fan. It didn't matter that the eyes of the other mare were scorching her very soul. She needed to talk, and now seemed like… one time of many that she had passed up before.

"I remember the day I found out my sister died…" she heard a soft gasp from Applejack, and prayed to Celestia that her pity wouldn't drive her actions from here on out. She was doing just fine up to this point. "I lost all of my hope… it was like my whole world had been destroyed." She wanted so badly to stop, but now that it was all coming out she just couldn't cease pouring her emotions out.

"The previous captain passed his position to me when he died in the Hoofington Fire, and I felt like rejecting it would be like dishonouring him. I know I should have given the position to Silver Lining or something… but it's too late now, and I don't need the press on my flanks. After a while, the fuss with the Hoofington Fire died down and the town was rebuilt, and I guess it kinda became some sort of unspoken rule around here to not talk about it… Surprise probably made that rule come to think of it, to keep me calm."

Boy she felt awful right now. She glanced swiftly at Applejack, who was staring at her with her jaw agape, an expression of bewilderment in her wide green eyes. Thankfully Applejack didn't say anything and let Spitfire keep talking.

"I don't want this, Applejack," she sighed and blankly stared downwards at folded hooves in her lap. "I don't want fame or fortune. I don't want a fancy position in the military, and I don't want all these ponies looking to me for guidance." She stared angrily at her captain's uniform; knowing full well that the only reason she had been putting it on at all was for a sense of normality.

"Truthfully…." she was using that word in the presence of the Element of Honesty and felt a little stupid for letting her know that her element was heavily present here. "…I don't want to live like this. Giving orders and leading an elite flying squad doesn't mean anything to me anymore. I just want to see my sister… I just want to see my parents…" she felt like a little filly right now, and could honestly not feel more ashamed- holy crap, _again_ with the honesty?!

"Surprise was right. This has gone on long enough," she admitted, hanging her head. "But isn't it too late to move on?" she inquired. "I've been living like this for six years, and I've never been sane and alone at the same time before…"

Applejack was crying on the inside; this mare had a lot of scars and she wasn't letting anypony in to help her. It seemed like Applejack herself was the closest pony to achieving this accomplishment. But she was chipping away at the captain's shield, she could feel it, and perhaps she could even make it crumble if she persisted.

"But you aren't alone," she said to the golden mare, "you have Surprise, and Misty Fly. Ya have Soarin n' Fleetfoot. Ya got Rainbow Dash, and now ya have me. And ya have Braeburn, too."

At the mention of the stallion's name, Spitfire cast her eyes to the floor, the guilt surrounding her like a cloud. She remembered the look of confusion and hurt in his eyes that night, and her own feelings that had fogged her mind. She'd gone insane when it first happened, she'd felt angry the entire flight back to her own home, and by the time she'd cooled down a while after, she had just felt sad and numb, which then simmered into a fine, white-hot, fur searing rage. She'd hurt him and she felt terrible… but he probably didn't want to see her anyway. And apologizing was like surrendering in Spitfire's eyes- it was a sign of weakness.

"So, are ya still not convinced?" Applejack asked after a minute. "D'ya still want me to leave and get outta yer life forever?"

"No…" Spitfire said immediately, and Applejack smiled a little. She was doing it…

"Good. So are ya gonna step up and take responsibility to get this here Academy back on track?" Applejack asked another question. She wasn't done yet either.

"…Yes."

"Good. And are ya gonna do yer best t' connect with other ponies?"

"…Okay, I will."

"And are ya gonna make amends with Braeburn?"

"…oh…" Spitfire looked anywhere but at Applejack. "Look, I don't think I can," she explained, "he wouldn't wanna see me after how I acted anyway, and it's not like he's gonna be in Cloudsdale for much longer so why should it matter?"

Applejack did realize that her cousin being in love with a pegasus caused more problems than one. Not only would a potential relationship with Spitfire be long-distance once he returned to Appleoosa, but it would cause a lot of trouble with his racist father as well. Applejack wasn't particularly fond of that particular uncle of hers, and the stuff he said about pegasi (and on occasion, unicorns) were uncalled for and offensive and if she wasn't a decent pony she'd bop him upside the head for the things he had said to her at a family reunion a few years ago about how hanging around with the 'cloud munchers and hornheads' would eventually backfire and they would put her down. Well that had never happened before and it never would if she had any say in it.

"Well, since that's the case, you wouldn't want him t' leave thinking that ya hate him, would ya?" Applejack knew that the shield was almost down. Just a few more fractures to go.

"I don't hate him," Spitfire was talking to herself more than she was talking to Applejack, "but I'm still kinda mad at him for causing this mess in the first place."

"So all of this is because o' him?" Applejack shook her head. "How could he have known about yer problem, captain? Ya can't blame him for this when he doesn't even know what he did wrong."

Good grief, the guilt was rising higher and higher with every word that came out of this mare's mouth. What the heck was she supposed to feel right now? Oh, she'd just stick with guilt because that's the thing that stood out amongst the long, long list of negative emotions that were running through her head like the credits of a movie.

"I know, I know, I'm being an asshole! What's new?!" Spitfire threw her arms in the air and spun around in her chair once. "Well who else am I supposed to blame? I can't blame Typhoon for dying, I can't blame Captain Concorde for dying, I can't blame myself because I never asked for this crap to happen to my brain, and I can't blame Cowboy because he didn't know what in Tartarus was going on. So what do I do? Tell me if you're so smart, Applejack!"

"You should just talk to him. He's feelin' really guilty about this," oh shoot she wasn't the only one who felt guilty around here. In a twisted way, that made Spitfire feel a little better.

"That's the most awkward thing anypony's ever asked me to do, and my best friend is Surprise and she's asked me to model party hats for her in the past."

"You actually did that?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Spitfire sighed and dabbed at her eyes again with that tissue, wondering if all of the redness had vanished. Applejack clapped her hooves together softly and let out a long breath. She decided to just lay it out for the captain.

"Listen, Ah'm gonna be clear with ya, ma'am. Braeburn's hurtin' okay. He feels really bad fer makin' ya feel that way and Ah hope that if ya saw him now you'd change yer mind about talkin' to him. He's not his happy self, and it's hard fer me to see him like this." She described the situation to the other mare, who sighed and rubbed her temples, placing her elbows on the desk and tipping her head forward in agony.

"Do I seriously have to resolve this?" she groaned. Applejack nodded once and folded her forelegs across her chest.

"Eeyup, ya do. He doesn't know Ah'm here talkin' to ya so it'd be better if ya went down there without him knowin' about my involvement so it'd seem like more of a sincere encounter. Understand?" Applejack leaned forward on the desk a little more. "All three of us would benefit from you doin' this, ma'am. Braeburn really likes ya, Spitfire… more than Ah can say; so please, _please_ don't trample over his heart like this. Please." She looked across at the mare with the kindest expression she could manage, letting her know that her secrets were safe with her and that everything was going to be alright.

"Holy Luna…" Spitfire placed her forehead against the desk once more before looking back up at Applejack. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I don't want to do this by myself. I couldn't think of a more embarrassing situation… unless you made me wear one of Surprise's crappy party hats while I do it." She cringed at that unpleasant thought.

Applejack thought for a moment and tried to come up with a solution to this predicament. She managed to link this situation to Twilight's early days in Ponyville when she was just beginning to understand friendship and came to what she figured was a reasonable way to mend this conflict.

"Well, Ah'm not sure how much use Ah could be, but we could always keep in touch?" she proposed. Spitfire looked a little sceptical.

"Are you insane or something? You actually want to keep talking to me through letters?" she actually started to chuckle. Applejack was pleased that she was at least laughing a little.

"Look, maybe Ah don't know how yer feelin' right now, but Ah do know that sometimes ponies with problems think that nopony cares about them or they're annoyed by their problems. But that's a big lie, and that's hardly ever the case," Applejack remembered some scientific facts that Twilight had mentioned to her when she brought up psychology out of the blue someday while flicking through a book she'd seemed to be obsessed with at the time. "And if it would make ya feel better, Ah really wouldn't mind at all if ya wrote to me whenever ya need somepony t' talk to, and Ah'll give you… counselling, Ah guess."

Then there was yet another long minute of silence while Spitfire thought it over, and then she gave a tiny smile and shrugged.

"I guess I'd be okay with that." She settled on her response. Applejack reached out and patted the other pony on the shoulder, making her flinch a little. Applejack just thought it was a pretty sweet quirk of the captain's.

"That's great," she then stood up and took a few steps towards the door. "Now, Ah'm not gonna tell anypony that we had this talk, and this'll just be a secret between the two of us, since Ah know you ain't comfortable with ponies knowing about yer problem. Are ya gonna be okay and do the right thing now?" she asked, feeling pretty proud of herself for succeeding in pulling the captain a little further into the light and finding another friend in her in the process.

"Yes, I will," Spitfire didn't sound determined or anything, but she didn't sound hesitant either. Applejack began to pull the door open.

"Hey, one more thing?"

Applejack looked over her shoulder at the golden captain, who had put her sunglasses back on and appeared to have a little flush on her cheeks. "Yeah?" she raised a brow. Spitfire took a few seconds to ask her questions.

"You said that Cowboy 'really likes me', right?" a nod from Applejack. "What… what did you mean by that?" she suddenly found it rather hard to maintain eye contact with Applejack, even though the earth pony could barely see her eyes through her shades.

Applejack smirked and turned away, wondering if this would push the captain to make amends with her cousin even more.

"Some things ya just need t' find out for yerself, ma'am."

With a final tip of her stetson, Applejack left the office and closed the door.

* * *

**Endnote: And so we leave our cast in their own respective cliffhangers. Goodness knows what Twilight, Rarity and Spike are doing in all of this; most likely internally fuming at the authoress for writing them out of this one. Misty and Suprise are left out of the picture after their argument so who knows whether or not they are still in their bruised states in the mess hall. The author gazes with relief at the bold text, pleased that for a little while the readers will be satisfied, and she hums a Mystery Skulls song as she moves onto the next line.**

**Yadda yadda coming soon, yadda yadda busy life stuff, yadda yadda see ya next time.**

**Also, do any of you guys like reviews for MLP? Go and check out MrLeftTurn's reviews. My buddy Captain Alaska is beginning to review the new series and his stuff is awesome. Just putting that out there. :)**


	48. The Secrets We Keep, part 5

**Authors Note: This is it! The last frakking part of this arc!**

**Also I now have 69 followers… hehe. ^u^ I've been waiting for this achievement specifically to type the cute innocent little emoticon (the blushy one didn't show).**

**Amellia Rose- Thanks for reading again, my friend.**

**Jagdpanther- That scene was so hard to write. As a budding psychologist myself I had to get all the parts right while remembering that Applejack is **_**not**_** a psychologist. By now I don't think there's any harm in saying this (because it's obvious) - yes, Spitfire does have feelings for Braeburn, and she's coming to terms with them now. **

**Luna'snight625- That was the entire point of the scene; it was to show that despite all their differences, Misty has her 'Surprise moments' and Surprise has her 'Misty moments'. They're not all that different after all, but they don't really want to realise that. And my version of Soarin is the most awkward and doofiest goofball in Equestria and since this kind of topic may never be tackled in MLP, I don't know how the Crusaders would behave in that kind of situation. They are kids and kids don't really like having secrets, so I can sort of imagine that this would be Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle's responses to seeing Dash and Soarin in the same general vicinity. At least it would be Sweetie Belle's, I think. And yes, I headcanon that the Elements of Harmony do in fact have some kind of magical pheromone that impact those around them; if you watch the show with this in mind it can make you realise things you missed in the past. Right since the beginning of the show the Mane Six have done pretty insane things with their respective elements; and I do wonder if it would work with any other pony in the world. Fluttershy took on a full grown dragon and used her kindness to send him away, Rainbow's loyalty to Rarity got her to get over her stage fright to save her, and the same can be said for nearly any season one episode if you think about it hard enough. The same thing applies for Applebutt and Fireflanks in their scene.**

**Litestardt- I'm so pleased! I'm not sure what possessed me to write a SpitBurn story, but I'm pleased I did, because I like the ship a lot for some reason and I'm glad I earned it a little bit of appreciation. (I am the Empress of the Weird Ships). And I'm one of your inspirations?! Whoa… that makes me so happy to hear! ^^ And the next chapter is a SpitBurn chapter (God there hasn't been one of those in forever. They haven't interacted since… **_**before Amending Fences aired.**_** HOLY CRAP! (0.0)**

**YoungBlood23- That's why I put it in- **_**because**_** it's so annoying; people telling you to find something out for yourself is so freakin' exasperating, and I think the same applies for our fiery friend here. Considering what she's already been through today, her annoyance might be just the thing she needs to make her talk to him. They have not spoken since **_**fricking **_**July! And it's only been about two weeks in story-time! Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Mind Screw! **

**MidnightBlaze16- Thanks! I think that's one of my favourite parts of the entire story now. It only took me one sitting to write that so ya know I loved it. And please keep on shipping it! :D**

**Snow Hurricane Blue- Haha! I'm so pleased that you like this ship so much. I wrote this with the intention to make people like it, but I think… I may have done it too well. I have good news for you though; the next chapter is a SpitBurn chapter. Nothing but SpitBurn, and I CAN'T WAIT! And it'll be out soon because I was so impatient it's practically done already. ^u^**

Oh my God?! WHAT IS THIS?!

**(MY REVIEW FOR NEWBIE DASH)**

**!SPOILERS AHEAD!**

Wow, it's been forever since I've made of one these! I'm going to cut straight to the chase though, because I want to get this up fast.

So, is it a surprise to anyone that I don't like this episode? I knew that I wouldn't like it before I watched it for its synopsis alone. Looking at the pattern of my enjoyment for Wonderbolt episodes, this wasn't a shock to me. Wonderbolts Academy inspired me to write this story, Rainbow Falls is my least favourite episode in the entire show, Rarity Investigates was good and mostly made up for the last Wonderbolt episode, but this one takes a _big_ step back. But at least I wasn't surprised- I was on FIMFiction when I first heard of the episode, and my initial reaction was "Holy Nope, they're actually doing another 'Wonderbolts Are Assholes' episode!" and I freaked the hell out! My buddy Captain Alaska knows how anxious I was; I even feared that the episode would make me lose some of my readers (I hope to God that's not the case. You guys are still there, right?) But enough about my insecurities and fears, let's get on with this review.

So the episode begins with Rainbow Dash doing what she does best- flying. And then cuteness happens! Yeah, I love it when Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash do stuff together. They could be causing explosions or discussing sock patterns (I know that's more of a Rarity thing but I'm pulling this out the top of my head, okay) and I'd still be into it! Also, the Rainbow Dash fan club still exists. Wait a minute, the last time that was mentioned was in… The Mysterious Mare-do-Well…

Oh no…

So Scoots and Dash talk about how Rainbow's gonna be helping out at a Wonderbolts' air show, and Rainbow Pony tells her sister that she won't actually be flying with them. And then the Heavens of Convenient Timing open up and Spitfire, Soarin and Fleetfoot enter the scene (with Spitz making a pretty awesome Iron Man-esque landing). And they tell her that _she's finally a Wonderbolt_

Finally! After almost six years of waiting, Dashie has finally done it! I was so happy right then that I squealed (weakly because I knew it would suck after that). This is just awesome! Dash becoming a Wonderbolt, Rarity running her own business, who's going to achieve their lifetime goal next.

After some fandom-induced innuendo and Spike torture (woohoo) Rainbow explains that Fire Streak has retired from the 'Bolts to teach other pegasi full time (that's definitely something he'd do). Another thing I feel compelled to mention is that I love how all the pegasi use their wings for hands in this episode. I think the only time that's happened is one time with Fluttershy when she opened her saddlebags with one wing, so it's good to bring that back. It will definitely be fun coming up with ways to use this with the pegasi. I'm just going to address the elephant in the room briefly because nobody needs to hear this again (people all over the fandom have been complaining and I don't wanna bitch for too long) where the heck was Starlight Glimmer? Oh well, I'll just be over here happily imagining that she's hanging out with Trixie. ^u^

So in the next scene we're at the Wonderbolts Academy. Pfft! I love the way Spitfire delivers her line at the start of the scene. It just cracks me up for some reason; it's like she's channeling Maud Pie. The way she looks so bored as well just makes it so much better. She also does a good job reminding the kids of road safety… which may or may not be important in a couple minutes. And… yes you're probably wondering what I think about the new additions to the Academy. I've always imagined the Wonderbolts having their own houses, so finding out that they literally live in the Academy… I haven't warmed up to it. And they have a different creed from mine… God, so many of my ideas are being kicked in the ass.** Just keep in mind that this story is an AU.**

After Dash has changed into her new uniform (which she looks awesome in, by the way) she crosses the runway and, predictably, she almost gets hit by Soarin and Fleetfoot. Then she leaps into some garbage. This gets Fleetfoot to call her 'Rainbow Crash', which as we all know, was what her bullies back in flight school called her. Dash tries to blame Soarin and Fleet, but Spitz reminds her that she forgot rule number one: don't talk about Fight Club- I mean- look both ways before crossing the runway. At least they got one lesson right for the kids. I don't like their portrayal of Misty Fly here either. Misty, as you might know, is my favourite Wonderbolt, so why the heck are they characterizing her so differently from before? She wouldn't even act like that towards Surprise! Okay, calm down Sass. It's just a headcanon. Just move on… breathe…

After that, the episode goes downhill faster than Sonic the Hedgehog on steroids, on cocaine, on meth. The Wonderbolts keep on calling her 'Crash', and she only gives them more reasons to do so. Also, Surprise is an asshole as well. Wow, she and Misty _would_ be good together in another universe. One thing I can say is that despite their characterization differing from mine, Surprise and Misty's voices are pretty close to what I imagine for them. We also discover that… the Wonderbolts have a co-ed locker room? Wha…? Also, the only ones being nice to Dashie are Spitfire, Soarin and Fleetfoot… wow, Dave Polsky and Dave Rapp- the writers of the episode- really are trying to annoy me. This scene, by the way… this _stupid_ scene! The 'Bolts tell Dash that she has to clean the whole compound because she was the worst flier of the day, which for the record is exactly what a flight school would do. That is a pretty fair rule, and here is no exception. Apart from the fact that the writers do this to put the Wonderbolts in the _wrong_, and to get us to feel sympathy towards Rainbow; we already had some for her anyway! But the Wonderbolts aren't in the wrong here! Not at all! Allow me to educate you guys a little if you don't know this already.

The nickname that Rainbow Dash receives is essentially her call sign. A call sign is something that a pilot gets when they either accomplish a cool feat or simply do something stupid or silly. It can also describe their personality. For example, in the movie _Top Gun_ the main character, named Pete Mitchell, has the call sign 'Maverick' and he is referred to as such throughout the film. The word 'maverick' describes this character to a tee, hence the reason he has it. His best friend Nick Bradshaw's call sign is 'Goose'. Not the coolest of names, but he's still my favourite character. See how different call signs can be? Some can be flattering and some can be utterly ridiculous, but that's just how things are. Also, if a pilot complains about their call sign, they are given a _worse_ one as punishment. Most people lack this knowledge, however, and that can make them think of the Wonderbolts as douche bags in this episode.

And… RAINBOW DASH CAN FLY TO AND FROM CLOUDSDALE THAT FAST?! I thought it was further away than that! What the?! Why the?! Who the?! I… I dread to think what newcomers to this story will think after watching this episode. I just dread it so much. _Anyway_, Rainbow's friends have thrown her a party and the CMC have drawn a pretty adorable banner (I love the way they draw legs) and she's less than enthusiastic about it all. I do like that Rainbow actually told her friends about her problem, because in most of these things the typical way to go would be to make the character keep their problem hidden to make sure their friends don't worry about them. That's something I can praise… and then Pinkie gets the _best line in the episode_!

"At least they didn't call you Rainbow _Trash_." – Pinkie Pie.

OH MY GOD! I was so happy then! Everybody, you heard it here first! I called it! Rainbow Trash is canon(ish)! Rainbow then gets the amazing idea to stand out in a more positive light, just like her friends. She takes this literally… way too freaking literally. She imitates all five of her friends in the most obnoxious and annoying way possible. Seriously, _who_ thought that this was a good idea?! And the Wonderbolts also have… a co-ed bedroom?! Okay that does it! Are all the stallions gelded or something?! That's the only way that this arrangement could work out! On a more positive note, that new white Wonderbolt with the blue mane might be Rapidfire? Yes! Finally I can describe him. Notice how I've never described Rapid's physical appearance? That's because he's never had one until this point.

So Rainbow impersonates Pinkie first, and we learn that according to Fleetfoot, Wonderbolts don't get excited. What? One of your members is literally called _Surprise_! How did she- oh I give up! This episode is at its most irritating during this montage. Good _God_ this montage. Then she mimics Applejack. I wanna know how that conversation went- when someone went up to Ashleigh Ball and said "So we want you to talk like Rainbow Dash pretending to be Applejack." She did it pretty well though. If only it wasn't completely _unnecessary_! Seriously, Spitfire's face when Rainbow (now mimicking Twilight) gives her a bunch of papers is exactly how mine is _right now_! I also wish I had her megaphone so _I _could yell at Dash and tell her not to be such a fricking _idiot_! We then return to the locker room, where we see Blaze massaging Fleetfoot (she's a perv and High Winds knows it so she doesn't mind). And then Rainbow pretends to be Rarity (she has magic shape-shifting hair. New headcanon) and heads on over to Soarin.

We need to talk about something, guys. Remember back in _Rainbow Falls_ (if your psyche can stand it) when Derpy made a comeback? There was a reason for that. The writers probably _knew_ that the episode was shit… I really hope they did anyway, So they brought back a fan-favourite pony to pander to the viewers. And unfortunately, the fandom _fell for it_! They brought Derpy back purely to give the viewers something "good" to overshadow the rest of the episode, kind of like what happened in _The Last Roundup_. They are doing the exact same thing here, I'm sure of it. They are shoehorning in some SoarinDash specifically to give the viewers something "good" about this cringe worthy scene. The writers are aware of how much people like SoarinDash- it's the number one MLP ship on TopTens and Nicole Oliver (the voice actress of Princess Celestia herself) ships it. Well how do you guys like knowing that something you ship is being used as a ploy to get more viewers?

Okay before we get too off-track let's get back to the review. So after that last agonizing impression, Rainbow finally stops when Spit tells her she's being ridiculous (_thank_ you!). We then learn that Soarin's nickname is 'Clipper'. I would have thought that Rainbow would be smart enough to figure out that Soarin got his nickname by clipping his wing, but no… she's not. And then it ends. Thank _God_! That montage went on for _three minutes and sixteen seconds_. Now, let's think about that. The episode is twenty-two minutes long and that aforementioned length of that scene takes up about 16% of the episode (I failed math so if I'm wrong please excuse me). So we spend a pretty long amount of time watching that cringy montage. Ugh, my brain!

But wait! It gets _worse_! On the day of the airshow, when a bunch of spectators are present, Rainbow swoops on down to her friends and takes Scootaloo away, saying that she had to help her with something. You can just tell this is going to be painful. Dash's plan is for Scootaloo to ride down a conveniently placed ramp and knock a storm cloud into Rainbow's path. Dash will then kick it and make a lightning trail as she flies. Okay, for some reason the first thing that I realized was wrong with Dash's plan was that if Scootaloo did that, she would go _through_ the cloud! And Rainbow seems to forget that she's pulled off a Sonic Rainboom many times before. Somehow, Scootaloo _doesn't_ go through the storm cloud and Rainbow goes in to kick it… and she chickens out. She flies into a tree, gets attacked by birds, gets shot slingshot-style into another tree, where she is then tossed into a cloud and then finally she flies _through the fricking cloud_! Did you people writing this thing not see this problem?! HELLOOOO!? After that, she crashes. Predictably.

Speaking of predictability, after Rainbow's been patched up, she apologizes for what she did and the Wonderbolts all comfort her by telling her how awesome she is and revealing their own nicknames. Also, of all the things Rainbow would think Soarin's nickname 'Clipper' meant, she thought that it meant a 19th century sailing ship?! WHAT?! Someone help me make some sense out of this! Please! Also, I have an idea for what Spitfire's nickname is, and yes, I will reveal it in this story. And I love how happy she is at the end of this, joking around with the others. I need more Happy Spitty in my life. Rainbow then gets appropriately punished for her actions, and she accepts it like a mature pony. The first (and only) time she's acted like one in this whole episode.

So, as was expected, I don't like the episode. I don't _hate _it, but I wouldn't go out of my way to watch it. I'd still like to hear your thoughts on the episode and see if our opinions differ. Any criticism is welcome and if you wanna make fun of my little issues feel free. ^u^

**!SPOILERS END HERE!**

**Now let's dash and soar to the end of this arc! **

* * *

"…and that's why you should never create a sandstorm near the Gates of Tartarus," Feather Duster finished her story as she and Scootaloo walked past the cleaning closet. She smirked a little, imagining the hilarious rage the captain would go into once she found out that she hadn't done any work that day.

"I can't believe that you really met the soul of a dead pony," Scootaloo breathed, looking stunned at the story Feather Duster had weaved. She had just pulled a tale off the top of her head and wound up telling Scootaloo of a time where her imaginary awesome alternate self opened the doors to Tartarus by mistake and although she closed it in time she had accidentally released the soul of a dead stallion who had once been manipulated into killing his parents, earning him a place in Tartarus for his sins. He had told Alternate Feather Duster that he had been waiting for somepony to open the gates for a long time because he missed the mortal realm and she had become his first friend in years. Feather Duster's story evolved into the tale of how her alternate self wooed the handsome soul with her incredible charm and how they had become an item. However their love ended in tragedy when the soul began to feel uncomfortable living amongst the living and how he felt like he didn't belong in the mortal realm any more. Feather Duster had tried to change his mind but the wise and amazing and beautiful hero knew what she had to do and she had reluctantly bid farewell to her ghostly lover, returning him to Tartarus and to an unknown eternity of horrors.

She had in no way stolen that story from one of her gothic fiction novels. Pfft, why would she own such things anyway? It's not like she started reading them for strictly ironic purposes and grew attached to the genre. No, not at all!

"Is that the coolest thing you've ever done? Communicating with the dead must be it, right?" Scootaloo seemed completely blown away by Feather's story. The janitor (I mean The Tiny-Winged Desperado?) honestly felt better about herself than she had in years. A little filly looked up to her of all the ponies in the world. Sure, she could never mean as much to her as her sister Rainbow Dash did but the sole fact that somepony viewed her as a hero for her disability was incredible. Feather Duster wasn't exactly proud of herself and the decisions she had made in her life, but for the while, as she was living in this fantasy she had invented for the filly, she actually liked being her. Sure she was lying to this filly's face so that she wouldn't topple off the high pedestal the orange pegasus had placed her on, but… okay. It was inexcusable, she knew that, and she would likely feel guilty about it later when Scootaloo had gone back to Ponyville and she'd be forced to give up the charade; but she was kind of addicted to being this hero that Scootaloo had built her up in her head to be. There were some stages during her storytelling that the tales came so easily to her that she wondered if they were just growing from some kind of hidden desire.

Yes, there had been a point in her life where she wanted to be a Wonderbolt. But her disability had prevented her from being accepted into the Academy due to her lack of stamina and ability and because there was a high risk of her being injured because of her small wings delaying her reactions during flight. And when she crashed through the window into the Wonderbolt's Academy that day (she'd pay it off when she was done enjoying her workplace) it was the perfect opportunity to (sort of) accomplish that old dream of hers. Sure, she couldn't fly with them, but being around them felt like a small success in itself. And since she was totally evil she loved screwing around with them as well. She had made some friends in Surprise, Misty Fly and the Streak twins (and she would turn them over to the dark side in time) and of course one of her most favourite pastimes in the world now was pissing Spitfire off with her laziness. She knew that the captain was way too stubborn to fire her before she paid for the window so in a sense she was immortal around here!

And now in the eyes of this adorable filly, she was someone. She wasn't Feather Duster the janitor who sleeps on the job; she was Feather Duster, the mare who ignored her disability and did something great. Of course, she was not the latter at all, but at least until the end of the day she could pretend that was the case. She would have one day to be a hero. One day to be somepony.

She then remembered that she needed to answer the kid's question. The right thing to do would have been to say yes, and that interacting with the dead was her greatest feat. But Feather Duster was so drunk on the praise and admiration that was oozing from this filly like pheromones that she just couldn't leave things there. She needed more.

"Nope, there's… something else," Feather Duster tried to summon another goof idea from her brilliant mind. The same mind that had come up with the dog/dragon hybrid… oh, and that epic story from earlier, of course. Scootaloo gasped and hopped up and down.

"What is it? What is it? What else have you done?!" she gleefully chirped. Feathers felt herself blush. The fact that lying was part of a villain's job made this all the more enjoyable for her as well. She was on some kind of evil high and she never wanted to come back down!

"I have…" Feather Duster made it look like she was pausing for dramatic effect when in actuality she was just trying to figure out some way to finish that sentence. "Well, you've heard all about Captain Nighthawk, right kid?" Feathers asked, and Scootaloo nodded.

"Yeah, Rainbow Dash tells me stories of how cool he was. She says that he's the greatest Wonderbolt of all time!" she gushed.

"Well… one time I used my expert medical know-how-"

"Like how you performed a heart transplant on a griffin while falling through the air?" Scootaloo butted it.

"Yes, that same know-how," Feathers was still pleased that she'd made that story believable. She should be a writer or something, and then she could write her own gothic novels! I mean not really because there's no way in hell that she liked that kind of stuff. "Anyway, there was one time that Nighthawk busted his wing while training for an important show in Las Pegasus. Those medical ponies know nothing compared to me so it was lucky that I swooped on in and bandaged him up pronto so he'd heal up as quick as possible."

"Wow…" Scootaloo breathed, and the two of them walked out of the entrance doors and past the little flower garden that Feather Duster was secretly a little fond of. She didn't mind planting the seeds and watering the plants to watch them grow. When they finally bloomed she would feel a little proud of herself too (and when some tailhole trampled on the flowerbeds there would be hell to pay). "I can't believe you really did all of this stuff."

'Neither can I', Feather Duster admitted to herself. She knew all about getting injuries (since she had blown up a number of inventions while working on her evil schemes and fried herself to a crisp on more than one occasion) but when it came to actually healing ponies injuries, you were better off asking Lightning Streak for help for Celestia's sake.

"Well I did," Feather Duster figured that here would be a good place to try and teach this kid a thing or two about flying. Sure it wasn't the training grounds, but nopony really came out the front of the Academy until the end of the day and they still had a little while left. Feather Duster wanted the two of them to be out of sight because she knew that if any of the Wonderbolts or staff caught her around here teaching a kid to fly they would suspect that something weird was going on. During her short time at the Academy, Feathers had made quite the name for herself. She was the small mare who had fallen from the sky like a falling star (or a destructive meteorite) and brought lasers to work, and napped in the bathroom sinks and threw parties with her pay check instead of the damage she had caused. Ponies knew that she was a rebel… well maybe not a rebel, but there was no way that Normal Feather Duster would help a kid learn how to use her deformed wings. She wasn't a Saint for crying out loud!

"Hey, I have a question," Scootaloo stopped just as Feather Duster was about to halt. Feathers nodded for the kid to speak. "If you did all of this then why are you just a janitor?"

Feather Duster internally flinched at the words 'just a janitor' but made sure not to let it show. The janitor (I mean the Messy-Maned Musketeer?) had a pretty simple response to that. Sure, it was probably the most cliché thing she could have said in this situation (and Feather's hated clichés) but right now she was only fixated on impressing this kid and seeming like the biggest hero she could. She wasn't in this for money or fame, she just wanted to be a hero… and that was kinda true. After all, she didn't need to be paid to live out something like this. Just the feeling of being admired like this felt so good that it was, in a way, better than cash and being famous. Why did pop stars do drugs when this felt so good?

"I just do it 'cause I care," Feather shrugged as if it were nothing. "My job doesn't keep me from being great," she wished so much that it was true. She couldn't do many heroic deeds with a mop after all. Okay, there was this one funny time where Feathers was mopping the floor and forgot to put up the 'Caution: Wet Floor' signs. Wave Chill had slipped on the floor and wound up with his head stuck in the bucket of water. When he'd lifted his head water had poured all over him and he'd had to go to the hospital to have the bucket removed. Feathers had almost killed herself laughing at that… funnily enough Spitfire hadn't found it very amusing, though at least Lightning Streak had the decency to cackle at Feather Duster's dirty deed… even if that dirty deed had been done with cleaning supplies. The only downside was that she had needed to buy a new bucket, but it was so worth it!

"That's a pretty cool outlook," Scootaloo nodded in approval. "It's the same with Rainbow Dash. She's a weather pony but she's still the coolest pony in the world."

"Well, technically she's also an Element of Harmony and a member of the Counsel of Friendship and a Wonderbolt's Academy cadet, and she's been in the Equestria Games-" Feathers decided to stop. She wasn't heartless enough to ruin a kid's views on things. However, Scootaloo didn't seem bothered at all.

"And she does it all while still having a weather job. She's just so cool!" Scootaloo squealed, flapping her wins in excitement. Ah, that reminded Feather Duster of the reason she was here in the first place.

"So anyway," she gestured at the space around them, "this is where I shall teach you how to fly, my student," Feather Duster bowed just like the sensei's did in those karate movies she enjoyed watching in her down time. Scootaloo didn't seem to know what to do, so she decided a little running commentary wouldn't hurt. "Now you're meant to bow back," she commanded, and Scootaloo easily did as she was told, her nose twitching a little as it brushed against the clouds below her hooves. It was so cute. Feather Duster hated the word cute, but there was really no other way of describing it.

"I will do everything you say, my liege," Scootaloo giggled. Feather Duster decided not to tell Scootaloo that a 'liege' wasn't someone who trained you to fly because she seemed all up in this thing right now and she saw no real reason to interrupt the magic. Feather stood beside Scootaloo and unfolded her wings for her.

"Okay, listen to how I fly, okay," Feathers put a hoof on the orange kid's shoulder, and Scootaloo nodded, poking her tongue out the side of her mouth for extra focus.

"I've got this."

* * *

While trying to fly, Scootaloo falls and jars her wing. Feather Duster uses her knowledge of cleaning supplies to fix her up. However, this causes Feather Duster to reveal that she's not as awesome as she made herself out to be. She then reveals a little more about her lack of self-worth and how she has to hide behind an asshole persona in order to feel a little better. However, Scootaloo gives her a hug and tells her that she still thinks she's great, and Feather Duster has a non-asshole moment with her.

Soarin, Rainbow Dash, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had ended up right back where they started- the entrance hall!

Well, not everything had been for naught. When they had returned to Rainbow and Lullaby's room, Fluttershy and Lullaby had returned, so that just left Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Scootaloo.

"Can we go ahead and look outside?" Sweetie Belle called over her shoulder at the two adult ponies. The two Crusaders had trotted ahead of the pegasi, who had been exchanging small talk at the back of the group. Soarin had not taken into account how awkward Rainbow Dash would make this. Yes, he knew that she wanted to hide the fact that they were dating but if he'd known that conversing in monosyllabic sentences was a package deal then he probably would have thought twice about agreeing to all of this. It was hard enough without the uncomfortable silence that wafted between the two of them.

"Sure, go ahead," Rainbow agreed, and the two fillies scampered off. Soarin was about to pick up speed to catch up with them since he didn't really like the idea of them being on their own, when Rainbow Dash caught him by the shoulder.

"Hey, can we talk for a second?" she asked. Soarin didn't need to be asked twice.

"Gladly," he sighed with relief, smiling down at his marefriend and eager to have an actual conversation with her for the first time today. Rainbow's ears flopped and she briefly grimaced to herself.

"Look, I know that this is bothering you," she started, shifting her eyes in the direction of the door where the Crusaders had left, "and I'm really sorry about that. But I just wanted to remind you that I will make it up to you after my friends go home, okay?"

Soarin took one of her front hooves in his and squeezed it, getting the faintest hint of a blush to bloom on his marefriend's cheeks. "I know, Dashie. And I'm happy to go along with this if It will make you happy, so stop worrying about me and let's focus on finding your sister, okay?" he grinned in that usual dorky way of his. Rainbow felt a twinge in her chest for the stallion- if he had asked her to lie about their relationship to his friends… yeah she probably would have done it… but Soarin clearly didn't want this to stay a secret. He was being such a cool friend (oops, coltfriend) for doing this for her.

"Again, thank you for putting up with me," she said, booping him playfully on the nose. The act make Soarin cross his eyes, which in turn made Rainbow Dash laugh. She didn't understand how Soarin could make any simple thing he did funny, and in the past when Rainbow Dash found herself strangely imagining herself in a relationship, a dork like Soarin was not the first image that came to mind. In fact, the image that Rainbow imagined was not all that clear, because she didn't usually think about this stuff in too much detail. In all honesty, she'd had no idea what kind of pony she'd end up in a relationship with, but she was glad it was Soarin because he was probably the best she would ever get.

"Yeah, it's hard," Soarin smirked, clearly trying to push her buttons, but unfortunately for him Rainbow Dash saw right through him and knew instantly that he was teasing.

"Nice try dummy," Dash rolled her magenta eyes, "you're gonna have to try a lot harder than that to get a reaction out of me, sir."

Soarin sighed and pouted. "Fine, I'll get you to react to my genius sarcasm somehow," Soarin narrowed his eyes evilly. Rainbow Dash's expression said it all.

"Right, good luck with that," she took the time to roll her eyes again just to hammer it in how useless Soarin was at this kind of thing. "But again, thanks."

"No problem," Soarin was about to keep walking when suddenly Rainbow Dash leaned forward and pressed her lips against his. Soarin hadn't seen that coming so he was initially surprised, but once the shock had died down it started to feel incredible. And she wasn't pulling away… they had been doing this for about three Mississippi's now. Oh boy, there went the sparks in his brain.

Soarin shut his eyes and focused on nothing but the sensation of his lips touching Rainbow Dash's, and the heat in his face only rose. The feeling of being this innocently intimate with Rainbow was enough to make fireworks go off in his head. It wouldn't hurt to maybe go a little further with this would it?

Praying that Rainbow Dash wouldn't pull away, Soarin ever so slightly rubbed Rainbow Dash's mouth with his, lips massaging lips, and he felt her shudder a little. She actually seemed to be enjoying this a lot, maybe even as much as he was. Soarin didn't know how long they had been kissing now; it could have been moments or hours for all he knew.

He then felt Rainbow's hoof on his shoulder again and she began stroking Soarin's bottom lip with her tongue. Oh boy, the blushes were getting even warmer and brighter now, and Soarin's mind was going on a crazy roller coaster ride. The Wonderbolt knew that there was a lot more that he and Rainbow Dash could do, and their kisses had not even progressed to open mouthed yet, but this was honestly the hottest thing that had ever happened to Soarin. Maybe they should keep going… the thought was pretty exciting to Soarin.

Soarin opened up his mouth ever so slightly and slid his tongue forward until he felt it brush against Rainbow Dash's, and the two of them shuddered in sync, sending electric flickers through their veins, and Soarin allowed Rainbow to slip her tongue in further and-

"RAINBOW DASH!"

Rainbow shoved Soarin away and looked left and right, eyes wide with terror as she looked for the source of the yelling. It had sounded like Apple Bloom, which meant that the sound had come from outside and nopony had seen what was happening. Thank Celestia for that. Rainbow Dash felt the panic melt away and she started galloping towards the door, Soarin (still a little dazed and disappointed by the loss of contact…) following not far behind.

"Rainbow! Soarin! Run! Hurry!" Sweetie Belle called.

"No, don't hurry!" another voice yelled, sounding even more strained and panicked.

"Feather Duster?" Soarin raised a brow. Rainbow Dash was pretty darn worried now.

"Don't listen to her, she- wait, GET BACK HERE!"

As Sweetie Belle yelled, Feather Duster burst through the door and galloped as if her life depended on it, sweating bullets and flapping her wings to give herself an extra burst of speed.

"What the…" Soarin rubbed the side of his head with a hoof. Rainbow got to the door and pulled it open, running past Sweetie Belle, who was at the bottom of the steps, and racing around the corner (where somepony else was yelling) before skidding to a halt when she saw what had happened.

"Scootaloo, what happened to you?"

* * *

"Okay Scootaloo," Feather Duster started, her wings making their usual buzzing noise as she flapped them and took off into the air, "notice just how I position myself when I fly," she spun in a circle so Scootaloo could examine every side of her body. Scootaloo tapped her chin and looked closely at how Feathers flew. The answer was obvious, but she wanted to see if there were any other miniscule things that may assist Feathers in her flight.

"Most pegasi fly with all four legs dangling towards the ground," Scootaloo answered, "but you fly with only your back legs dangling."

"That's correct!" Feathers gave Scootaloo a wink, which got her to smile widely with glee. "Now, notice how I'm holding my forehooves up like this," she flicked her front legs, with were held high and near her chest, "I do this because I want to keep more weight in my top half than my lower half. Watch what happens when I try to fly the way a pegasus with regular sized wings would."

Feather Duster touched down on the clouds and spread her wings. She then buzzed them as hard as she could while keeping all four of her legs dangling towards the ground. Even at maximum flapping power, Feather Duster could not stay off the ground for more than a few seconds before her wings got tired and she was forced to settle on the clouds below once again.

"See? That's not gonna do me any good," she shook her head and let her wings hang limp at her side for a little while so they could recover from the invigorating flapping she had just done. Scootaloo recalled the time when she was trying her hardest to fly back when she and the other Crusaders were practising their flag carrying routine for the Equestria Games. She had pushed herself to her limits and had (she hated to admit) become physically exhausted by keeping that up for so long. At least now she was learning a way to avoid making that mistake again in the future.

"I think I got it," Scootaloo said, feeling pretty confident that she could do this now. "Can I give it a shot now?" her heart thudded with anticipation as she imagined herself and Feather Duster flying side by side, soaring over Cloudsdale as the world below became an insignificant backdrop to their adventures. Yes, she did indeed plan to help this cool little pony out on her quests once she had mastered the art of flight.

Feathers knew that the answer was a resounding no! There was so much more that Scootaloo needed to know before she was ready to fly; flying wasn't just flapping your wings and hovering above the ground… and come to think of it, she probably could have made that a little clearer in her explanation rather just taking off as if that was all there was to it. Before she could reply, Scootaloo reared onto her hind legs and buzzed her wings. With a gasp, she began to rise up, and she clenched her teeth as she focused on nothing but her flapping. Feathers was a little dumbstruck- what about the exercises she was supposed to do every morning? She hadn't even explained those yet.

"Oh my gosh…" Scootaloo kept buzzing her wings, trying not to completely flip out in her joy. Feathers hadn't expected her to pick this first part up so quickly (it had taken her much longer, but she supposed that some ponies learned at different paces than others) but she went along with it, trying not to look surprised and pretending that she had known this would work the first time. "Feather Duster, I'm flying!" Scootaloo began to breathe faster, on the brink of completely losing control and just trying to go all out with the flying. But that's when she realised that she had absolutely no idea how she was supposed to move.

"Hey, I get that you're pretty… high on this whole experience, but would you mind landing for a second so I can explain a crucial step you may need to know in order to proceed," she tried to sound as professional as she could with this, attempting to convince herself as well as Scootaloo that she could handle this and knew where she was going with this. Maybe the pun she threw in there didn't help…

"Sure…" Scootaloo reluctantly landed and tried not to completely fangirl over what just happened. "…so what do I do next?"

"Well if you want to fly you're going to have to learn how to turn right and left, and how to propel yourself forwards and backwards. Flying is all about direction after all; if there's no direction to fly in then you're just staying in one place, and that's stupid." She was leading up to some kind of inspirational monologue… but she couldn't think of that so she decided to just stop there before she made a fool out of herself. "Just watch me again." Feather Duster fluttered into the air again and began spinning, first turning to the left, and then turning to the right.

"Ooh! Ooh! I can see how you're angling your wings differently to change direction," Scootaloo raised her hoof in the air just like she did in class whenever she tried to answer a question for Miss Cheerilee. Feather Duster swooped down and patted Scootaloo on the back for that one.

"Excellent answer there, punk," she praised the filly before flying back up into the air again. "It's a pretty simple thing: If you want to turn to the right you need to twist your right wing forward a little, and you do the same thing with your left wing if you want to turn to the left. Got it?"

"Affirmative!" Scootaloo saluted, and judging by how tense her legs were she was struggling not to jump for joy. Feather folded her arms and figured that there was so reason to keep the kid waiting any longer.

"Well, are you gonna try it out or not?" she asked. Scootaloo gasped with glee and leapt into the air. However, because she completely forgot that she was supposed to rear onto her hind legs first she just fell on her face. Once she'd scolded herself for forgetting she tried again, and this time she managed to get airborne without making any mistakes. She did as Feather Duster had commanded her to and decided to turn to the left. Ever so carefully, she tilted her left wing forward and she began unsteadily rocking to the left. She gasped and tried to straighten herself out again, a little terrified of how she felt like she was going to spin out of control and fall when she tried to turn.

"Careful," Feathers warned her pupil, "I probably should have told you that you only need to turn them a teeny smidge in order to move. Even a little more can send you spiralling out of control."

Scootaloo nodded and tried again, a little frightened of the 'spiralling out of control' part. A couple more times she oclvertwisted and lurched startlingly to the side, but before long she had gotten the hang of rotating in mid-air. "Am I doing it right?" Scootaloo checked with her teacher. Feathers scanned the filly's wing movement and once she had confirmed with herself that Scootaloo had gotten the flaps and buzzes to be just right she gave the mid a nod.

"You got it," she replied, and Scootaloo threw her hooves into the air, cheering at her accomplishment. However this causes her to tumble backwards out of the sky and onto her rump on the ground. Feathers cringed and landed beside her. "Are you okay there?" She asked. Scootaloo sat up and shook the stray pieces of cloud from between her feathers. She gave the older pegasus a cute little smile.

"I'm fine," she giggled, "ya know, I'm used to the ground being really hard when I land, but these clouds are so soft." She bounced up and down on the fluffy surface.

"That's why this is the ideal place for pegasi to live," Feathers turned into a biology teacher for a moment, "the clouds are the perfect surface to have if you're teaching foals how to fly. Some parents still throw their foals from higher clouds onto a lower one in hopes that they'll learn to fly on the way down."

Scootaloo made it pretty clear that she didn't come to have a lesson on pegasus flying rituals (the exception being the one that she was currently partaking in herself) by ignoring that last part and changing the subject back to the training. "So how do I push myself forward?" She asked. "What's the point in flying if you can only stay in one place and spin in a circle?"

"An excellent question, my small and adorable friend," Feathers patted Scootaloo on the head. "And I shall now answer that for you." With a jump, she took off into the air again; ready to move onto the next lesson. Without waiting a second more, Scootaloo buzzed her wings and ascended higher into the air. Since she had not had as much experience as Feather Duster in this field, her flying was not as quick as her teacher's and it took her a little while to fly to her level. She actually felt a little tired by the time she made it there as well, but she supposed that since Feathers had been doing this for years it took a lot longer for her wings to get tired. In time she would get used to buzzing her wings a dozen times per second; after all, she was looking at living evidence that this method worked.

"So…" Scootaloo paused to catch her breath, "tell me how." She smiled, trying not to waver as her wings almost cramped up. Feather Duster simply leant backwards a little and fluttered back, then she leaned forwards a bit and fluttered towards Scootaloo. She did the same and buzzed to the left and then the right.

"Are you getting it?" Feather Duster asked, and Scootaloo nodded quickly, bobbing around the air as she did so.

"You lean in the direction you want to fly," Scootaloo answered. Feather Duster flew in circle.

"Ding ding! On the nose! You got it right, kid!" she applauded, and Scootaloo almost threw her arms up again before remembering what happened the last time she did that.

"Okay, I'm gonna try it out," Scootaloo forgot about the aching in her wings since it was pretty much numbed by her excitement. Feathers backed up a little bit to give the kid some more room to fly around and then Scootaloo started to fly in a circle. She wobbled and plummeted to the ground several times, but after a while she'd gotten the hang of it.

"This is so fun!" Scootaloo yelled ecstatically. Feather Duster flew beside her for a little while to balance her out whenever she tilted too far to the side, however once Scootaloo had gone a while without almost falling out of the sky, she stopped to let Scootaloo fly on her own for a little while.

The events that followed made Feather Duster believe that that wasn't the best of ideas.

Scootaloo kept on flying, grunting as she tried not to fly out of control, and after a while she began to speed up, getting a little more comfortable now. She giggled and looked over her shoulder at Feather Duster, leaning forward a little more to speed up. "I'm gonna go find Rainbow Dash and show her what I can do now!" she called. Feathers couldn't see any harm in that, so she started following after Scootaloo as she headed to the doors, still shaking in the air and sometimes dropping a couple of feet with a yelp. Though this wasn't entirely a bad thing because she was at just the right height to be able to pull the doors open.

"Um… don't you wanna walk to save energy?" Feathers yelled after the kid, but Scootaloo twisted round and shook her head at her older friend, leaning backwards to keep up the pace.

"That's not happening! Once Rainbow Dash sees me in the air like this she's gonna be totally blown away. She'll be so proud of me!" Scootaloo gushed, speeding up even more. Feathers then realised just what was about to happen.

"Scootaloo you might wanna turn around!" Feather Duster sped up to try and catch the kid. Scootaloo twisted round to the right just in time to see the door just a couple of feet in front of her. With a gasp she tried to turn around to avoid slamming into it, but of course because life loved to kick ponies in the butt, she ended up crashing into it.

She landed at the top of the steps with a thud and Feather Duster dropped down from the air to run the rest of the way to her, her heart racing in her chest as a fog of dread seemed to spread around her. She jumped up the steps and looked Scootaloo over.

"Scootaloo, are you hurt?" she placed a hoof on the filly's shoulder. The orange pegasus whimpered and sat up, lifting her front hoof off the ground and looking down at her right wing, which was hanging limply at her side.

"I think so…" Scootaloo knew that there was no point in saying 'think' at all because her hoof and wing were throbbing like crazy. "…I hit the door wing-first."

Feathers cringed at that, since wings were very sensitive. Heck, the easiest way to get a pegasus to fall out of the sky was by hitting the base of their wings. It wasn't surprising at all that the crash had made Scootaloo fall if it was her wing that had been hurt.

"Um… can you walk?" Feathers bent down to lend Scootaloo her shoulder to lean against. Scootaloo did need to lean against Feather Duster to stand up, but once that was done she seemed to be able to stand alone. She experimentally put her front hoof on the ground, and aside from a little shoot of pain it felt alright. Feather looked down at the kid's wing and tried to figure out what was wrong. As stated before, Feather Duster knew less than nothing about medicine and how to heal injuries.

"I'll be fine; I think I've just jarred my wing," she smiled weakly at Feather Duster. Great, even this kid knew more about medical shtick than she did! She'd been around when Fire Streak had jarred his wing, however, and he'd had to lie down for a few hours before it stopped hurting. By the expression of agony Scootaloo was trying to hide, that's exactly what she needed to do.

"Quick, I know what to do," Feather needed to keep up her heroic act, "let's get you to the medical room." She moved to hold open the door for Scootaloo to walk through, but as soon as she cracked it open and peered through, poop hit the fan.

Rainbow Dash and Soarin were coming around the corner, with two other fillies.

"Great googly moogly, it's all gone to crap." Feather whispered to herself, quickly shutting the door. She turned around and tried to pretend that nothing was wrong. "Actually, let's go through a different door; I don't wanna worry anypony by taking you through these hallways." The back door would probably work fine since it was near the medical room. She had to hurry before Rainbow Dash and the others came through the door and found out about just how much she had screwed up.

"Feather Duster, I'm gonna be okay aren't I?" she asked, looking down at the ground. "You're not disappointed in me, are you?" she rested her head against the side of Feathers'. The janitor (Fearless Flank Hole) couldn't believe the kid would say anything like that. That mixed with the fear of being caught and skinned alive by the punk's older sister made her head completely spin.

"Scootaloo, you have no idea how proud I am of you," she felt kinda weird saying that, since villains were only supposed to be proud of themselves when they succeeded, "you did so well for your first try. I'm mad at myself right now, not you. Never you."

"Why? It's not your fault I was a big dumb-dumb and crashed into the door." she didn't notice Feather Duster trying to walk a little faster. They'd made it around the corner and were walking past the window of Silver Lining's office. Thankfully due to the pair's height they could pass by without bending down. She'd just have to keep it down.

"It kinda is…" Feathers tried to put the guilt she was feeling into a deep dark hole and bury it, but before she could even begin to metaphorically dig, voices rang out from behind them.

"Hey Scootaloo, we've been- what's up with your leg?" Feathers turned around so fast that the loss of something to lean against made Scootaloo fall over, and Feather found herself cringing for what felt like the dozenth time that day. Scootaloo mumbled a little before answering them.

"I was learning how to fly guys… and I did it. I really did it." She got stars in her eyes despite the pain in her wing and leg. "I just got hurt a little in the process." Feathers knew that Rainbow Dash and Soarin were right behind these kids, so she'd better-

"What the hay is goin' on?"

Feather Duster turned around again to see Applejack. Okay, why the heck was she here now?

"Scootaloo hurt her wing," Apple Bloom sat next to her orange friend. Applejack whistled and peered at the filly's injured wing.

"How'd ya do that?" the earth pony bit her lip to try and keep from making any disturbed facial expressions. Scootaloo's wing wasn't bent out of shape or anything, but it looked swollen and dishevelled, and it was twitching a little too. It kinda grossed her out, though she dared not say that out loud. She then noticed Feather Duster. "Were you there, Ms. Duster?" she asked. Feathers grimaced and tried not to panic. Scootaloo raised an eyebrow.

"How do you know her?" she asked the older pony, and Applejack had to wonder why the kid cared.

"Ah met her earlier. Ah asked her somethin' and she was no help at all," Applejack pointedly glared at the brown pegasus. Scootaloo absentmindedly rubbed her hurt foreleg comfortingly with her other front hoof.

"Maybe your problem just wasn't important enough, 'cause Feather Duster always helps out ponies in need," the kid told Applejack, "were you just looking for the bathroom or something? Rainbow Dash showed it to us on her tour, but you weren't there."

The fan had officially been hit.

Applejack chuckled. "Since when're you so benevolent? Don't ya have some sarcastic comments to make somewhere?" she teased. Feathers couldn't speak if she tried; Scootaloo looked a little confused.

"Did you annoy her or something, Applejack?" the orange filly asked. "Did you call her short, because that may be why she didn't help you- she's a little sensitive." Scootaloo smiled over at the brown pegasus. Feathers wished that she hadn't told the kid about her issues with her height. Applejack snorted.

"Who cares, let's just get you t' the medical room." She helped the filly to her hooves again. Scootaloo still looked a little disappointed.

"Show her some respect Applejack…" she muttered. Applejack chuckled again.

"What have you n' Ms. Duster been up to?" she asked. Feather was constantly looking behind her to see if Rainbow Dash and Soarin were coming. Why wouldn't Applejack just move her rump? She was tempted to kick her to get her started… kick-starting her, if you will?

"She was teaching me how to fly." Scootaloo replied. Applejack glanced back at Feather Duster.

"Wait… did you get her hurt?" Applejack asked. Feathers frantically shook her head. Scootaloo shook her head as well.

"No, that was all me." She rolled her eyes, still a little embarrassed about getting so carried away with her flying. "Feathers doesn't hurt ponies." She limped over to Feather Duster and nuzzled her shoulder affectionately. Applejack looked pretty darn confused.

"Well Miss Surprise did say that she was some kinda bad supervillain," Applejack recalled, "and by bad Ah mean 'not good at it' and not actually a bad guy."

Scootaloo peered up at the janitor (Screwed-as-Heck Superhero) with baffled purple eyes. "Supervillain?" she echoed. Feather Duster, who still hadn't said a word in the past few minutes, carried on this pattern of silence. She had a feeling that if she said anything her voice would go high and her head would explode.

"Well apparently Surprise was wrong if she's suddenly some kinda hero," Applejack shook her head. "Sure took a 180 degree turn from earlier when ya told me that you were imaginin' cleaning mah dead corpse off a rug."

Scootaloo was a little unnerved by that, and she took a cautious step away from Feathers. "Whaaaaa…?" she let out a long exclamation. Feathers decided that she needed to clear things up a little (no Celestia damned pun intended there, baka!)

"I didn't mean that I was gonna kill Applejack, if that's what you kids are thinking," she said to the three fillies, "I meant that someone else would kill Applejack and then I'd just clean up her corpse and hide it from you."

Scootaloo backed up a little more, Apple Bloom sidled towards Applejack for comfort and Sweetie Belle just stood there looking from side to side, wondering whether she should find some help. If her friends were going to be cowards then she needed to step up and be the hero. She should come up with a scheme to rid the world of this villain, just like the amazing heroines in those weird gothic fiction novels that Rarity stashed under her bed out of embarrassment, and naively went about her life believing that nopony else knew of their existence. She must commence this plan immediately!

But maybe later, because right now she was focusing on not wetting herself out of anxiety and fear.

"Why would ya hide mah sister's dead body from us?" Apple Bloom asked, narrowing her eyes in an attempt to look tougher. Feathers slowly side-stepped away, trying not to freak out and just gallop for the hills before things got too out of hoof.

"Because I don't wanna raise any alarms…" judging by the dumbstruck stares she was getting from the kids, that was not the best choice of words. "I mean, I don't want anyone catching on- I MEAN!" Feathers knew that she was just going to screw this up no matter what she did. Then she made the mistake of looking at Scootaloo, who seemed a little nervous… maybe even a little bit frightened.

And then the fan spun out of control and exploded.

There was only one thing she could do to fix this.

"Gotta go!" Feathers darted away like she was being chased by a herd of rampaging buffalo.

"Is…" Sweetie Belle pressed close to Apple Bloom for comfort. "Is she gonna go and kill somepony?" she asked, worriedly. Apple Bloom shrugged.

"Beats me, but we'd better do somethin' about her." She plotted. Sweetie Belle gasped.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders Criminal Catchers!" she rubbed her hooves together cunningly. "I like the sound of that."

"Um, you kids aren't goin' anywhere," Applejack sighed, knowing that all of this was ridiculous. Then it was Apple Bloom's turn to gasp.

"Isn't that pony headed right for-" her eyes went wide at the thought. "RAINBOW DASH!" she yelled, pretty much completely convinced that if Rainbow Dash didn't hear her cries, she and Soarin were doomed. Sweetie Belle galloped after Feathers without another pause, forgetting about her terror for the sake of her friend. She came round the corner to see Feather Duster ascending the steps to the entrance doors.

"Rainbow! Soarin! Run! Hurry!" the little unicorn called out and Feather Duster looked over her shoulder, freezing for a moment. A little kid should not have scared her, and in actuality, she didn't. It was the thought that this kid could probably pin her down and beat the poop out of her if she wanted to… it's not like that hadn't happened before, as much as she hated to admit it.

"No, don't hurry!" the brown pegasus kept climbing the steps. Sweetie Belle kept chasing after her prey.

"Don't listen to her, she- wait, GET BACK HERE!" she shouted as Feather Duster pushed the doors open and raced down them, thanking her legendary procrastination that she hadn't cleaned the floors like she was supposed to have that day.

Flapping her little wings to give her a burst of speed, the janitor (Legendary Loser) skidded past Rainbow Dash and Soarin, down the hall, round the bend, and out of sight.

* * *

"C'mon Scootaloo, you've gotta admit, even though ya had to go to the medical room and get your wing bandaged up, the food makes up for it, right?" Apple Bloom asked after swallowing a mouthful of hayburger.

Scootaloo just grunted and shrugged her shoulders, giving her hurt foreleg another shake to make sure that it wasn't sore anymore before placing her chin on the countertop a few inches of her plate of horseshoe fries. Sighing, she stuck her tongue out and, in a seriously horse-like fashion, stretched it out and wrapped it around one of her fries, pulling in into her mouth and slowly chewing, despising the feel of her jarred wing blinded to her side.

Sweetie Belle sighed, wishing that Scootaloo would cheer up. She wasn't even entirely sure why she was so upset; she had guessed it was because she couldn't show them the progress she had made in learning to fly. The little unicorn even wondered if she had taken off at all, and she felt bad about that because she was pretty much giving Scootaloo a reason to be upset for the reason she had theorized.

Braeburn and Soarin were sitting at the table on the other side of the room, Braeburn eating some fries from the tray that Soarin had placed between them while Soarin stared at him with a smug little smile on his face. It was a little unnerving to say the least. Braeburn slanted his eyes up to look at his friend several times, and every time he could only maintain eye contact for a split moment before awkwardly shifting in his seat and averting his gaze to the tray of fries again.

Soarin's staring carried on for about another minute or so before Braeburn finally had enough. "Okay, so is there a reason yer givin' me a slasher smile?" he asked. Soarin snorted with laughter and folded his arms on the table.

"That was not a slasher smile, my friend. _This_ is a slasher smile." Soarin then bared his teeth in a huge grin and widened his eyes as wide as they would go. This made Braeburn visibly shudder and shield his eyes.

"Holy Betty that's horrible! Please stop n' never do that again!" he pleaded. Soarin ceased his smiling and chuckled.

"Fine… I can't believe that you're this much of a horror prude." The pegasus teased his earth pony friend. Braeburn groaned and sneered across the table at his dinner companion.

"Ah'm not a horror prude! Just last month Ah watched _The Children with the Horns_ with you-"

"-and you had like eight bathroom breaks… in the first half." Soarin teased him. Braeburn huffed and pulled his hat a little lower.

"So what; horror isn't muh genre. Ah don't make fun o' you 'cause ya don't like Western stuff. Ah'm actually a l'il confused about that 'cause you spend most of yer time with a cowpony-esque stallion. It's just occurred t' me how much ya hang out with me nowadays when ya don't even like Western stuff."

"Funny how things work out, isn't it?" Soarin smirked. "Anyway Braeburn, I had a point. Before when I smirked at you and preceding this crazy tangent we just went on I was gonna say something."

"Well go ahead then," Braeburn leaned back in his seat, relieved to be moving on from this embarrassing conversation. It astounded Braeburn that he had these kinds of talks with Soarin so much… why did that happen? Why?

"I talked to Applejack, and you'll never guess what she said." Soarin leaned forward a little, grabbing another fry and putting it in his mouth. Braeburn shrugged.

"Enlighten me," he invited, pushing Soarin away so he could grab another fry.

"She said that I did a great job looking after Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle today, and if I lived in Ponyville she would make me their permanent babysitter." He explained. Braeburn was not expecting that. His initial response was to freak the heck out and trot angrily around the room whilst blethering furiously about how stupid that was, but then he decided it would just be a lot easier to just try and make Soarin feel just the teensiest bit guilty for what he had just said.

"So lemme get this straight; ya gave me a slasher smile, made me recall traumatic memories of that terrible movie, and kept me from eating in comfort, just so you could insult me?" he asked. Soarin raised an eyebrow.

"I wasn't trying to insult you, I was just telling you what Applejack said to me. I thought it was a nice conversation starter." He said. Braeburn placed his hooves together and tried to explain this as calmly as he could.

"So in order t' start a conversation with me, which we've already established you could do just as well with probably every subject that exists in the world, ya decided to bring up a topic that you are completely aware upsets me a little. Did ya think this through at all?" he asked, raising his voice just a little bit.

"Oh… are you still sore about that? So what, you fell asleep; it's in the past so why should you worry about it?"

"Because Applejack keeps holdin' it over my head like a Celestia damned raincloud. And every time somepony reminds me of it, it's like the cloud gets bigger n' bigger!" he explained, throwing his hooves in the air.

"Oooh… that makes sense," Soarin bit his lip, "sorry bro, I don't think things through very much." He waited a long moment before looking back up at Braeburn, who was just staring at him. Oh boy, was this payback for his staring earlier on? He was beginning to understand how uncomfortable it was to be in this position. But what was bothering him more was how Braeburn hadn't objected to the thing that he had said about himself.

"Um… Brae?" he caught the attention of his friend.

"What?"

"This is the part where you tell me I'm wrong about not thinking things through," he tried to get Braeburn to catch up on what was going on.

"Why? You're right." Braeburn returned to munching on the fries. Soarin pushed himself up on the table with his front legs, but before he could yell or complain, the door opened and Applejack came through.

"So, did you guys wanna do this now?" the orange mare asked, looking at Soarin about to lecture Braeburn about how wrong he was about him being right. "Or do ya want me t' come back later once you've finished doin'… whatever this is?"

Soarin shook his head and moved away from the table, moving over to stand behind the Crusaders, who were still sitting in a line having finished their food (with the exception of Scootaloo, who was still picking off her fries). Sweetie Belle had eaten hers rather quickly because Rarity never let her rush her food at home and she liked to take the opportunity to pig out whenever the opportunity arose. Apple Bloom was pretty impressed with the unicorn filly's speed, but she had just eaten at a normal pace because she liked to savour her meals. The Crusaders were like the traffic lights of eating.

"Nope, you're right on time Applejack," Soarin replied.

"You didn't give me a time t' show up."

"Well if I had, you would be on time," Soarin said without missing a beat, "so shall we get this show on the road?" he looked at the Crusaders, who all eagerly nodded (yes, even Scootaloo now). Soarin, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had all told Applejack and Scootaloo about their plan to apologize to Braeburn, and they had thought that it was a good idea.

"What show?" Braeburn asked, looking a little worried now. The five ponies all walked around to the table to stand opposite the earth pony stallion, lining up in order from darkest coat to lightest coat (Sweetie Belle's suggestion since Rarity always said that it made things look better no matter what the occasion).

"Cuz, we wanted to apologize t' you," Applejack began. Nopony had been specifically told to begin anything since there had not been any rehearsals for this, and even if they'd had the time Soarin was too lazy to write scripts and arrange that kind of thing. But at least Applejack had gotten the ball rolling, so now all that was left was to move it along.

"Apologize fer what?" Braeburn asked, still looking perplexed about this. He then sat up in his seat, looking a little worried. "Wait, you guys are all in a line… are you gonna sing?"

Soarin's shoulders sagged. "No! Aw, damn it Braeburn, we were just gonna talk but now I wish we could go back in time and do that instead." He rested his chin on the table top and pouted. Sweetie Belle stood on her back legs in order to get into the same position as him.

"Yeah, I wanna sing too," she frowned, sad to have missed out on an opportunity. Scootaloo slowly raised her hoof.

"If it makes the mood a little less… depressing, I _don't_ wanna sing." She admitted. Sweetie Belle sighed and stood up, shooting Scootaloo a look before resuming her position at the end of the line. Soarin took his place between her and Apple Bloom as well, clearing his throat.

"Anyhoo, the five of us wanted to take this opportunity to say some words about how we feel about our actions towards you." Soarin said in the most professional voice he could muster. "Crusaders, would you like to begin?" he looked at each of the three fillies in turn. The trio nodded and hopped up onto the table; Braeburn flinched and judging by the way he opened his mouth before hesitantly closing it again, he was going to tell them to get their muddy little hooves of the surface. But when these ponies were about to apologize to you the last thing you wanted to do was tell them off for making a table a little messy.

"So yeah, we wanted to tell ya how sorry we were about what happened at the rodeo in Appleoosa a few months back," Apple Bloom started them off, tracing circles in the wood of the table with one front hoof.

"It was our fault, and you still got the blame for our behaviour," Scootaloo continued.

"And we feel really bad because of that," Sweetie Belle carried on. Applejack stepped up to stand behind the Crusaders as well, reaching forward to tug her cousin's hat down over his eyes.

"Ah admit right now that my reaction to you losin' the kids wasn't justi- okay, maybe it was justified 'cause ya still lost my sister an' her friends in a new place at night with a supposed criminal on the loose. But maybe Ah've been too harsh on you." She placed a hoof on Apple Bloom's head and ruffled her mane, messing up her bow a little in the process.

"Ya know how much Ah care about Apple Bloom, Braeburn. She n' her friends are really important t' me and… Apple Bloom can tell you, Ah can be just a mite overprotective."

Apple Bloom groaned and flattened her ears against her skull. "Ah didn't think we were gonna mention that."

Applejack kept on talking. "Because o' that, Ah tend to make a mountain out of a molehill and go a l'il overboard when it comes to ensurin' that the problem is solved-"

"Overboard?" Apple Bloom inquired, lips quirking as if she were about to burst into a fit of laughter, "more like 'off a cliff and into a river where ya crash into a bunch o' rocks and fall off _another _cliff'." The filly tried to make it clear to her sister how much of a pain in the flank she could be in these kinds of situations. Applejack glared at the yellow filly and grunted.

"Thank you, Apple Bloom," she said harshly before resuming her explanation to Braeburn, hopefully without being interrupted this time, because she wasn't sure how much more of that she could take before she snapped. "Now, as Ah was sayin', my refusal t' let ya babysit these three was just me doin' what Ah thought was best t' keep the girls out of trouble… but Ah didn't take how you'd feel into account." She admitted her mistake.

"It doesn't matter Applejack, really." Braeburn insisted. Soarin scoffed and interrupted.

"Seriously? You were angry about the whole thing three minutes ago? What happened to 'Soarin, please don't talk about it! I feel so insulted by the fact that my cousin likes you better than me!'"

"WHAT?!" Braeburn sat upright. "Ah never said that!" he looked over at Applejack, desperation flashing in his bright green eyes. "Ah never said that!" he repeated, his voice growing shrill from the annoyance he was feeling towards his pegasus friend. Applejack giggled; but not before giving Soarin a glower).

"Ah believe ya, Braeburn," she could sense that her cousin was being honest with her, "but Ah still know that an apology is required fer how Ah made ya feel. Ah know that you weren't really in any sorta state to foalsit these three in Appleoosa anyway and Ah should've stepped in t' make that clear t' you."

"Well…" Braeburn was unsure of how to respond since all of this was pretty much over now because Rainbow Dash's friends would be leaving soon, but he needed to show his cousin that he appreciated her apology. "thanks fer sayin' that, AJ. Ah do actually feel a l'il better about the whole thing now."

"Thanks fer that, cuz." Applejack walked around the table and gave Braeburn a hug. The Crusaders decided to give Braeburn some sugar as well, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo kissing his cheeks and Apple Bloom smooching him on the end of his nose.

"We're sorry too," they chorused. Chuckling, Braeburn smiled at each of the fillies.

"Ah forgive ya, kids." He felt a lot happier as the three girls cheered and leapt off the table with a spring in their steps. Soarin then jumped on the table in their place and sat on his haunches, grinning down at Braeburn, who smacked himself in the face with one hoof in exasperation.

"Oh come on, it's acceptable when the kids do it 'cause they don't know any better, but _you_ can't just jump up on here! Someday this table will break!" he lectured his friend. Soarin stuck his tongue out at his earth pony friend and snorted with laughter.

"Oh please, this table can stand a lot more than me. And really? Was that a burn, Brae?"

"I think you just got burned," Apple Bloom confirmed.

"_I_ think you got _Brae_burned!" Sweetie Belle giggled at the pun she had made. Braeburn raised a brow.

"No, Ah was just sayin' that with all the stuff this table's been through, it might not be long before it finally snaps… story o' my life." He added that last part to himself. Soarin sighed and put a deadpan expression on his face.

"Great, just play it off as good nature. Now I'm gonna stay awake all night wondering what it says about me that the first thing I assumed was that you were making a fat joke." The Wonderbolt co-captain looked down at his tummy self-consciously.

"Ah think it says that ya think yer overweight." Braeburn replied honestly, trying to count all the pies Soarin had eaten since he had started working here. You would need a team of accountants to be able to figure it out.

"And… now I'm not wondering anymore." Soarin grumbled. He didn't really care about his weight- some ponies thought that chubby stallions were adorable. And he made up for it by working hard to practise for the air shows, so what did Braeburn know? Oh yeah, that reminded him. "So, I wanted to apologize to you too, bro. I think this is way overdue."

Braeburn actually seemed a little bit astounded by that. "Yer really gonna apologize? Sincerely?" he was taking precautions to make sure that this wasn't just Soarin trolling him like he'd done in the past… many, many times.

"Of course; how else would I apologize?" Thankfully, before Braeburn could start listing the many other ways Soarin could 'apologize' the pegasus continued speaking, saving everyone from having this draw out even longer. "So yeah, I know that I haven't exactly been all that nice to you, especially since… ya know," he looked at the three fillies (almost forgetting that two of them knew about him and Rainbow Dash anyway).

Braeburn sighed. "Mind tellin' me somethin' Ah don't already know?" he asked. Applejack shot a look at him to try and get him to be patient while his friend was trying to apologize to him.

"Let me continue and I'll get to that," Soarin booped his friend on the nose and slid backwards off the table, "I am genuinely sorry that I sometimes get carried away with my teasing… to be honest I'm pretty surprised that you've put up with me for as long as you have."

"Ah'm a patient guy," Braeburn shrugged, "Ah have four brothers, Soarin. Hangin' out with you every day is like a vacation compared to spendin' time with them." He recalled those traumatic times he had spent cleaning up his rowdier brothers' messes. Maybe he should thank them though, because if it weren't for them he wouldn't be as good at repairing things as he was today.

"Aw, thanks for that buddy," Soarin playfully tugged Braeburn's hat over his eyes (the earth pony stallion was beginning to get a little tired of ponies doing that to him today), "anyway, I wanna get serious for a moment so… can we just make the mood a little less light-hearted and happy?"

"Okay, just give me a moment to think about the wedding episode in Sherclop…" Braeburn paused for a few seconds and sure enough a frown began to form on his face. "…alright I'm ready."

"Wow, did you really cry that much at the wedding episode?" asked Soarin.

"No, I just thought it sucked." Braeburn answered, shaking his head as he remembered the end of the episode. He could never get used to some characters…

"Save it for your fan club, I wanna talk," Soarin shushed his friend again, "I just wanted to let you know that I'm perfectly aware of how difficult I can be."

"No kidding," Braeburn grinned, "ya do inconvenience mah life just a l'il bit on occasion."

"I _know_ that," Soarin wanted to get this apology out faster. "But you can be a jerk to me a lot too, Braeburn. Do you really think that I don't notice when you're groaning and rolling your eyes at me? I'm a pegasus, dude; I'm supposed to have insane perception."

"Well…" Braeburn had been pretty convinced that Soarin was blissfully unaware of his exasperation towards the blue stallion's exhausting antics. But apparently he was wrong? "…Ah'm sorry if yer feelings got hurt because o' me."

"No! I'm meant to be the one apologizing, not you!" Soarin face-hoofed, not being able to believe that his friend could screw up his plan to be nice by being nice. Was he even meant to be mad at him for that? "Okay, before anything else happens I'm gonna get it out." He leaned forward and pressed his nose to Braeburn's. "I. Am. Sorry! I am a huge dumbass a lot of the time! And yes, sometimes I fear that one day you'll get fed up with me and leave. _There_, is that enough for you?"

Braeburn had to pause for a few seconds to let that run its course through his brain. Had he heard that right? "Er… Soarin, are you hearin' yourself?" the earth pony stallion pushed his friend away a little bit so he had room to breathe. "Soarin, you don't really think that stuff do ya?"

"Well… sometimes I really do. I'm an annoying guy- everyone says that- and I've lost friends before because of that. I can't change who I am though, buddy, and I like my sense of humor. That's just a package deal when it comes to me- you want me, you need to have my retarded BS as well." Soarin explained. He wasn't sure why he had this odd sense of humor but there was no way he was ever losing it.

Braeburn sighed. "Soarin, as irritatin' as you are, ya sure do give mah life a l'il bit o' excitement. Ah may get tired of yer stupid pranks and stuff, but Ah'll never get tired o' _you_." Braeburn explained. Soarin was silent for a bit before guffawing.

"Psh, I knew that," he insisted. "How could you ever get sick of me? Look at my adorable face!" Soarin made puppy dog eyes. Braeburn grunted and smirked.

"Shut up and stop making that face. And thanks fer apologizin' Soarin… thanks to you four as well," he added to the CMC and Applejack, "just don't worry about all that stuff ya mentioned before; friendship is all about lookin' over the eccentricity and mistakes o' yer pals. Ya need t' forgive 'em fer their screw-ups because ya care about them." Brae raised his hoof for Soarin to bump, and he happily did so. Applejack smiled and walked around to stand next to Braeburn.

"That's a pretty good lesson t' teach Soarin, cuz." she nudged him in the shoulder with her muzzle. "Maybe he's not the only one who needs to learn it."

Braeburn was a little confused as to what Applejack was implying by that. And then all of a sudden… Applejack started wiggling her eyebrows. It was weird. And that was saying the least. The eyebrows sort of burned their way into his very soul, and for weeks afterwards he would live in fear that the eyebrows would come for him. Whereas children all over Equestria would be shaking beneath their sheets at the thought of the monster under the bed, Braeburn himself would fear only the eyebrows in the darkness.

Then he finally caught up to what Applejack was talking about.

"Oh!" Braeburn exclaimed, looking up at Applejack, who had put her eyebrows down. "Oh…" he repeated, a little afraid now. Why did he have to be right about all that stuff he had said before? But then again… "Ya know Applejack, that's a good point. If she wants to be friends with me then she'd just forgive me fer my mistake. It's been so long since we've even seen each other for pony's sake. It's time somepony did somethin'."

Applejack chuckled and slung a hoof over her cousin's shoulder. "There's the right attitude! So are ya gonna go n' fix this situation?"

"What's going on?" Scootaloo asked only to be ignored.

"Yeah…" Braeburn admitted, "Ah'm not nervous anymore."

"Hey kids, can you go back over there so the adults can talk?" Soarin asked the fillies, who rather hesitantly did as they were told. Scootaloo still had food to eat, and she would happily share what she had left with Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom to speed things up before it all got cold. Soarin and the two earth ponies made their way to the opposite side of the kitchen to talk.

"Okay, what I'm getting here is that you're gonna… I don't know… corner Spitfire in her office and get her to make amends, assuming she doesn't bash your head in before you get to your second sentence?" the co-captain asked. Braeburn rolled his eyes and groaned.

"No, Ah'm not crazy!" he sighed. "Ah know what Ah said earlier, Applejack… and Ah know that what's about t' happen could hurt a lot, but this is somethin' that needs to be done before it gets out o' hoof. Really, Ah should have realised this a long time ago. If Miss Spitfire doesn't want t' forgive me then that's her problem and there's nothin' Ah can do to change her opinion o' me. But there's no chance of things getting' better unless Ah get off my rump n' give it a shot."

"Wow… that's really mature," Soarin confessed, feeling pretty proud of his best friend, "I'm pleased that you're doing this buddy. Just remember what you said about it being her problem, 'cause if she can't see that you care about her then she's either blind or drunk."

"There was a lot o' alcohol…" Applejack muttered.

"What?" Braeburn and Soarin asked simultaneously.

"Nothin'," Applejack looked away. Braeburn made his way to the door.

"Wish me luck, okay?" he said anxiously before heading out. Soarin nodded at Applejack in satisfaction and sat back down at the table while Applejack trotted over to the serving counter to watch him leave.

"Good way to wrap up a day, right Applejack?" Soarin asked, leaning back in his seat. Applejack glanced over her shoulder at him.

"Yer right. Maybe it was a l'il more chaotic that Ah'd have liked, but at least we got a happy endin' out of it." She turned around and leaned against the counter, shamelessly stealing an apple from a bowl. Soarin raised a hoof.

"_Possibly_," he corrected her, "we can't rule out the chance of Braeburn completely botching things up."

Applejack, of course, knew that Spitfire cared more about Braeburn than Soarin knew, so she didn't have many concerns at all. It was all up to Spitfire now, really.

"Speakin' of the end o' the day, Ah'd better go find Twilight and the others. Celestia should start lowerin' the sun soon and we don't wanna fly the balloon back in the dark." She looked over at the three kids, who had finished eating and were making a tower out of all the ketchup packets Soarin had taken from the Hayburger.

"Girls, we've gotta get goin'," Applejack informed them. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom made disappointed sounds of protest as they made their way to the door while Scootaloo plodded along from behind without any hesitation at all, holding the remainder of her burger in her mouth.

"I hope I'll see you girls again, soon," Soarin ruffled each of their manes in turn as they headed out the door. He decided that he would come along to say goodbye to them, wanting to spend a little more time with these adorable kids, even if it wasn't for that long.

As they walked through the mess hall, the doors to the training grounds swung open and a couple of Wonderbolts (Blaze and High Winds) came in. They headed to the table closest to the door and started to sit down, when Blaze's eyes practically popped out of her skull and she leapt away, looking pretty disgusted.

"WHO IN THE NAME OF CELESTIA HERSELF DREW ALL OF THESE PRIC-"

"Okay, let's go!" Applejack joined Soarin at the back of the group and hurriedly budged the fillies towards the door.

* * *

Scootaloo trotted with her head hung low, not really wanting to finish eating the burger between her teeth- not that she could while walking anyway. Her slowness in comparison to the others meant that she had soon dropped behind Applejack and Soarin. A couple of times she noticed Applejack glancing at her in concern, but she gave the filly space, which Scootaloo was pretty grateful for.

She was pretty bummed out about what had happened earlier. As if it wasn't enough that her wing and leg were still sore (which she was still rather embarrassed about) but she felt so disappointed that Feather Duster wasn't who she thought she was. She was a villain? Albeit a bad one but still, a villain? And all of those stories had been lies. She felt like such an idiot- she should have known better. As if anyone could release a soul from Tartarus or fly away from a sandstorm… maybe she had just been too caught up in learning how to fly to care about how realistic Feathers' tales had sounded.

Oh well. It was over now anyway… and it hadn't been all bad. She'd gotten airborne after all, and she could only get better from here, correct? Still feeling more crestfallen than pleased right now, she walked past a trash can, tossing the last part of her burger into it.

"Gah! Hey!" somepony sputtered from within the trash can. Scootaloo jumped away in shock, looking to the left to see if anypony else had heard that. They hadn't and were still walking on, so Scootaloo cautiously knocked on the trash can.

"Hello?" she felt a little weird talking to a large metal cylinder, but the thing had just spoke to her and there was no way she wasn't going to investigate that a little more.

"Oh, hey," the trash can said back. Scootaloo tilted her head to the side.

"Feather Duster? Why are you in there?" the orange pegasus asked. With a few grunting noises, the lid of the trash can popped off and clattered onto the floor. Soarin, who was about to turn the corner to go down the hallway to Rainbow Dash's dorm, looked over his shoulder and looked worriedly at Scootaloo. Feather Duster was still hiding in the trash can so Scootaloo took that as a sign to cover for her.

"Um… oops," she shrugged her shoulders, "I'll just, uh… put that back on," she moved over to the lid and started pushing it back towards the trash can. Soarin chuckled and smiled.

"Okay then, you know where Dash's room is, don't you?" he asked. Scootaloo nodded and Soarin began moving off again. "Okay, we'll meet you there," he called back to her. Scootaloo waited a few more seconds before addressing Feather Duster again.

"So, why are you in the garbage?" she asked again. Feathers fluttered out of the trash, looking suspiciously clean. She landed in front of Scootaloo and sat on her haunches.

"Because that's where trash like me belongs!" she replied. "I even took out the trash that was already there to make room for even more trash!" she gestured to herself. "Why are you even talking to me Scootaloo, I'm a fraud and you know it!" she snapped. Scootaloo stared down at her hooves and shuffled them back and forth on the floor.

"You could always explain to me why you did it," she suggested, "you could have told me it was all a misunderstanding and you weren't a hero, but you didn't… so why?" Scootaloo stared up at Feathers with those same big purple eyes that had practically stolen her heart earlier today. Feathers groaned and rubbed her forehead with one hoof.

"You don't wanna hear some crappy sob story, punk." She told the filly. Scootaloo just sat down and scooched forward a little, looking up at Feather Duster and fluttering her eyelashes. After this carried on for about a minute, Feathers finally groaned and gave in.

"Fine, you asked for it! Prepare to be bored, kid!" Feathers clapped her hooves as if she were gathering some children around for story time. "So, let's start with a game. How many ponies do you think appreciate what I do?" Scootaloo was about to open her mouth to reply when Feathers interrupted her. "Too slow, but if you were gonna say 'nopony' then you were correctamundo!"

Scootaloo found it hard to believe that nopony appreciated Feather Duster. Sure, she was evil, but didn't that mean she would have a few followers?

"So you tell me, punk. If nopony appreciated you and then some cute little orange kid shows up and starts gushing about how awesome you were; you would take advantage of that to experience a little bit of joy. Come on, you would! Don't lie to me, Scootaloo!" Feathers folded her arms and stared the filly down. Scootaloo supposed that she could sympathize with that… and she had to admit that she probably would.

"Yeah… maybe," Scootaloo admitted. Feathers nodded, getting her bangs to flop in her eyes in the process.

"Exactly! Do you really think I enjoy this crap- I mean- crumby job?" she asked rhetorically while remembering not to let her mouth run so harshly around a child. "No! I don't wanna polish the floors or remove strains from the carpet or put my hooves down the same hole that Fleetfoot's pee has gone in? _Double_ no! It sucks! So why in the name of Luna's mooncheeks would I pass up the opportunity to be a frigging hero?!" she stood up on her hind legs and thrust her arms in the air.

"Whoa… I guess it's pretty obvious why…" Scootaloo ran a hoof through her mane and chuckled, "I guess I shouldn't have assumed that you had bad intentions."

Feathers sighed and blew her bangs out of her eyes again. "Well I wouldn't call lying to a child 'good intentions'," Feathers felt a familiar tugging sensation in her head. That was her moral side trying to assault her evil side, which frankly was too frickin' badass to get harmed. It didn't stop her from feeling a little less devious though.

"Ya know…" Feathers rubbed her forehead, "there's a little demon and angel on my shoulders right now, punk," she couldn't see them either but she could feel their presence. "The demon's cheering me on for that and telling me that it's what I was supposed to do. But my little angel buddy here won't let me stop seeing how Celestia damn moronic I am."

"You aren't a moron-"

"YES! I am!" Feathers cut Scootaloo off. "Stop saying otherwise, kid. I am! I am the biggest moron in this Academy. And that's saying something because I think about 62% of the ponies in this place is a moron in one way or another."

Scootaloo was beginning to feel like there was no way to convince Feathers otherwise on this matter. "I don't believe that…" she said quietly. The janitor (Trash Can Crook) sighed in disbelief and distractedly pushed the trash can lid back and forth along the floor. "At least I can say that I wasn't being _entirely_ selfish… I mean, I didn't wanna let you down, punk. Most of my motives were just to live out my cruddy fantasies, but I also wanted to make you happy."

She managed to give Scootaloo a small smile. "You came to me looking for some cool pegasus who could go against all odds to achieve flight, and that's what you were going to get." She started frowning again, and pushed the lid away so it clanged against the trash can. She looked sadly at Scootaloo, mainly at the injured wing that was bandaged to her side. "Too bad I even screwed that up…"

Scootaloo looked up at Feather Duster with sad eyes and contemplated what she should do. The brown mare was neither in the wrong nor the right… so how was she supposed to respond to that. This was the kind of solution an adult pony would have with their foal if they had done something naughty or if they were feeling upset. Well the latter of those examples counted for this situation, but Scootaloo was neither an adult nor a parent. So what was she supposed to do?

Oh well. There was one thing Scootaloo knew that could heal a lot of wounds, both physical and mental.

Feathers lifted her head up in surprise as she felt something wrap around her middle. She slanted her eyes down to see Scootaloo giving her a tight hug, tucking her head beneath her chin. The filly muttered into the fur on the dusty brown mare's shoulder.

"Well… _I_ appreciate you."

Feathers took a moment to let those words echo in her mind and just stared down at the kid embracing her. At last, she put her arms around the filly's back and pulled her in closer, blinking back tears of happiness and gaining a tiny, but genuine, smile.

The mare's heart grew three sizes that day.

* * *

**Endnote: And that's over! This arc is over! So yeah, I'm not gonna lie to you guys, that last scene did make me a little emotional. I just love Feather Duster and Scootaloo's friendship so much. I wanna find a way to get them to hang out again later in the story, but I'm having a little bit of trouble figuring out how I'm gonna go about doing that. God I need to stop talking about them! **

**Okay, so the next chapter is a SpitBurn chapter, and the first one in (get this) **_**ten months! **_**I kid you not. Ten Celestiadamn months! Maybe that's the reason I've been so inspiration-deprived. There's been no SpitBurn for almost a year! I feel sick just looking at that last sentence! I must fix this wrongdoing! So you guys can reflect on the weirdness you have just read (I do get that this was a boring chapter and I apologize) while I get my SpitBurn on! **


	49. Anything For You

**Authors Note: I have nothing to say except SPITBURN! **

**(Also I know one of you unfollowed me because of the 69 joke. I should be annoyed, but that's actually pretty damn funny. Whoever you are, I salute you for trolling me like that! xD)**

**Drunkenness- Um… if you want that kind of stuff, you can go on Google. I could write an entire essay on why I'm not writing that sort of stuff in this story so I would suggest FIMFiction. Also, I love Feathers and it sucks that I haven't given her much character development until now, so thanks for the praise. And yeah, Newbie Dash didn't suck as much as I feared it would, but it was still pretty terrible… and I didn't notice that picture of her dad in the locker until you pointed it out so cheers. I have to say this as well- I read your comments in the voice of Roxy Lalonde from YouTube's "****_Let's Read Homestuck_****". That's not a bad thing; that's a compliment 'cause Roxy's as Drunkenness as you sound. :P**

**Litestardt- What is up with you readers and suggesting I write this kind stuff this week?! Was it something I said?! What was it?! Enlighten me! Okay, I'm calm now. And thank you for the compliments, Lightning; be sure to get your SpitBurn down below.**

**Amellia Rose- As always, thanks for reading. Hope this chapter's good as well.**

**Midnight Star- Holy Celestia, you're really reading this whole thing through again? You, my friend, are a legend! You shall go down in history (this story's history at least) as the girl who suffered through this stuff twice and survived! And I wanna hug you after reading chapter 35 again. I don't know what's more depressing about it, the fact that Typhoon croaks or that it's so frigging long. And don't you worry; I'm never going to give up on this story. No matter how long it takes, I will finish it at some point. And Spring Song's nightmares will be addressed in the future. You… you drew fanart?! Oh my gosh! You have no idea how happy I was when I read that. Welp, if you make an account on the site I could PM you my email and you could send it to me that way? Seriously, thank you ****_so_**** much for making art of my crazy story. You are ****_so awesome_****! :D *cyberhugs***

**Luna'snight625- Aww, thank you! I'm pleased that you enjoy Scootaloo and Feather Duster's dynamic. Those two are very fun to write. ^u^**

**Captain Alaska- Dear lord, you make my comments on your story wet themselves in terror at the length of yours on mine! First off, yes I despise those cliché things in stories where the couple just gushes about each other to their face. It's making me gag just thinking about it! "Your eyes are an ocean; your breasts are also an ocean." So many things I can complain about with that one thing alone! But we aren't here for an essay so let's continue. The thing I love the most about Soarin and Rainbow's relationship is that it contradicts the above grossness with its mere existence. At first I thought that it would be really hard to write their relationship because of that element, but I've learned to use it as an advantage instead and give a big ol' "Screw you!" to the disgusting lovey-dovey stereotypes. And there's a reason that Soarin and Braeburn are high on my Wall of BROTP's! I just adore those friends who can tease the shit out of each other but they care about each other so much that they can't stay mad at each other. And I feel like ****_Appleoosa's Most Wanted _****was a little harsh on Braeburn, so what better way to fix your nitpicks than with a fanfic am I right? And yes, Applejack's "WHAAAAAAT?!" was hilarious! And Applejack's been such a joy to write these past few chapters, so what better way to end it than her forgiving his cousin for his carelessness, and him forgiving her in return for being harsh? This is why the Apple Family is the best family! I'm pleased you like the parts with Scoots and Feathers so much (their scenes were my favourites too) and I do like your theory a lot, and it would make a pretty great backstory for Feathers. It would definitely make a lot of sense, given that low self-esteem can often lead to people pretty much hating the world they live in. Feathers would likely try to get back at the world by becoming a villain (even if she sucks at it). You get bonus theory points for the Wreck-it Ralph comparison. And both of your theories for why Feathers told the stories that she did are great! Plus, it gives PsycholoSass an opportunity to emerge! Feathers' attempts to teach Scootaloo to fly may very well be for the reasons you described; Feathers would hate for a filly to wind up a mess like her, so she'd probably do anything in her power to keep that from happening. And I could talk about option B for hours! Option B is a very real thing that a lot of people unsatisfied with their lives would do; they would create an entirely different backstory for them to come across as cool to others. After all, who would want the boring truth when you could have an amazing lie? I'd know! I like to pretend that I crashed down to earth from another universe on a meteor! But yes, Feather Duster does have a lot of potential to be a great pony, and maybe at some point she'll realize that for herself.**

**Now without further ado, let the chapter commence! It's time for the moment we've all (maybe) been waiting for! Squee!**

* * *

Tempest and Free Fall trotted down the hallway to their dormitory, deep in conversation.

"…okay, but a herd of orcs, and the entire Celestian army would totally take over Maretropolis is this scenario," Tempest explained to his friend. Free Fall sighed and rolled his eyes. The two of them had been having this argument for most of the day… it felt like it had been going on for months though.

"No, remember that Saddle Rager is still alive, and we managed to worm Super Mare into this somehow. You'll need to get past them first," the cream stallion replied. Tempest chuckled.

"Wrong! Orcs are magical creatures, and Super Mare is vulnerable to magic. Plus, Saddle Rager was already killed by the Wonderbolts and Drakezilla!" Tempest argued. Free Fall was a little embarrassed that they had put so much thought into this imaginary crossover battle. But there was no way he was going to lose it.

"Well then why don't I send in Celestia and Luna to wipe out your army?"

"You're really going to send in two God alicorns against _their_ army… and _orcs_?!"

Before they could continue any further with this, something sped by them, almost frightening the pair out of their fur.

"Sorry!" the whatever-it-was apologized as it galloped down the hall. Free Fall took a second to calm down after his initial scare and glanced after the pony.

"Hey, isn't that the cook? Wonder what's got him like this?" he wondered, scratching his chin in thought with a hoof. Tempest scoffed and tapped a hoof on the ground impatiently.

"Who cares? We have more important things to talk about, dummy!" the orange stallion glared at his roommate. "You can't tell Celestia to destroy her own darn army!"

* * *

Braeburn burst out the entrance doors and onto the steps. Glancing up at the sky, which was still turning pink, he reckoned that Spitfire wouldn't have left yet. Taking a breath to try and calm down, he thought through his plan… _oh dear Luna he didn't have a plan_!

He had seriously just thought that he could come out here, run into her on the way out and convince her that they should start talking again. This was weird! If he just hovered around out here until she came out he would seem like some kind of creepy stalker. And he didn't want to scare her! Darn it, why didn't he think this through better?!

He suddenly realised that he needed to take the time to construct a more efficient course of action rather than shout at himself in his head, so he trotted down the steps and sat on the clouds beside them. Feather Duster's garden was beginning to bud, he noticed, which amused him because who knew that Feather Duster cared about any form of life.

Okay… she wouldn't blame him for doing this, right? This was something that needed to be done, and at this point did it really matter how creepy it made him look. This may be the only way he would even get her to _look _at him. Yes, he told himself, this was the right mind-set to be in. It's her fault if she ignored him… remember what Applejack said. He was in love with this mare, and like heck he was gonna let this opportunity slip through his hooves.

He jolted with shock as the doors creaked open, and he backed up, flattening himself against the wall of the Academy and gazing up as a familiar voice nattered on from above.

"I swear that it was Misty Fly who drew most of the-"

"Surprise, I don't care. As long as Misty cleans it up like she promised I couldn't give less of a damn about crude drawings on the tables. Got it?"

Braeburn felt that familiar pulsing in his chest as he heard Spitfire's raspy yet lovely voice. It felt like it had been an eternity since he'd heard it. The two mares started trotting down the steps and across the clouds, and Braeburn knew that they could fly off at any moment, so he needed to find some way to get Surprise to leave. It needed to just be him and Spitfire.

"I'm surprised you're taking this so well," the white mare giggled, "then again, as long as someone cleans the table, why should it matter? Feathers sure as hay isn't going to do it, so Misty's our newest Savior of the Tables…" she stopped walking for a second to think. "Hmm… I might even have to thank her… nah, she'll get a big head about it if I do."

Braeburn trotted to the bottom of the steps, clearing his throat. Surprise's ears pricked up and she glanced over in his direction, but thankfully he hadn't been loud enough for Spitfire to hear. She saw him and froze, not quite knowing how to react. Before the excitable pegasus could alert Spitfire of his presence, he put a hoof to his lips to signal her to be quiet, and then pointed a hoof at the golden captain, who was still walking as if she hadn't even noticed her best friend had left her side at all.

Surprise gave the earth pony stallion a nod of understanding, and rushed to catch up with Spitfire. "Whoopsie-doopsie, I just remembered!" she announced loudly, making Spitfire jump a little. "I have to go to the bathroom… at my house!" she spread her wings quickly. "See ya later, Spitz! PCHOOOooooo!" she yelled as she rocketed off in a flash, leaving a trail of clouds in her wake. Spitfire stared after her in a state of confusion for a few more seconds before shaking her head and turning around.

This was his chance.

"Ma'am!" Braeburn called out to her, trotting towards her, quick enough to let her know he wanted to see her, but not slow enough to give her too much time to escape. If she decided to fly off there was no way of going after her… sometimes Braeburn's lack of wings depressed him.

Spitfire let out an audible gasp and whipped around, orange eyes bright and wide. Braeburn gulped and spoke again.

"Ah… Ah need t-to talk to you… just fer a second…" he said timidly, trying to keep his voice loud enough for her to hear him, even though he felt nervous enough to just burrow into the clouds and hide. Spitfire shifted her eyes around a bit before beginning to trot away.

"I, uh, I have things to do right now," she called back hastily. Braeburn picked up the pace until he was beside her, trying and failing to make eye contact with her since she was glaring straight ahead.

"It won't take long," the earth pony insisted, trying to remain calm. Spitfire sighed and looked up, judging the wind's speed and direction as quickly as she could in order to see how she could get out of here the fastest.

"I don't have time," the pegasus tried to get him to get the heck away from her. Braeburn was determined to get her to listen to him, though.

"_Please_, all Ah need is a minute-"

"Not right now Cowboy," she spread her wings and slapped him away with her right one, "could you just leave?" she didn't give a flying feather about being polite right now.

Trying not to let her words sting him or make him back down, he tried again. "I just need to say that-"

"Ugh!" Spitfire groaned and took off.

With such speed and confidence that he surprised himself, Braeburn leapt up into the air after her and caught her tail in his teeth. Gasping, Spitfire was dragged back down to the ground, but was so unprepared for it that she wound up flapping harder to try and get away; all this did was create a whiplash that sent the pair of ponies crashing down and rolling forward (and causing a little strain to Braeburn's neck).

Putting the pain aside in favor of completing the task at hoof, Braeburn tried to focus and get the world to stop spinning around like a crazy carousel of clouds and agony. Once he stopped rolling, he did the first thing that came to mind… he sprung to his hooves and swiftly pinned Spitfire to the cloudy grown below, where she had landed on her back. Spitfire shook herself back to her senses and stared up at Braeburn… yeah, it was more than a little awkward. Finally, Spitfire realised exactly what the heck was happening.

"What the- get _off_ me, you crazy redneck!" Spitfire delivered a few rough punches to the earth pony's forelegs. It kinda felt like his knees were being bashed by a couple of bricks, and it took every ounce of Braeburn's willpower not to scream or get off her. After Spitfire had ceased slugging him, she decided to use verbal persuasion instead of physical persuasion (assault).

"You'd better have a damned good reason for holding me down like this, Cowboy. I'm not afraid to dislocate your jaw if I have to." She threatened, and while the idea of getting a military-trained hoof to his chin sounded like one of the most painful things ever, he couldn't be a wuss and give in.

"Ma'am, never in mah wildest dreams would Ah think o' holdin' ya down like this unless I knew it was important. Besides, Ah'm stallion enough to take whatever punishment ya give me fer this insubordination." That last part was an obvious lie, but hopefully he wasn't giving that away. "I apologize fer my actions but Ah'm just so desperate to talk t' you."

Spitfire just regarded him with hostility for a little while before simply crossing her arms across her chest and narrowing her eyes at him, waiting for him to say something. Braeburn awkwardly looked away from her, hoping with all his being that nopony would wander outside and see the two of them in this compromising position.

"Um… Ah'm just… Ah'm r-really sorry about what happened the last t-time we talked," he stuttered a little, suddenly breaking into a cold sweat. He was pinning down and lecturing the captain for crying out loud. "Ah'm not sure what it was that upset you, and Ah know ya probably don't wanna talk about it, and Ah won't make you! Ah just want t' apologize so we can at least talk to each other again." Great Celestia, this was harder than he thought. Every word was a struggle to get out of his mouth; the fate of his friendship with Spitfire rested on this encounter. So far it was just awkward. She probably thought he was pathetic or insane for doing this… it was pretty darn stupid in hindsight. "It's just… Ah only wanted t' make ya happy. And I failed… and Ah'm sorry."

"Okay-" Spitfire started to say, raising a hoof.

"No, Ah mean what Ah'm sayin', Spitfire. Ah'd do anythin' to make you happy! Ah'd… repair things fer you; anythin' you wanted, _whenever_ you wanted! If your TV broke in the middle of the night, Ah'd still be over right away t' help!" he explained to her, meaning every single word and being pleasantly surprised by how easily the words were coming out now.

"I don't want you to-"

"I could do better than that, actually! Ah'd bake things for you whenever ya wanted, and Ah could even come over t' your house and cook somethin' for you if that's what ya needed from me. Or- or maybe we could just go out somewhere and have dinner if you preferred that... or not if that would make you feel awkward." He paused for all but a moment before continuing on his long-winded rant. "We could just order takeout, or if you didn't want me t' be there I could just… Ah'm not sure- post snacks through your letterbox?" he began to ramble. Spitfire attempted to get him to shut up again.

"Listen, you don't have-"

"If you ever needed t' take a day off work 'cause you were ill, Ah'd train the cadets for you," Braeburn carried on, forming a constantly expanding list of all the things he would do for her in his head, "and Ah could bring ya soup to make you feel better. _Any_ soup! Tomato, hay, daisy, and why limit it to just soup, Ah'd get you literally _any _food ya wanted! Or if ya wanted to read somethin' instead Ah have a lot of books I could lend you."

"That's very kind, but-"

"Ah'd do _anything_ to make you happy, Spitfire! Ah'd paint the entire Academy, Ah'd throw out my hats, Ah'd never eat another apple for the rest o' my life, Ah'd-"

"_Braeburn_!" Spitfire slapped a hoof over the earth pony's mouth. He probably would have stopped talking even without the hoof covering his word-hole. She… she'd only called him 'Cowboy' before now...

The golden pegasus gazed up at him with a look he had never seen on her before. It was like she wanted to say something, but couldn't figure out how to start. He sure as heck knew how that felt because of this very encounter. Finally she just sighed and rid herself of that expression.

"I'm not mad at you…" she confessed, and this warmed Braeburn to his core. She didn't hate him? He felt his worries evaporate a little, and he started feeling a little less awkward. "I don't need you to do anything for me, except _calm the heck down_," she ordered him, raising her voice a tad. Still not being allowed to talk, Braeburn nodded slowly, and Spitfire removed her hoof from his lips, folding it across her chest again.

"I'm… I'm s-sorry, too." It sounded like she was forcing the words out, which didn't really surprise Braeburn. This was Spitfire after all, and he imagined that this was very hard for her; even harder than it had been for him to confront her. "What happened… it's just complicated okay. You didn't know about it, and I overreacted. It was wrong and unfair of me to shun you the way I did, and I screwed up the entire Academy because of it. I guess I was just too ashamed and embarrassed to suck it up and get over myself." she looked up at him, struggling to maintain eye contact with him. "Don't feel bad."

Braeburn had many questions dancing in his head right now. He stood up and backed away a little, sitting down on the clouds beneath his hooves and watching as Spitfire moved to sit on her own haunches. "Do you wanna talk about… whatever made you so upset?" he asked gently, scooting closer to her. Spitfire sighed and stared down at her hooves.

"No, I don't…" she told the truth. Braeburn wanted to know. He wanted to know more than anything. He wanted to know what was happening in the mind of this mysterious pegasus. It was driving him insane that he couldn't help her out. If only he knew…

But he respected her privacy, and he wouldn't push her any further into revealing anything. If it would keep her happy then he would leave the subject alone for now. Trying to keep his breathing steady, he raised a hoof and put it on the mare's left shoulder comfortingly, smiling softly at her.

"Do you think you'll ever be able to tell me?" he asked her, feeling a little nervous. He wasn't asking her to tell him _now_, but he was afraid of her misinterpreting it and believing that he _was_.

It was rather chilly outside that day, and when Braeburn peered closer at the mare before him, he could see that she was shivering a little as the cool breeze rippled through her golden fur and made her mane ruffle. Not being able to stand seeing her cold, Braeburn stood up and shook off his brown vest, picking it up and reaching behind the captain to drape it over her shoulders. She emitted a quiet gasp and looked from Braeburn's hooves on her shoulders to the stallion, and then to the ground. Braeburn couldn't bring himself to remove his hooves from her shoulders; just being able to have such meager contact with her was exhilarating. After a moment, Spitfire glanced up and gave him a little smile, which of course caused his heart to skip a beat.

The pegasus sighed and shrugged. "Maybe, okay," she finally answered his question, "but not now."

"And that's alright," Braeburn said silently, not certain why he had lowered his voice like this since nopony was around to hear them, "but if you ever change yer mind or wanna get it off your chest, Ah'll always be here for you. You can always come t' me. Understand?"

Spitfire let out a soft chuckle and smirked. "I do." She answered him. "And, again, I'm sorry." She sighed, finding it a lot easier to say it the second time around. Braeburn chuckled and removed one hoof from her shoulder to grab one of hers, which got her to make a rather adorable squeaking sound. Judging by the groan that followed, she'd noticed she'd made the noise, as well.

"Quit apologizin'. Fer all Ah care, this is history; it'd be okay if we just put this behind us and moved on, right?" the earth pony asked the pegasus, and after a few seconds she nodded slightly.

"Yeah… I acted like an idiot, and like heck I want to remember that." She sneered at herself. Braeburn laughed and looked her in the eyes again, more confidently this time.

"Ah wouldn't call you an idiot, ma'am. You aren't even close to one; you had yer reasons to react the way ya did after all. They must be perfectly equitable, right?" the stallion comforted the captain. Spitfire nodded again.

"They are…" she agreed, "but I don't wanna think about them, please." She tried not to sound too desperate. It was kinda funny… the mere thought of the incident used to shake her to her very roots, but after these last few weeks she'd seemed to improve. Sure she still felt stick to her stomach whenever she imagined the faces of the ponies she'd lost, but at least she could think of her sister's name now without completely breaking down.

Maybe it was Applejack? She had no idea how to describe that mare… the words "kind" and "patient" were the first to enter her mind. Perhaps it was because of the way she had listened and helped. She wasn't proud to admit it, but nopony had turned her mood around so drastically in a long time. There was even a small, childish part of her that saw Applejack in a sisterly light, but that would be like replacing Typhoon, wouldn't it?

Or maybe it was Surprise? The white mare had been her most trusted companion in these troublesome times. When this had happened before, she had stuck by her side and kept her company until she was mentally healthy enough to get back to work. She hadn't really appreciated it until now, and she kinda wondered if Surprise was offended by that at all. She had shouted at her friend a lot over the past few years and any normal pony would have gotten pissed off and left a jerk like that alone. For once Spitfire found herself quite relieved that her friend _wasn't_ a normal pony.

Heck, perhaps it was a little bit of all the Wonderbolts. They had done an exceptional job of not broaching the sensitive subject with Spitfire, and she cherished them all because of that. As annoying, crazy and obnoxious as the majority of them could be sometimes, at least they cared for her enough to not make her descend into madness (well maybe they drove her a little mad sometimes…)

But she knew that Braeburn was the one who had started all of this. If not for him then this never would have happened… and she wasn't sure if she was pleased about that or not. He may have made her do some pretty shitty things, but she couldn't help realizing that it had made her stronger. The help she had received because of it, and all the things that Surprise had tried to get her back to normal (yes, even the crappy slumber party) had helped her out one way or another. At least the slumber party had helped her feel normal in comparison to the other guests. But this stallion seemed to have awoken something inside of her… she'd tried to ignore it at first but he'd been making her feel_ happy_ before that night. Everything he did seemed to be out of the kindness in his heart- supporting her at Surprise's birthday party, repairing the fog maker on the air obstacle course, and that time he'd simply made her coffee- and it was amazing and confusing both at the same time. It was so rare to find a pony like this, and in a way she considered herself lucky to have met him. She felt lucky to have him care about _her_ of all ponies.

Applejack's words began to ring in her head. "_Braeburn really likes ya, Spitfire… more than Ah can say._" Her breath hitched and her heart pounded in what she convinced herself to be terror. Did he…? No way…

_"__Are you crazy? Stop thinking things like that…"_ the little pony in Spitfire's head snapped at her, but for some reason she couldn't help thinking about it. The questions, the feelings, the hope were all spinning in her head like a tornado, and she found herself looking the other pony in the face, feeling uncharacteristically determined and emotional.

Braeburn met the eyes of the golden pony and felt his brain go numb… holy Luna's mane, she was beautiful. He was aware that if he moved forward a few more inches then their muzzles would meet. All of a sudden he felt like he had wings of his own, like he was completely weightless and floating with Spitfire in the stratosphere. He'd not really understood the concept of Flying when Soarin had explained it to him, although it had fascinated him, but now he could completely see the appeal. Maybe not to the extent that pegasi could but this had to be a similar feeling, right?

Before he could contemplate these feelings and thought any more, he felt Spitfire put her left hoof on his right shoulder, and he was snapped back into reality, staring right into her nervous-looking eyes. Dear Celestia, was this happening…?

Cautiously, Braeburn leaned down towards her, face flushing and heart pounding like a bass drum. He moved his hoof so the captain could rest her cheek against it and closed his eyes to lessen the anxiety, shutting out the rest of the-

"AAAH! IF ANYPONY'S DOWN THERE _LOOK OUT_!"

Braeburn and Spitfire leapt backwards just in the nick of time for a pegasus to plummet down from the sky and crash into the clouds where they had been sitting, a number of letters exploding into the air.

After shaking the stars from his eyes, Braeburn glanced at the crashed pegasus and stood up to assist her. "Are you alright Miss Hooves?" the earth pony helped Derpy to sit up. The grey pegasus groaned and her eyes crossed for a couple of seconds before she shook her head and straightened them out.

"Oh, hi Braeburn!" she said cheerfully, which was a little odd considering that she'd just landed on her face. "I'm fine… I was just heading down here when my mailbag blew into my face. Kinda screwed up my sense of direction… and vision." She giggled nervously. Spitfire trotted over with the letters in her mouth and put them in Derpy's mailbag for her.

"I think I got them all," she said, a little too confused right now to be mad at Derpy for crashing. Then again it's not the first time she's crashed near the Academy. Wave Chill and Lightning Streak actually had a chart in the staff room that recorded the number of days it had been since Derpy's last crash

"Thanks captain," Derpy stood up and took a moment to un-ruffle her wings, "so do either of you know where Soarin is. I'm delivering his new issue of _Pie Digest_." She explained, nodding down at the mailbag.

"Ya mean this?" Braeburn pointed down to the clouds where Derpy was sitting. Looking at the clouds below, Derpy spotted the magazine underneath her back right hoof. "And he's probably in Dorm Room 7," he remembered Rainbow Dash's dorm number.

"Oh, thanks," Derpy picked up the magazine and put it back in her mailbag, giving both of the ponies a smile, "it was nice seeing you two. Catch ya later." And with that she trotted off in her usual cheery manner, leaving the other two ponies behind. There were a few moments of silence and staring at the ground before Spitfire cleared her throat and made her way over to Braeburn, grabbing his vest from its place around her shoulders and draping it over his back.

"So um…" she began to say, before taking a couple steps back, "I'd better be getting home." She spread her wings and prepared to take off, giving the stallion one last quick smile and a perfect view of her rosy blush. "See ya tomorrow, I guess," and with that she was off.

"Bye…" he said dreamily to his empty surroundings once she was gone.

Braeburn had to sit there for a few more minutes to run through what had just happened. Had they… had they really been about to… to…? No way, right? She may have just mistaken everything for comfort before he went for the plunge… maybe he'd made her uncomfortable?

But he couldn't help wondering if maybe she'd been about to reciprocate. His mind was racing faster than the Wonderbolts themselves… what if she hadn't been mistaken? What if that had been an actual _moment_!

With those thoughts still swirling in his head, Braeburn turned and headed back inside to catch up to the others, with a spring in his step and the dopiest smile on his face.

* * *

**Endnote: PSYCHE!**

**As if I'm going to finish their arc here when there are so many possibilities to make their story go on for longer! Anyway, I hope I catered to the SpitBurn fans' needs and that they're happy with the fact that their tale is just going to get even fluffier from here on out.**

**Also it's about time Derpy showed up in this story again. ^u^**


	50. Farewells

**Author's Note: YAY 70 FOLLOWERS!**

**Also-**

**CHAPTER 50!? Holy mother of Cadence, I never would have believed I would write a story this long EVER! If each chapter was a year then this would be half a century long! And what's more? After this chapter we enter the FINAL MONTH! The last month of the boot camp is upon us! And it's actually going to have a plot! More cadet stuff, more conflict with Spring Song, more SoarinDash, more SpitBurn, maybe even some other pairings! I don't know! Yeah… this is the part of the story I'm having some trouble with. In that I'm not sure how I want it to go. I know how I want the story the end, but it's getting there that's going to be hard. You may have to bear with me here because this part of the story seems to constantly change for me. In a sense, this is the most important quarter, because this is where everything comes together. Mysteries will be solved, friendships will be made, lessons will be learned… and it's going to be difficult to keep track of it all. I think the reason it's taken me forever to get the previous arc done (this arc is eight chapters long... my brain is in agony) is because of all the storylines running at the same time. I'm going to try my best, but just keep in mind that this is my first serious story and I'm still learning.**

**I realize I've been rambling for a while already, but I just want to bring some stuff to your attention. This is so that in the future, you can look back at this paragraph and make endless fun of me for being such a bad judge of things. I have a document that contains a list of future chapters. The number of chapters it says I have left is… 15. It says I have fifteen chapters left to write. That's such a small number to me now! It feels bittersweet typing that ya know… writing this story has changed my life. I know it sounds dumb but it's true, it has! Haha! What am I doing? I'm gonna save this speech for the final chapter. The point is, when we reach chapter frigging 94 or whatever you can remind me of this paragraph, and by extension what a bloody idiot I am! **

**Oh! And I wanted to ask something. Once this story is complete, do you think I should change the title? You know how I want this story to be called **_**Staying Gold**_**… well, should I change it or not? I mean, this is **_**Dashing and Soaring**_**, the story with the generic title a SoarinDash story could have. But… that **_**is**_** what it is. So to give my conflicted mind a rest, what do you guys think? Keep it the same to avoid confusion, or change it so it doesn't sound plain? I'm not doing a poll for this because I've still got the dumb 'butterscotch or cinnamon' one going.**

**What else…? Nope nothing. That's everything, so let's move on to the replies! (also, only a few reviews needed for 400! Who's gonna make it?!)**

Litestardt- Hehe… yeah even _I_ was pissed off at myself for that move. I wish I could write these blasted chapters faster so I could get to certain scenes quicker. But unfortunately I'm a procrastinating veteran with A.D.D!

Captain Alaska- Yeah, them not kissing was definitely the best move to make, but it sure annoys me that I can't read other SpitBurn shipfics to satisfy myself! I literally will have to wait forever for them to actually get somewhere! Being the Empress of Weird Ships is great and all, but it's kind like torture on occasion! And yeah, with how bad The Big Bang Theory continues to get I needed a call-back to when it was good. (The last episode made me weep with how awful it was…)

Amellia Rose- Aww thanks! I'll try to keep up with the fluff, because fluff is the best!

Too Lazy- I feel you. Sometimes even typing is exhausting. *wipes brow*

Luna'snight625- Honestly, I think your review is the best response to my trolling I've ever got! xD

Midnight Star- Unfortunately I do not have Skype. I have the same problem with Skype that you do with this website. Using FanFiction is simple once you're used to it. You make an account, click the top right corner of the page where your username is written in orange, click it, then 'Private Messaging', and the inbox is where you can read your messages. To send someone a message you need to go onto their user page, click 'PM' above their avatar if they have one- it's the little picture of the letter. You can then send them a message. I hope that's straightforward enough to understand.

**Okay, let's get started. This is another short one so there's really no excuse for this taking so long, except for the fact that I published another chapter of **_**My Little Bloopers **_**between the last chapter and this one****. Actually, what am I saying? That's my excuse! I write two stories and I wrote something for the other one for a change. Sometimes you need to switch things up! Okay, let's just catch up with Rainbow Dash before I start ranting again.**

**Technically the last arc has ended so this is just an extended ending. An extending, if you will… wait. That's already what it is. Damn, I was hoping to come up with a new word. ^u^**

**This chapter… it, uh... ya know what I'll explain at the end. This is dragging on long enough.**

* * *

Rainbow wrapped her arms around Twilight Sparkle and squeezed her in a tight hug. She couldn't begin to describe how annoyed she was with this day. She'd just wanted to spend time with her friends, but instead she'd gotten roped into a bunch of other random stuff with Soarin and Scootaloo. Damn, she wanted to murder Feather Duster. She'd roughed up her little sister and made her feel sad, and that was an excuse enough to rip her small intestine out through her throat and her large intestine out through her butt and use her as a Luna-damned skipping rope!

"Rainbow Dash!" a strained voice wormed its way into Dash's thoughts. "You're choking me!"

"Aw geez, sorry Twilight!" Rainbow released her grip on Twilight, who gasped for breath and tried to locate her pulse. Yeah, this was why Rainbow Dash should never think about the creative ways to kill a pony while hugging somepony… not that she'd done that before. Okay, there was one time where she was hugging her dad and thinking about cutting off one of Dumb-Bells's hooves and slapping him round the face with it. Her grip was pretty much a lethal weapon if she didn't control it.

Twilight rubbed her neck and addressed Rainbow Dash sadly. "Are you upset because we didn't get to spend as much time together as we'd hoped?" she questioned. Dash sighed and nodded, glancing over at the hot air balloon her friends were travelling back home in, where Rarity was playing with Sweetie Belle's hair and Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were standing with their hooves hanging over the edge of the basket, deep in another conversation with Lullaby. Spike sat talking to Apple Bloom, who was laughing about something, Applejack was standing with Braeburn and Soarin, and she appeared to be pretty pleased about whatever they were talking about. Braeburn stood between his cousin and best friend, wearing a small smile, and Soarin was patting him on the back (and had an issue of _Pie Digest_ tucked under his wing.. you just knew a magazine was awful when it had a pun as its title). Hmm… maybe Braeburn had finally perfected his apple crumble recipe and they were congratulating him for it? Oh well, Rainbow Dash didn't particularly care. The crumble was good anyway. Feather Duster had come along to see Scootaloo off, and the orange filly was cheerfully chatting to the brown mare, who was listening to everything Scootaloo said with an immense amount of interest. Rainbow wasn't sure how to react to that… Feather Duster was an "evil" bitch who might be figuring out how to lure Scootaloo over to the "dark side". Then again Feathers might genuinely be interested in the story Scootaloo was telling and she was showing no sign of the "diabolical" side of her. Then again, was she really "evil" if her traits had to be contained in speech marks all the time out of Dash's scepticism?

"Yeah… we all ended up splitting apart somehow, and I've wanted to spend time with you guys since the Celebration." Rainbow sighed, her wings drooping a little. "Mostly I'm just sorry that I left you, Rarity and Spike in my room for so long." She admitted.

"Rainbow I don't mind. We had fun anyway… even if you weren't there… I should probably stop talking," the purple alicorn rubbed the back of her head and blushed, aware that her choice of words could potentially be a little hurtful to her pegasus friend.

"No, you don't get it. Lullaby and I are cooped up in there a lot, and sometimes other ponies come over. One time we even found Wave Chill tied up in our closest (still don't know how the poor guy wound up in there). So it probably smells in there… ya know, it could smell of breath or far- let's just leave it at breath..." Rainbow stopped rambling.

Twilight rolled her eyes and gazed off to the side, catching sight of Fluttershy, who had hopped out of the hot air balloon's basket so she could hug Lullaby. It hadn't occurred to the alicorn just how many ponies in Cloudsdale were friends with her fellow Elements of Harmony. Fluttershy spoke very fondly of Lullaby a lot, Pinkie Pie and Surprise were always sending each other letters, Applejack had Braeburn living here for the time being, and of course all of them missed Rainbow Dash terribly (especially Scootaloo… and Pinkie Pie).

Feeling a wave of sadness wash over her, Twilight pulled Rainbow Dash into another hug, trying not to think that this was the last one she would have with the cyan mare for quite a while now. Well, not exactly…

"Hey, the camp is almost over now, Rainbow," Twilight stepped away and gave her friend a reassuring smile, "and you're coming down to Ponyville for the Summer Sun Celebration, right? So you'll get to see us all in a few weeks." She reminded the cadet. Rainbow lit up a little at that. Yeah, on the day of the Summer Sun Celebration everypony was allowed to stay off work and school to spend time with their friends and families to celebrate the longest day of the year.

"That's right!" Dash felt a lot better about things now. She'd have plenty of time to spend with her friends since nopony else would be around to distract her from them. She seemed to have forgotten about something though… oh yeah. "So where's the Summer Sun Celebration being held this year?" she had a terrible habit of forgetting the details of things that she didn't much care about.

"It's going to be held in Trottingham this year, so it's going to be a pretty long train ride to get there." Twilight admitted. Rainbow quickly mapped out a plan in her head.

"Okay, so the day before the Celebration I'll finish drills and fly to my house in Ponyville. That way we'll get to hang out for a little while the day before the trip as well. I'm warning ya though, if it's gonna be a long train ride then I'll need to catch a whole lotta Z's. Trains are kinda boring ya know?" Rainbow was already dreading the ear-piercing whistle and the repetitive chugging of the wheels on the tracks that could drive a pony crazy if exposed to it for a long period of time. It must suck to me a train conductor. Or those poor ponies in some places that had to drag the train along the tracks themselves. Dash had never been entirely sure how it was possible for ponies to pull an entire train at full speed down a track for hours at a time and not get run over. She'd narrowed it down to either the train being ridiculously light or the stallions being literal Gods.

"Then it's settled," Twilight nodded, getting that look of triumph on her face she got whenever a plan came together. It must be nice in Twilight's head, where every little success was like tearing open a tiny package of happiness and sprinkling it in her mane like glitter. Rainbow had absolutely no idea where she had been going with that simile…

"Hey now Apple Bloom," Applejack made her way over to her little sister and stroked her cheek with one hoof, "Hang on a l'il longer; we'll be at home soon, okay." The little yellow filly was swaying on her hooves, and her eyes were drooping with fatigue. It had been a pretty big day for her and the other Crusaders and they likely needed to get some rest from all of the excitement, especially Scootaloo… who was too caught up in talking to Feather Duster to appear tired in the slightest; even her injured wing didn't seem to be bothering her now. Sweetie Belle was sitting next to her older sister, leaning against her shoulder while Rarity continued to twist small strands of the filly's mane into plaits.

"I'm feeling rather exhausted myself," the fashion designer looked over at Twilight, letting out a conveniently-timed yawn. Twilight raised an eyebrow.

"How? You me and Spike barely did anything today." She realised what she said and straightened out, wanting to slap herself for being a careless idiot. "And that's nopony's fault!" she looked anywhere but at Rainbow Dash. Stupid. Stupid!

"Give it a break Twilight, it's not a big deal," Rainbow slung a hoof over the purple Princess's shoulders, and Twilight let her ears droop knowing that she had a bad habit of overreacting to problems that didn't even really exist. But she'd promised Princess Celestia that she would never have a repeat of her Want-It-Need-It spell episode ever again. Keeping that promise had thus far been... okay; but she'd told Spike that if she did ever crack again he had permission to lock her in her room for as long as necessary to keep the town safe from her insanity. That's not an exaggeration; she made Spike sign a contract in blood and everything.

"Right, I know…" Twilight felt like she needed to leave before she made an even bigger fool of herself. Such is the life of a mentally disturbed nerdicorn who spends her days lounging around within the crystalline interior of her ridiculously tacky castle.

Twilight Sparkle shook her head to banish the mysterious insults hovering around in it and checked to see if everypony had gathered round. ("And for the record, I am _not_ mentally disturbed Miss Voice in My Head! Go away!")

"Everypony in the balloon!" the alicorn commanded, growing increasingly worried about how dark it was getting as well. Though she supposed that if it did get too dark she could light things up with her magic. Fluttershy said one last goodbye to Lullaby and boarded the balloon again, and Scootaloo nuzzled Feather Duster's shoulder affectionately before scampering away, bidding her farewell, sitting between Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom.

"Okay… Twilight did a quick headcount, mumbling the names of the ponies under her breath as they crowded into the basket of the balloon.

"WAIT!"

"What now, Pinkie?" Twilight sighed. Pinkie then shot out of the basket like a bullet and tackled Rainbow Dash to the ground, burying her face in the blue mare's neck. "I'm gonna miss you so MUUUUCH!" she squeezed Dashie as hard as she could in a manner reminiscent of the suffocating hug the rainbow maned pegasus mare had received before she had gone to the Academy for the first time. If anything it was even more excruciating the second time around.

"Pinkie…" Dash tried to push the pink pony off her. But t'was not to be; Dash's suffering had only just begun. The smothering fluffy pink thing atop her was the tip of the iceberg, because soon the iceberg would melt and flood all over her like a mass of giggling mares, and perhaps even a scaly mythological reptile to throw a little variety into the bundle of hooves and fuzz.

"Oh my Celestia!" Rainbow felt the life oozing out of her thoroughly pancake-ified body as eight ponies and a dragon formed a pony pile on top of their cadet friend. Soarin, Braeburn, Lullaby and Feather Duster stood around them, all trying to hold in their chuckles as Rainbow's eyes bugged out when Scootaloo's hind hoof pushed against her right cheek… okay that's a complete lie, Soarin and Lullaby found the entire thing hilarious and could not contain their laughter while Braeburn smiled to himself, finding Rainbow's predicament amusing. Feather Duster tried not to throw up from the amount of sweetness wafting through the air. She could slice through this sweetness with a freakin' katana if she had hers with her right now. She'd also need to schedule an appointment with a doctor to see if she needed insulin after this whirling storm of cute.

"Guys!" Rainbow croaked, trying her hardest to be heard over the deafening giggling going on atop her.

"You are getting AAAALLLLL the hugs Rainbow Dash!" Sweetie Belle giggled, her voice taking on that squeaky tone it often did when she was excited. Pinkie nodded and spoke into Rainbow's neck, her voice slightly muffled, but since she was right next to Dash's face the pegasus had no trouble distinguishing what the pink earth pony was saying to her.

"We need to make up for all the hugs we haven't given you over the past couple months. We're gonna be here for a while yet."

"Nooooope!" Twilight suddenly stood up from the pony-pile and speed walked towards the balloon again in swift, fluid movements. Fluttershy stood up next, looking at the sky and letting out a cute little squeak, fleeing to the balloon with Twilight. Yeah, it was no secret that Fluttershy had a mild fear of the dark…

Applejack sighed and pushed herself onto her hooves, looking down at the pile and letting out a snort. "Twilight's right y'all. We need t' get goin' and put the kids to sleep."

"Hugs fill me with energy," Sweetie Belle thought back to how she had lost all fatigue at the idea of making a gigantic pony-pile with the others. Now all of a sudden she felt drowsy again. It's funny when that happens; when you get pumped up for something exciting but once it's over you could sleep on a bed of thorns because you've just unknowingly tired yourself out even more. And by "funny" Sweetie Belle meant _absolutely Luna-damned awful_!

_Finally_ everypony got into the balloon and Applejack began examining the hot-air-flame-blowy-thingy or whatever it's called. She squinted and stood on her hind legs, trying to suss out how she could get this mysterious contraption to work.

"How am Ah meant t' turn the hot air on?" she asked nopony in particular. What _is_ this thing called anyway? Oh well, none of the ponies could spare the time to deal with these semantics. Much to everypony's surprise, Fluttershy reached over and fiddled around with something beneath the air-tube-puffy-doodads, and hot air began lifting the balloon into the air again. Twilight thanked Celestia that they hadn't taken so long to get into the basket that the balloon had deflated. That would have been a huge waste of time… much like this entire situation come to think of it.

"Okay, we're up. Rainbow, could you untie us?" Twilight gestured down to the lamppost they had tied the balloon to upon their arrival this morning. The alicorn wasn't sure whether that was even legal or not, but even if it wasn't, there were no "balloon parking tickets" anywhere in sight. And she might get off the hook if she showed the cops she was royalty. That's how it always worked in the books anyway.

"Got it!" Rainbow Dash was about to flap on over to the rope when suddenly something landed on her back. She looked over her shoulder to see Scootaloo hugging her neck, her tiny hooves wrapping around it.

"Last hug," the filly grinned, rubbing her cheek on the back of Dash's neck. Rainbow reached up and rubbed Scootaloo's back with one hoof, smiling softly.

"I'll see you in a couple of weeks, Squirt," the cyan pony nuzzled the top of the filly's head and fluttered into the air, allowing Scootaloo to leap back into the hot air balloon on Applejack's back. She then landed on the clouds and untied the rope, and Twilight began piloting the balloon, somewhat clumsily since she didn't have license but she'd mustered up the brain power to get her and her friends up to Cloudsdale earlier, so that must mean that she would be even better at this on the way back to Ponyville.

"Bye guys!" Rainbow Dash took off and flew around the hot air balloon a couple of times, waving to her friends before returning to the clouds to stand next to Soarin, Braeburn, Feather Duster and Lullaby, who all waved to the friends they had made today. They kept waving until the balloon was out of sight and the Ponyville ponies' farewells could no longer be heard. After that they stood there in silence for a little while.

It was a few minutes before anypony said anything.

"Welp, that was something. Now I'm gonna go home and do something productive," she began trotting away, "and by that I mean I'm gonna sleep. Ciao!"

Lullaby looked over at Rainbow. "Today was pretty cool. We should be getting back to our dorms though."

Rainbow nodded and sighed, already feeling the emptiness she'd experienced without her friends for the past couple of months settle within her again. The purple pegasus patted Rainbow Dash sympathetically on the shoulder and comfortingly nuzzled her ear.

"We need to be gettin' home too, Soarin. We're gonna be late for the finale of _Pony of Interest_." Braeburn began trotting away. Soarin sighed and allowed his ears to droop.

"Who cares, it's gonna be depressing and we both know it. Just like it's been for the last couple of episodes." The Wonderbolt co-captain complained. Braeburn raised a brow.

"It wasn't _that_ depressing." He rolled his eyes. Soarin gave his best friend a deadpan expression.

"Blaze watched it and she had to take the day off because she couldn't stop crying."

"Wow, really?" Braeburn's jaw dropped.

"Ugh! You two and your TV shows," Rainbow chuckled. She knew that her coltfriend and Braeburn were obsessed with a bunch of TV shows. They talked and argued about them a lot, and sometimes it could be pretty entertaining… other times it could be excruciatingly stupid and their nerd sides showed. Meh, nerds were cool. It sometimes seemed like they got interested in a new show every week however, and they frequently complained about how _Sherclop_ "only gets three episodes made every hundred years". Gotta love Soarin's exaggeration, right?

"If you came to watch one with us then you'd see how awesome they are!"

Rainbow decided to stop this before somepony went off on another tangent. After a whole day of non-stop worrying and wandering around the Academy, Rainbow wanted nothing more than to hit the hay. If there was one thing Rainbow Dash loved most in the world it was sleep.

"Can we just leave? It's been a long day," Rainbow ran a hoof through her multi-coloured mane and let out a yawn, yearning for the softness of her mattress below her, the warmth of the sheets atop her and the fluffiness of her comfy pillow.

"Dash is right, Soar. Let's _go_," Braeburn said a little impatiently. He and Lullaby walked ahead while Soarin and Rainbow Dash trotted behind them. As they approached the town, Rainbow looked up at her coltfriend.

"Thanks for keeping the secret," she smiled gratefully, "I know you weren't so cool with doing it at the beginning."

Soarin shrugged and wrapped a wing over Dash's shoulders. "Whatever. It's over now." He said optimistically. Dash once again felt grateful she'd got a stallion like him. She had to wonder if any other guy would keep a secret like that for his marefriend. Lullaby took off into the sky, and Rainbow Dash figured she could fly back to the Academy with her now.

"I'm gonna get flyin'." She spread her wings and halted, judging the winds direction to plan her take-off. "Wish me a good sleep," she was about to fly off when Soarin leaned forward and gave her a quick peck on the lips, sending her face into a state of instantaneous flush. He grinned and chuckled.

"Maybe, if chance smiles upon us, we could meet in a dream and be the unfortunate couple separated by the bounds of our own subconscious." He said in the smartest voice he could manage. Rainbow's jaw dropped and she rolled her eyes.

"Why is it that whenever we have a moment you have to get all poetic and stuff?" she asked, recalling he poem he'd recited before their first kiss. Soarin shrugged and smirked.

"Just call me Soarin Poetic Skies."

Rainbow sighed and rolled her eyes, quickly kissing Soarin on the cheek one more time before taking off after Lullaby, calling her friend's name through the dark purple sky, which would soon bid farewell to the spring and give birth to the first morning of a brand new golden summer.

* * *

**So yes, this chapter is pretty much a glorified Author's note with a pretty boring and pointless chapter attached to it for good measure. I'm not even sure if this should count as a chapter because nothing happens in it! But oh well, here we are and I wanted to get something out for you guys. **

**Anyway, see you next time when things get back to normal! Or… at least as normal as they can be at least.**


	51. May The Best Captain Win

**Trigger Warning: Paint fume high… **

**AND WE HAVE 80 FAVOURITES! ^u^**

**And congratulations to ****FurballsNLOLipops for being the 400th reviewer! How the hell did I manage to get 400 reviews on this thing? Oh forget it, this is no time to rant. Thank you all for reading! I love you all!  
**

**Author's Note: I want to start off by giving a shout-out to the amazing BerryBlastxx, who drew me an absolutely stunning piece of fanart for chapter 35. Oh my God, I can't stop looking at it! It's so beautiful! AGH! Dammit Berry, I love you so much right now! ^u^**

**Drunkenness- That scene with Tempest and Free Fall was only there to get the chapter rolling. I do realize that I could have cut it out and the chapter would have gone exactly the same, but I need to put the cadets in this story more. I do actually plan to have a chapter focusing solely on the cadets and secondary Wonderbolts, kinda like episode 100 of the show where it focused on the background ponies. And the last chapter was indeed pointless and boring, but I felt like writing the Mane Six one last time before they vanished for ten chapters or so. Also, it's practically guaranteed that more chapters will be made than what I have noted down, because I'm getting new ideas all the time. The original draft of the story was only 26 chapters long for crying out loud! It is also very true that writers go through what you described; I mean, I'd like to move on from this story and write something new (and shorter) but I need to finish this first so… *sigh***

**Amellia Rose- Thank you for your kind words once again.**

**Litestardt- Pleased you found some enjoyment in this pointless authors note that doesn't need to exist. ^u^**

**Luna'snight625- Yeah, what the hell is "normal"? Is that some kind of thing from the 60's that died out? 0_o**

**Imaginative Thought- It's nice to meet you, Image. ^u^ I did feel like Rainbow needed to give her friends the proper send-off (especially Twilight, Spike and Rarity, who played little to no role in the last arc). But I do apologize for the SpitBurn chapter before… I kinda wanted to beat myself up as well.**

**Soaring Heart the Pegasus- Props to you for making it this far. I can only imagine how challenging it is to get through fifty chapters of random sputz. And you don't have to worry about commenting; I'm not much of a commenter either because I'm nervous about repeating myself. Every one of my readers is welcome to say whatever they want, but if you want to remain a Silent Reader, then that's fine too. ^u^ Also... I can't believe I never noticed that Dashing and Soaring were synonyms for Flying. The main characters names are synonyms for the most intimate ritual in Equestria, and I didn't notice! Wow, you are a genius, my friend! Thank you for helping me come to terms with the title of this story! :D**

**FurballsNLOLipops- Whew! Thank God that description is good enough. :)**

**Stormstar12- Addicted? As a fellow fic addict, I feel honored that it's my story you've chosen to get hopped up on. Though I wouldn't recommend checking for a new chapter every few hours since it takes me a week and a half minimum to write a chapter. Sorry if that disappoints you. ^u^ Thanks for reading.**

**Okay! Lets get the final month started!**

* * *

As Rainbow Dash came to a stop at the end of the line of cadets along the landing strip, she took note of the changes she could feel in the air. Even though this was only the first day of summer, there was already a wonderfully warm tingle running down her spine as the sun shone down on her. The kind of tingle that made you close your eyes in bliss and enjoy every sensation that buzzed through your nerves; the tingle that made you want to lie down and soak up the sun's every ray. Considering that Rainbow Dash's friends were all the way down in Ponyville now, she figured she could at least get through a lovely day like this.

A part of her wished that whoever was taking their drills today would have mercy and just let the cadets chill out and sunbathe and enjoy the weather while it lasted. It had been pretty chilly for the last few days so a chance to catch some sun was just what the doctor ordered. Well… maybe Rainbow Dash couldn't speak for everypony, but after the stressful events of yesterday she wanted to just lie face down on a high cloud and nap.

In Dash's opinion, there was nothing better than a sunny day with a cloudy sky. One of the perks of being a pegasus is that clouds are pretty much just a fluffy carpet on the floor, so in the summer all over Equestria, it was like a pegasus dogfight all over the skies, trying to get a spot on the highest clouds so they could be closer to Celestia's bright sun. However, Rainbow Dash had learned over the years that the trick was to go for the clouds that weren't too high but not too low either, so she won't be so close to the sun that she gets a sun burn. This is why being a professional snoozer is awesome- you have napping tricks for every occasion.

But no. As a Wonderbolt cadet, Rainbow Dash is obligated to partake in drills, even on a perfect sunny day like this. Then again… there was still that glimmer of hope that by some miracle Lightning Streak would be the instructor for today and let all the cadets off to have some chille tid (chilling time) instead of flying laps or whatever the heck was going to happen today.

Rainbow looked down the line to find Spring Song. The pink mare was standing near the centre of the row of ponies having a supposedly one-sided conversation with Beau, who examining one of her forehooves as if it were the most interesting thing in Equestria. Well, it was definitely more intriguing than talking to Spring Song- a witch made of blubber, salt and cotton candy. At least the pink mare had done a good job of not getting in her way or on her nerves for a little while. Perhaps it was the added stress of having to deal with unqualified instructors that had done the trick; maybe the sheer weirdness of it all exhausted her too much for her to put any energy into antagonizing her.

"Everypony quit your slouching!" Rainbow's head snapped up as a pony she felt she hadn't seen in the longest time began striding along beside the landing strip. She stopped in front of Ray and shoved her stern face in his, making him struggle not to flinch back. "I'm sure I've made my point that a Wonderbolt must perpetually possess perfect posture!" she made sure to spit a little as the enunciated each 'p'. Ray was sweating by this point, and wiped his face with the back of one hoof as soon as Spitfire turned away and continued strutting down the line.

"So, I know that things have been a little crazy around here for a while, but it's _over_ now. It's behind us and we never need to think about it ever again." She stopped at the end of the line and glowered down at everypony. "I'm dead serious right now; nopony is to mention anything that happened while I was away. Nopony will ask any questions about where I was, or why. The good part is that while I was… away on business, I came up with an idea that I believe the majority of you will like. For the final month of this camp you'll be using every skill you've learned thus far- we've never done anything like this in a boot camp before, so I hope to be impressed with what you all can do."

Rainbow grinned widely, but she quickly put on a straight Bolt-face again when she remembered how Spitfire liked to give anypony who smiled an evil glare. But this was great! Finally she'd be able to show off in front of everypony. And no one would call her out on it because it was allowed! Wait… she hoped that was the case anyway. What had Spitfire come up with?

"You all came to this boot camp wanting to train like Wonderbolts, fly like Wonderbolts, and feel like Wonderbolts. Am I right?" Spitfire stood back so she could get a better view of the row of pegasi. They were silent. "That was a question, rookies! I was expecting an answer!"

"YES MA'AM!" Everypony called out in unison. Cinder, who was standing next to Rainbow Dash, only managed to squeak it out, but thankfully Spitfire didn't notice. Rainbow remembered when Cinder came to her and Lullaby to confess that she didn't want to be a Wonderbolt. She still had this aching feeling in her chest that she needed to do something about her situation; but Cinder had refused to tell her _why_ she was here if she didn't want to be a Wonderbolt. Was she just suddenly really self-conscious and timid? She was a decent flyer (she was chosen for the camp after all) so what did she have to worry about? Dash suddenly realised she was staring at the little mare and looked back at Spitfire, wanting to hear the rest of her speech. The coolest thing about this was that for the first time in a while she actually felt pumped up and intimidated. Spitfire's absence had really made things seem simple and (on more than one occasion) utterly ridiculous. But now that she was back on the scene she was aware of every move she made- fearing that the slightest bend of a knee would have the captain snapping at her for her poor posture. And she didn't want to get spat on like Ray…

"I got another question for ya!" Spitfire drifted her narrowed eyes down the line, and Dash was pretty sure that she was attempting to see into their souls. "What's the first thing you think of when you think of the Wonderbolts?"

Paradise raised her hoof.

"Green one! What's your answer?" Spitfire called on her.

"Flying!"

"Very true!" Spitfire nodded, "but by extension, what is our main purpose?"

Spring Song then thrust her hoof in the air, and Spitfire then called on her.

"Putting on airshows." The pink mare answered. Spitfire tapped a hoof against the side of her nose.

"Bingo! We perform in airshows!" Spitfire pushed her sunglasses up her muzzle and smirked. "So that's exactly what you ponies are gonna be doing this month."

A collective gasp rang out, and everypony in the line glanced at one another, wondering if this was actually happening. The reactions from either side of Rainbow Dash were… pretty mixed to say the least. Lullaby nudged her and mouthed _"oh my gosh, this rules!" _whilst trying not to do a happy dance. Cinder on the other hoof…

"I'm gonna be sick," the little pegasus muttered so quietly that Rainbow Dash barely heard her, her knees shaking so much that they knocked together. It seemed like she was actually turning green… Rainbow scooted away a little bit just in case Cinder _was_ gonna barf.

Rainbow herself was over the moon. If she wasn't obliged to stay firmly rooted to the ground right now she would be tempted to take off and literally rocket clear out of the stratosphere! Spitfire was actually telling them that they were going to perform in an airshow!

"There's one little catch though…"

Dash could swear that a record scratched in her head. She felt like a Grade A doofus now- there was _always _a catch! Why had she not seen that coming?! So what was it…?

"You're going to be making your own routine; all fifteen of you working together." Spitfire explained. Rainbow tilted her head to the side and thought that through. That didn't sound bad at all. It would be like they were the Wonderbolts 2.0 following in their idols hoofsteps. They would be able to experience what it was like to perform in front of a large audience packed with screaming fans without even being fully fledged Wonderbolts! And Spitfire had just confirmed that nothing like this had ever been done before! This was the greatest catch in the history of catches! If all catches were like this then life would be at least 20% cooler!

Sugar Swoop raised his hoof, and Spitfire nodded in his direction, signalling him to speak. "Aren't we at least going to get some supervision? I personally wouldn't trust us with making a routine by ourselves…" the peach colored stallion glanced at several ponies that may cause trouble, not taking any care to be subtle at all. Though maybe that was his intention…

"Excellent point made there, Swoop," Spitfire praised the stallion. "I don't really have much faith that you ponies could pull this off either, but Silver Lining thought this was a good idea and I'm going to have to talk about it to the rest of the Wonderbolts in a staff meeting today…" she deflated a little at that. Rainbow Dash had been informed by Soarin that staff meetings were the most soul-sucking kind of meetings that you could ever be involved in, but now that she had seen the captain so grumpy about it she finally believed that he wasn't exaggerating. Maybe there were some bad aspects of being a Wonderbolt after all…

"That aside, I'm going to suggest that at certain points, the other Wonderbolts can come out and assist you guys in making your routines. But that's not what worries me- _I mean_, that's not what is going to be the hardest part of this."

"I'm gonna faint," Cinder ignored the rules and leaned against Rainbow Dash for support, trying not to breathe too heavily. Rainbow spread her left wing and draped it over Cinder; since she was bad at verbal comfort, some silent physical comfort would have to do. Judging by Cinder leaning into her a little more, she appreciated the gesture.

"I really hope you already know this, but the Wonderbolts have different roles; I'm the captain, Soarin's the co-captain, Fleetfoot, Surprise and Silver Lining are stand-in captains. Get it? _You_ guys need to vote for the captains yourself."

Okay, this was just getting more and more interesting. Rainbow's interest rose drastically and she hooked onto Spitfire's every word. Being the captain sounded amazing! Being in charge, leading the flight formations, representing the Wonderbolts, it sounded like the best job in the world, and she had written so many fanfictions about being at the helm of the 'Bolts.

"Anyway, anypony who wants to be captain needs to sign up. You can sign your name on the sheet that's pinned on the bulletin board outside my office. Then you can all vote for the candidates yourself. You have two days to sign up and then a week and a half to campaign. After that you'll all vote for the captain and the runners up will be stand-ins. Also, the chosen captain will have to choose their co-captain themselves- just warning you know, this decision is ridiculously important…" Spitfire carried on. The cadets were chatting excitedly amongst themselves by now, more excited than they had been in weeks.

"Until then, you have laps to fly! I wanna see how much you've improved in my absence." Spitfire blew into her whistle and pointed in the direction of the lap track. The cadets were off without missing a beat, and soon they were flying around and around the track, flying down and upside down and back up again as they went round and round.

Rainbow often wondered if earth ponies and unicorns ever wished that they could do something like this, and it sorta hurt to wonder if she took this for granted. Flying had been her entire life, and to be honest she often forgot to be thankful for the things that she had. A few times she had noticed herself getting twinges of envy towards Twilight when she used magic sometimes, but she never took into account how many ponies may wish they had wings. Flying was, in her opinion, the most exhilarating thing in the world after all. It was a peculiar thing to think about actually- maybe some pegasi and unicorns saw their wings and magic as a burden and would rather be an earth pony? Dash knew that there were ponies like that that existed in Equestria, rare though they were. Heck, Fluttershy had confided in her once that she sometimes felt like an earth pony more than a pegasus, but other times she could not imagine being anything else. It was odd, how ponies felt about their races; Rainbow was relieved that she had no doubts about being a pegasus through and through.

"Dash, you're going slower than usual," Smart Set suddenly flew past her. Rainbow shook her head clear and let out a confused _'whah'_. Had she been so caught up in her internal monologue that she'd been lapped by Smart Set? Aw crap, she needed to make up for that. She looked at the pegasus stallion and grinned.

"Thanks for tellin' me," and with a wink, she was zooming away, gradually overtaking the other cadets one by one. She lapped Smart Set a few times as well before she decided to stop showing off. She found herself flying alongside Paradise, who seemed to be flying faster than what Dash usually expected from her. Normally Paradise flew beside Spring Song, but not too close that she could beat her in a race or anything. Rainbow wondered what was making her fly so far away from Spring Song today. She looked over her shoulder, not really needing to look ahead at the track since she basically knew when to dip and rise by this point. Honestly, she wanted to try out a more challenging course, but such a thing did not exist at this Academy… which kinda sucked hardcore.

Spring Song was flying between Tempest and Stargazer, bragging to them about something or other. Rainbow was so sick of seeing that kind of stuff that she just flew the heck away, overtaking Paradise, Cinder and Butternut before catching up to Bumble. Rainbow tapped her on the shoulder, and the light blue pegasus looked at the suddenly-appearing cyan mare with a little shock. Then again, Dash didn't really blame her since they had only shared a few conversations.

"What is it, Rainbow Dash?" Bumble asked in that usual grumpy voice of hers. Bumble didn't intend to sound like a grouch; that's just what her voice sounded like: Grumpy with a slight lisp. In fact, Bumble's lisp was so faint that you had to really be paying attention to hear it.

"I just wanted to ask if you were signing up for the captain positon?" Dash tried to make conversation, caring more about getting Spring Song off her mind than the laps. She was probably like four or five laps ahead of the other cadets anyway. Bumble just scoffed and almost flew off course in her sudden fit of laughter. She looked at Rainbow Dash as if she'd just asked her which way was up.

"What do I look like, a sucker? Dash, there's no point in signing up for captain, 'cause everypony's gonna vote for Spring Song to get her to shut the hay up." She nodded behind her at the pink mare. Rainbow couldn't really argue there… oh wait. Yes she could!

"Pfft. That's the crappiest attitude ever, Bumble. I'm signing up no matter what."

"Do you wanna die?"

Rainbow jolted with shock and looked to her other side, finding herself face to face with Stains, the blue-green pegasus whose special talent had something to do with paint… Rainbow had a theory about what that talent was. But she hadn't asked for fear of sounding cruel.

"Um… no," Rainbow answered. She was pretty happy with her life right now and didn't want to perish under any circumstances. She had a future ahead of her after all. Why was she putting so much thought into this inner monologue? She was talking to freaking _Stains_!

"It ain't worth it, sister." Stains flew in a manner that looked like a caterpillar wriggling through the sky. She often spontaneously flew in these weird ways… the cadets had learned not to question it. "Spring Song's gonna frakkin' murder your flanks. Ya have stuff to live for."

"My internal monologue was just saying that!" Rainbow defended herself.

"What the heck?" Bumble asked.

"Nothing! And I know I have stuff to live for. Besides, Spring Song is nowhere near crazy enough to kill me for becoming the captain of a fake Wonderbolts team." Dash explained. Stains shrugged and flew normally for a change.

"But being a captain… is it frakkin' worth it even without the risk of death?"

"Here we go…" Bumble picked up speed a little.

"I mean… it's too much responsibility for me. What's even the point. A frakkin' fancy badge and title. We just gotta enjoy the little things in life, Dash. Like the fresh paint in the hallways. It's all about them little things that make life worth it. I'd choose watching a sunset at Winsome Falls over the front spot in a formation any day and I'd have no frakkin' regrets."

"Don't either of you get it?" Rainbow looked from Stains to Bumble. "If you don't stand up against Spring Song then nothing's gonna change. You need to stop showing that she's getting to you, 'cause it'll just encourage her to keep going. By refusing to sign up we're just paving a… velvet walkway or something to her victory. Don't you wanna see her lose out on something?"

"Of course," Bumble folded her hooves against her chest. "It'd be the most satisfying thing to happen in this camp." The blue mare looked behind her so she could look Dash in the eye. "Look, you should sign up, you're the most qualified to be the captain by a landslide and everypony knows it. I'll vote for you, and so will Stains… right?" she narrowed her eyes at the messy-maned mare, who was doing a backstroke in mid-air.

"Meh… maybe," Stains shrugged, "I'll see how things play out, and then I'll throw in my vote. I do hope ya get the most votes though, RD."

"So lemme get this straight," Bumble said, clasping her hooves together in front of her, "you're going to wait until the last minute to vote, and when you do, it's going to be for whoever has the most votes, no matter how the decision may impact the team?"

Stains sighed and flapped ahead, patting Bumble on the shoulder as she passed her. "I never said I wouldn't be a frakkin' coward, Bumble. I do things the safe way, 'cause when it comes down to it, it's better to be pathetic and live than be a risk-taker and die." And then she zoomed off.

"Ugh! Spring Song won't kill you, you tailhole!" Bumble cupped her hooves around her mouth and shouted after the other mare.

"Who will I kill?" Spring Song herself caught up to Bumble and Rainbow Dash, flying a little ahead of Rainbow Dash (who quickly flew ahead to correct that) and a little way behind Bumble.

"Stains," Bumble replied without missing a beat, "for the record I don't think I'd mind if you did, but I just wanna get the yes or no from you."

"Hmm… nah, Stains is fine. I'll let her survive." Spring Song decided to be merciful for once in her damn life. Then the pink pony decided to interrogate Bumble a little more. "Why exactly does she think I'm going to kill her?" she then paused and sighed before rolling her eyes. "Did she break into my room and repaint the walls again?"

"Oh great, did she seriously do that to you too?" Bumble groaned and facehoofed. Suddenly, Bumble shook her head and flapped ahead a little more. "Why am I even having this conversation with you?!"

Spring Song scoffed. "Why not? I'm a pretty good conversationalist if I do say so myself." She flipped her short blonde mane back and grinned like one of those models from the magazines. Bumble sighed and didn't even bother to look back as she replied.

"Well for one thing, I don't really like you… like, at all. Second…" she took a moment to try and think of a way to continue her sentence before just giving up with a groan. "Ugh, I can't think of a second reason. But that's okay because the first reason should be enough, right? If you don't like someone you stay away from them; if you don't then frankly you're just a really stupid pony. So I'm gonna leave."

And with that, Bumble flew off ahead, putting on some extra speed to get away from the devil-mare. Spring Song grumbled and stuck her nose up in the air. "Well screw you too then." She muttered. Rainbow smirked and flew alongside her rival for a second.

"So, you're gonna sign up to be captain right?" she asked. Spring Song nodded and flashed a smile.

"How could I not?" she asked rhetorically. Rainbow let out a chuckle and gave Spring Song the most challenging glare she could muster.

"Well at least my competition's confident in herself." She boasted. She was expecting Spring Song to have a negative reaction to finding out she was basically toast, so she was pretty perplexed to see that she had the exact opposite response.

"That's great," she smiled widely, "for a minute there I thought I wouldn't have any opponents to beat into the clouds." She pounded one of her front hooves against the other one. Rainbow quickly got over her initial surprise to slap a determined look on her face. She wouldn't let there be any more surprises in this duel of theirs.

"In that case," she held out her hoof for Spring Song to shake, "may the best captain win."

Spring Song eyed the outstretched hoof as if it were something vile before curling her lips into a sinister smirk and slanting her green eyes up to glare into Rainbow's magenta ones. There was a silly part of Rainbow's mind that imagined lasers shooting out of them.

"Don't worry," she looked ahead again, "I will," and then she whizzed off. Rainbow glared after her as she flew away; already planning the awesome victory dance she'd perform once she got the most votes. Maybe she'd get Soarin in on this plan as well, and throw in some of the tricks he'd taught her in their lessons. Or maybe she could hire a professional choreographer to help her out. And she could throw in balloons and a marching band somehow too…

Her somewhat retarded train of thought was interrupted by some wheezy puffing and panting coming from her left. She glanced to the side to see that Smart Set had finally caught up to her. The beige stallion got his breathing slightly under control and gave Rainbow Dash the biggest smile he could manage (which was rather small since he was alarmingly low on energy).

"There… I've caught up… to you…" he tried to do what Rainbow Dash assumed was a hoof pump, but it just looked like he was swatting a fly. Realising that since she had begun talking to Bumble she hadn't put much effort into the laps, she gave her wings a fierce flap and got back on track.

Smart Set sputtered out some random syllables and flailed his limbs around, considering trying to catch up to the cyan mare again before finally just sighing in agony, letting his limbs dangle like a rag doll's, deciding that it just wasn't worth it.

* * *

**Endnote: So yeah… I do realise that the last couple chapters have been ridiculously short. But that's just because these chapters aren't part of an arc. I need a break from long chapters! So if the next few are short as well then you have every reason to blame my laziness. It'll be just like the good old days at the beginning of the story where the chapters were always this length and came out once a week (a schedule I've been trying to back on). But fear not, for I have a feeling that longer chapters will be making a comeback soon.**

**That being said, I just want to remind you all that you may have to be patient with me for the time being. As I said in the last chapter, I'm not entirely sure how I want this story to go so the next few chapters will be harder to write than most. Just keep in mind that if I do disappear for a while, it's only because I'm putting my all into this story. I want to make this the best it can be, and in order to do that I need time and space to plan.**

**Thank you for your patience. ^u^**


	52. Pink and Glittery

**Author's Note: Good lord, I need to write this faster… seriously, I wrote like 200 words a day for this chapter because I'm getting more and more distracted.**

**On the bright side, I got a new kitten! :3**

**Soaring Heart the Pegasus- Funnily enough, that's going to be brought up in this chapter, so good timing. And yes, of course there will be some Flying! I'm pleased you like the concept of Flying though- I think it's the most interesting thing my retarded little brain has come up with to date. Though, I can't take all the credit; flying was inspired by the fusion dances in ****_Steven Universe_****. Facts with Sassymouse****.**

**Amellia Rose- Thank goodness! It's a big relief that you don't mind shorter chapters because they put a lot less pressure on me, and it makes it easier to speed the story along. Sometimes it's nice to have a small chapter- it's more relaxing than having to read something that's 45,000 words long… *shifty eyes*.**

**Captain Alaska- I can be funny even when I'm not trying to be. I forgot how fun it was to write drill sergeant Spitty! :D**

**Luna'snight625- Poor guy- at least he tries his best. And there will certainly be a lot of drama *sigh* I never thought we'd reach a point where the Spitfire/Braeburn plotline was the ****_least_**** dramatic one. xD**

**Drunkenness- Patience my friend. Also, it seems you have some internalized shipping desires of some sort there.**

* * *

"So there's an election to see who's going to be the captain of a fake Wonderbolts team?" Braeburn asked, cleaning one of the ovens. After training was done for the day and everypony had finished eating dinner, Rainbow Dash, Lullaby, Sugar Swoop and Cinder had gone into the kitchen at Rainbow's request so she could tell Soarin and Braeburn about the events of the day.

"That's right," Rainbow nodded, watching as Cinder sat at the side of the sink, washing dishes. It was kinda adorable how she had to climb on the counters whenever she had to clean them or set out ingredients. "It's gonna be a pretty boring competition though- only Spring Song and I signed up in the end." She thought back to the end of the first set of drills, when both she and Spring Song had signed their names on the sheet outside Spitfire's office. It was probably the most pathetic sign-up sheet she had ever seen.

"You mean flamingo-flanks?" Soarin looked up from his _Pie Digest_ magazine with a simper. He'd been totally hooked on it all day, so much that he had almost forgotten to do his paperwork for the day. He definitely didn't need Spitfire or Silver Lining busting his butt about that! Though maybe if he was lucky, Spitfire wouldn't have been so hard on him anyway; judging by Braeburn's story of what had transpired yesterday when he had gone to speak to the captain, her mood was going to improve drastically. Brae had probably done all of them a big favor by wooing the golden pegasus.

"Pfft. Flamingo-flanks?" Sugar Swoop echoed from his spot to the left of Rainbow Dash at the table. "That's a pretty creative nickname… why didn't you think of it, Lullaby?"

Lullaby, who was sitting on the other side of Rainbow Dash, looked across at her peach-coated friend with a raised eyebrow. "Oh I'm sorry- how long have I been the go-to Nickname Generator?" she asked snarkily. "Considering that I always call everyone by their full name I'm the worst pony for the job. You're better off asking Cinder than me."

Cinder called over from the other side of the room, "She's right! I sometimes call Braeburn 'Hillybilly' and Soarin is 'Briar Patch' because he wears too much hair gel." She explained. Rainbow suppressed a laugh as she checked out Soarin's mane, realising for the first time just how much it really did look like a briar patch. Soarin raised a brow and self-consciously lifted a hoof to his spiked mane.

"Hey, I don't use too much… I just use as much as I need to get it to look perfect. Sometimes I just get a little out of control is all." He insisted, turning a little pink at being called out for his hair issues. He then got the genius idea to change the subject. "I still say that we get Spring Song kicked out of the academy. We should all work together to make a list of all the cruddy things Spring Song's done to all of you, give it to Spitfire, and then she can wave her magic wand and bibbidi-bobbidy-boo her clear off of Cloudsdale."

Rainbow groaned and trotted over to Soarin, who was sitting right next to the serving counter. She leaned against Soarin and smooshed her cheek against his shoulder. "Nah that would be cowardly; I can't just get her kicked out, Soarin. That's just as bad as losing this little fight with her. Getting her kicked out would be cheating… not to mention it's kinda pathetic and wimpy." She added that last part with a deadpan expression.

Lullaby giggled and crossed her arms, smirking over at Rainbow Dash. "Whatever you say Dash, but at least you didn't wet yourself last mon- OOPS!" Lullaby slapped her hooves across her mouth, her eyes popping open. Everypony in the room (aside from Braeburn, who was in the food storage room) slowly rotated their heads to look at Lullaby, who at this point had broken into a cold sweat.

"Excuse me?" Rainbow asked, wiggling her ears a little just in case something had gotten stuck in them. Lullaby shifted her eyes from side to side before taking her hooves away from her mouth.

"Um… can we just pretend I didn't say anything? Seriously I will pay you to ignore every syllable that came out of my mouth." She looked at Rainbow Dash with urgency. Naturally, Rainbow Dash wanted to know more about Lullaby's little slip of the tongue.

"Spring Song _peed_ herself?" Rainbow puffed up her cheeks to try and hold her laughter in. There was no way this was true, right? Lullaby had to be pulling her leg with this! The purple pegasus clopped her front hooves together nervously and bit down on her bottom lip.

"Well it was over a month ago… and she hasn't done it since… and she isn't having nightmares anymore… so that's a good thing right, okay let's move on with our-"

"She _peed_ though." Rainbow repeated, her voice tinged with disbelief. Lullaby sighed with defeat and rolled her eyes as far back into her head as they would go, wondering when the day would come that she would roll her eyes so much that they got an asthma attack and died.

"Okay yes, she wet herself. But she had a right to!" Lullaby defended her 'patient'. She was dedicated to her budding psychology career and because of that she was bound by an oath not to reveal anything about their patients that the patient themselves did not want to be shared. Even if Spring Song was a brute on occasion, that was no reason to break that oath. Well… it wouldn't hurt to reveal the obvious fact, she supposed... What?! It's not like she was a real psychologist yet.

"Alright, so she started having nightmares about being in the Storm Cloud Cluster not long after… well you know." Lullaby gestured at Rainbow Dash, who by this point was just used to being reminded of that traumatic event. Well, she wasn't exactly traumatised by it because she had been through so much worse while on missions with her friends to save Equestria. She'd had her mind twisted by Discord! She'd had her pegasus magic drained from her body by Tirek! What was getting struck by lightning compared to that? It's not like it was uncommon for pegasi to get struck by lightning anyhow… okay, it was dangerous and to be honest she probably needed to start taking this kind of thing seriously. Maybe this was one of those delayed reactions. Like, maybe one day in the future Rainbow Dash would wake up and her brain would be full of static.

"Keep talking," Rainbow leaned against Soarin some more and made a gesture with a forehoof for Lullaby to continue. The purple pegasus sighed and crossed her arms.

"That's all there is to say really. It kinda scarred her and she needed some psychological help. Paradise got me to help her out she's all better now. End of story." Lullaby made a horizontal slicing motion through the air with a hoof, showing that she was completely done with this conversation. Rainbow hummed to herself and felt her ears droop. Should she feel guilty right about now?

"Damn, I was making fun of her for this…" she muttered. Sugar Swoop spoke up from his spot at the table.

"Hey Dash, she deserves this. Are you forgetting all the crummy crap she pulled on you?" he asked. Lullaby slapped her stallion friend on his shoulder, getting him to let out a whinny of pain. He sneered at her and rubbed his shoulder where she had hit him. "Easy there Lullaby, you've got quite the arm on you."

"Sugar Swoop, you're extremely cruel. This kind of trauma can affect a pony for the rest of their life! If not treated properly by a professional (aka, moi) then this could damage Spring Song beyond repair!" she tried to tell Sugar Swoop just how dire the situation was. Sugar Swoop still wasn't convinced.

"You don't think she deserves this even a little bit?" he asked, shifting his chair away from Lullaby a little bit in case she decided to hit him again. Lullaby sighed and narrowed her eyes.

"Nopony deserves this, Sugar Swoop." She groaned. "The pain Spring Song feels is much different than the pain you're used to. Imagine that instead of the lightning bolt striking her body like it did with Rainbow Dash, it struck her mind instead." It sucked that she was the only pony around here who seemed to realise just how severe mental damage was. It was much worse than physical pain in her opinion, since the kind of pain that occurred inside one's head was much harder to cure. She thanked Celestia that her own mental issues didn't go beyond mild OCD.

"I don't wanna talk about this anymore," Rainbow mumbled, not all that fond of feeling sympathy for Spring Song, no matter how minimal it was.

"Yeah, we were talking about the election for captain," Soarin agreed, "how the heck did we wind up talking about Spring Song's bizarre head trauma anyway?"

"You called her "Flamingo-Flanks." Cinder replied.

"Oh… right."

* * *

The election quickly became the primary thing on the cadets' minds. The following day when the cadets went out to the runway to line up for combat training to wait for Silver Lining and Fire Streak to come outside, Spring Song was already passing out some pretty expensive looking red velvet cupcakes with fake edible gems on them. Spring Song was leading Paradise (who had the box of cupcakes balanced on her back) down the line, cheerfully inviting the other cadets to take a cake- Rainbow Dash firmly believed that the only reason they were eating the cupcakes was so they would have a sugar boost for training… which was why she felt a twinge of agony when Spring Song and Paradise walked straight past her.

Rainbow Dash looked at the ground forlornly. "I know that she got me struck by lightning, but I think this is the most she's made me sting so far." She was only half-joking.

"Oh, you can live without a cupcake." Lullaby said as she bit into her own one. Hypocrite much, Rainbow thought.

"I had no idea that this election was going to be taken so seriously." Cinder watched as Paradise almost dropped the cupcakes on the ground and Spring Song snapped at her. Ray, who was standing next to Cinder, looked down at the little blue mare.

"It's because she's got somepony to run against- she's gonna be throwing her money around until the election ends." He sighed. It was rather easy for him to grow tired of Spring Song showing off.

"But you guys are totally gonna vote for me so I can rub it in Spring Song's face, right?" Rainbow Dash glanced at Lullaby and Sugar swoop, who stood to the right of her, and then at Cinder and Ray on her right.

"Of course," Sugar Swoop scoffed, "I thought that much was obvious." He commented. Rainbow couldn't argue with him. If she were a voter in this situation then she'd definitely vote for her too.

Lullaby and Cinder agreed instantly… however, the two of them and Sugar Swoop (and Rainbow Dash herself) were a little surprised when Ray didn't agree with them and stayed silent. Staying silent was nothing new for Ray when he was within earshot of Spring Song, but the others had at least hoped for a nod. Was that too much to ask?

"Ray!" Lullaby huffed, glaring daggers at the yellow stallion. Ray shrugged his shoulders and glared right back at his fellow cadet.

"What?!" he snapped, turning his gaze to Rainbow Dash instead. "Dash, you and Spring Song are both my friends, and I really hate the idea of having to choose between the two of you." He was relieved that he had gotten over his crush on Rainbow Dash… for the most part anyway. That would have seriously made his decision biased. But, in his opinion, elections were always easier when you didn't have a romantic interest in one or more of the competitors.

Lullaby groaned and turned her nose up in the air, giving Ray a judgemental side-glance. "How can you stand to be friends with somepony like her anyway?" she asked curiously. Ray completely danced around the question.

"I just don't know who I want to vote for yet, alright?" he returned his stare to Lullaby, glowering at her as if he were challenging her to say something else. "I'll make up my mind on my own! Uh… thank you." He added for extra measure, never liking it when he sounded too cruel. "I don't want to come off as horrible to either of you… if I vote for Rainbow Dash, then I'll lose two of my friends… and if I vote for Spring Song then… well, uh… it may cost us a good captain." He looked pointedly at Rainbow Dash.

Well then, at least she knew who Ray _wanted_ to vote for now.

* * *

The day after that, Rainbow Dash and Cinder walked out to the training grounds with some mini apple pies that Braeburn and Cinder had made for her to help her out in her campaign. Personally, Rainbow Dash felt like the rule that baked goods were meant to increase your chances of winning something were stupid, and she didn't know how the quality of the cakes a contender could get made any difference in whether they were good for the job or not.

So Rainbow Dash decided to think of this as charity. She wasn't trying to win over anypony's affection with sugary treats; she was just giving out food because she was nice, and that was a trait of a great leader. So neither she nor her friends told anypony to vote for her as the goodies were passed out to the line of cadets. Nevertheless, as she walked past Beau, she heard her mutter that she was going to vote for her.

When the cadets went inside for their break before the second half of training, Smart Set and Free Fall approached Rainbow Dash mid-way through a conversation with Lullaby.

"Um… Dash, we need to confide in you about something. And we don't want you to get angry at us…" Smart Set began. Free Fall sighed and stepped in front of Smart Set, who looked down at the ground with shame.

"We aren't going to vote for you." He confessed. Lullaby and Sugar Swoop looked at the two stallions as if they were speaking in some kind of fictional language. Rainbow's ears sprung up.

"Why?!" she exclaimed, beginning to feel a little furious. It wasn't until after the words were out of her mouth that she realised that what she had said may have sounded a little too mean. But then again, there was no way they would actually come to tell her that they were not voting for her unless there was more to it than just that.

"Look, Spring Song's really… well she's a jerk." Free Fall stated the obvious. "And she's rich. The point is we're kinda afraid that if we don't disappear Spring Song will get one of her dozen servants to make us disappear."

Rainbow rolled her eyes and softly sighed. She stood up and walked around to stand next to Free Fall, putting one arm around him and giving him a squeeze, which… was pretty hard to do considering that Free Fall had a build that made him feel like he was made of bricks. "C'mon Free Fall, ya can't chicken out of something like this. You're a big, strong stallion, a fact that you take every opportunity to remind us of, and yet here you are, knocking your knees together because you're afraid of a prissy sissy like Spring Song. We need to teach her a lesson or else she'll never drop this annoying stuck-up act of hers!" she took her arm away from Free Fall so she could pound her hooves together like she was throwing a punch. She then jumped on top of the table (slamming her hind right hoof onto Sugar Swoop's sandwich in the process) and spread her wings.

"Some ponies need to stand up to Spring Song! And if not us, who? If not now, when? And if not then, then… something else! But if we're gonna put an end to her "reign of terror" then we're gonna have to overthrow her! WHO'S WITH ME!" she called… rather loudly. Almost everypony in the room was staring at her as she waited for Smart Set and Free Fall's responses. Her determination quickly evaporated into thin air as the two stallions simply turned and walked away. She let her wings drop to her sides and she jumped off the table, sighing and resting her chin on the surface, hoping that the other ponies would cease their staring so she could get her sulk on. This… was going to be a much bigger problem than she had previously anticipated.

Sugar Swoop then reached over and tapped Rainbow Dash on the shoulder. The rainbow maned pony tilted her head to the right just enough that she could angle her eyes upwards and look at him.

"You owe me a new sandwich."

* * *

When it was time for dinner in the mess hall, she overheard Beau trying to convince Bumble and Stargazer to vote for Dash. She didn't seem to be having much luck though.

At the same time, Spring Song was blabbing to Cinder and Stains about how they should totally vote for her. Rainbow Dash was appalled when the pink tailhole actually tried to bribe them by saying they could come over to her house and use the Jacuzzi any time they wanted (which sounded like a blatant lie if you asked Dash.)

But the real kicker was when Paradise and Ray fluttered in with large poster. They hung it up on an open space, and touched down so that the rest of the ponies in the mess hall could check it out. The poster was pink all over with Celestia-knows how much glitter all over it. In the centre was a picture of Spring Song's face, looking upwards. One half of the poster was dark pink and the other was light pink, and at the bottom of the posters, in yellow block capitals was the word "VOTE".

"You've gotta be kidding…" Rainbow muttered to herself. She knew that Spring Song had an ego, but this was just ridiculous. It wasn't like she was being elected president… whatever one of those was!

Butternut called Paradise over to her and whispered into her ear, which was a little hard to do since everypony was trying to figure out whether they were supposed to take Spring Song's crazy poster seriously or not. "Did Spring Song really think it was a good idea to make that thing? That thing is much trippy, very whaaa?" Butternut said, putting on her troll-voice for the end of her sentence. Paradise just responded by grinning and looping an arm around the peanut-butter coloured mare.

"Me and Ray put a lot of effort into it, and we had to bribe Stains with _my _money to get some of her paint, so don't call it trippy!" she hissed, maintaining her grin and pushing her nose against Butternut's, staring into the mare's eyes with her own wide psychopathic ones. Paradise, it seemed, was very sensitive about people criticizing her art. Butternut gulped and nodded her head slowly.

"O-okay, Paradise, I'll never call your art trippy or any other synonym for trippy. 'Cause I'm never gonna give you up, or let you down." A bead of sweat ran down the side of Butternut's face.

Rainbow Dash groaned and left the room, deciding that she'd rather take Soarin to the Hayburger than eat in here with a giant picture of Spring Song's face on the wall. Too much pink and glittery stuff.

* * *

The following morning before drills, Rainbow Dash caught up to Ray as he was about to head outside to the training grounds to join the others beside the runway. "Hey Ray, buddy, chum, friend, can I talk to you for a sec?" she asked as he opened the door. The yellow stallion sighed and stepped outside, Rainbow Dash following not too far behind, picking up the pace so she could get out the door before it closed... yeah she was pretty lazy when it came to doors.

"I know what you want," Ray gave Rainbow Dash a sideways glance as they headed towards the other cadets. "You want to try and convince me to vote for you again, right?" he already knew the answer of course.

Rainbow shuffled her hooves and little and looked upwards, pretending to be distracted by a peculiar cloud that looked exactly like a woodpecker… actually come to think of it, it looked more like a dragon now- dammit, stop being distracted! She visibly shook herself out of her accidental daze. Ray rolled his eyes and smiled, pleased that despite the competition going on, Rainbow Dash was still her usual funny self.

"Well, my answer's still the same and you can't change it, Dash." He told her, beginning to quicken his pace, feeling like if he talked to her much longer he would just hurt her feelings by refusing to vote. He just wanted everypony to get along, and a contest like this was not going to get the cadets to live in peace and harmony with each other. At least, not until the voting was over anyway…

Rainbow groaned and gave her wings a few frustrated flaps, trotting faster until she was walking next to Ray again. "Please Ray, I need your help. What if… what if Spring Song and I draw and you're the one who has to vote for which one of us wins?" she thought of an intimidating scenario that would get Ray to think very carefully.

Instead of getting an answer, however, Ray just stared at the ground as hard as he could as if staring at it long enough would make Rainbow Dash disappear. Or at the very least she would get bored of waiting for him to say something and move on to give him some personal space. He hated being put on the spot like this.

Rainbow tried to come up with a different plan. "I… I'd owe you a huge favor! Multiple favors if you'd like that! I'd clean your dorm room, I'd… I'd show you some of the aerial tricks Soarin's been teaching me! I'll give you whatever you want. Listen, I have a complete collection of Wonderbolts trading cards, and you can have them all, I swear to Celestia!"

Ray sighed and begrudgingly turned to look Rainbow Dash in the eye, absentmindedly putting a hoof to his hair to check if his spiky Mohawk was out of place at all. "You really want to win that badly?" he asked.

"Yes!" Rainbow Dash said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world… which it kinda was… to her at least. "Yes I do! So much!"

"Well, why is that?"

Rainbow answered without missing a beat. "Well, for one thing it sounds like a butt load of fun! Second, I think I'd be totally awesome at it." She stopped and glared over at the line of cadets, locking her sight on one particular pink pain in the rump. "But most of all I want to teach Spring Song a lesson- I want to show her that she _can't_ control everypony with money and fear. I want to show her that she's not the fourth Princess of Equestria." She tried to mask the venom in her voice.

Ray didn't say anything for a good long while after that. He looked from Rainbow Dash to the line of cadets and allowed his gaze to linger on Spring Song. Dash could tell that he was thinking about this very hard… it must be hard to choose between one of his closest friends and the Wonderbolt Reserve.

Finally he sighed and rubbed his forehead with one front hoof. "I'll consider voting for you okay?" he settled on saying. "Just give me a little more time to think it over."

That was good enough for Rainbow Dash, and she simply smiled and nodded before the two of them walked side by side to join the others for drills.

* * *

After dinner that evening, Rainbow Dash was returning to her room after an evening of training with Soarin. She had taught her about how to make a trail of lightning appear behind you after kicking a storm cloud. Soarin was almost able to pull it off perfectly, but Rainbow Dash had always instinctively stopped right before her hooves made contact with the cloud… maybe the storm cloud incident had taken more of a toll on her brain than she had thought before?

Lullaby was off somewhere with Sugar Swoop and Smart Set, the two formers most likely trying to persuade the latter to vote for Rainbow Dash. Dash didn't know Smart Set all that well, but from what she _did_ know was that he didn't really decide things for himself. He liked to just see what other ponies were doing and then he would join in so he could fit in. So in a sense he had a mind-set rather similar to that of Stains, only less insane. She was surprised that the two of them didn't seem to get along all that well.

Finally, Rainbow Dash made it to her dorm room, feeling pretty exhausted after a long day of training and campaigning. The constant talk of the competition between her and Spring Song was just getting old in her opinion. It had only been a few days but already it was becoming a sore subject with her. It was still pretty early in the evening but all she wanted to do was flop down face-first on her bed and pass out. At least while she was dreaming she could get the hell away from the spawn of Tirek that was-

"Hey Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow lazily lolled her head to the side to see who was talking to her, and wanted to just slam her face into the wall when she saw that it was Spring Song and Paradise at the end of the hallway. Good grief, she was just _not_ in the mood for this right now. Just. Walk. Away!

"Have a nice night!" Spring Song sing-songed. Then she trotted past the hallway with Paradise following close behind her. Rainbow was pretty surprised that that confrontation had ended so quickly… and that there had actually been one at all, it had been so short. Oh well, it's not like she was going to complain about that.

"_NOT_!" Paradise suddenly poked her head back around the wall and sneered down the hallway at Rainbow Dash. And then she was gone.

Rainbow had a million rude words zooming through her head right now, and if she hadn't been so fed up and tired then she would have undoubtedly yelled them so loud that everyone in the Academy could hear her

Instead she just exhaled sharply and pushed her way through the door, slamming it behind her and marching across the room to her bed to take her cadet uniform off. As she unzipped her uniform she cursed Spring Song through her teeth. "Have a nice night yourself Spring Bitch."

She then left her uniform lying on the floor and placed a quill and a piece of paper on her bedside table so she could write her letter to her friends in the morning. She proceeded to hop onto her bed, curling up into a ball without even bothering to get under the covers, and wished that she could sleep until this blasted election was over.

* * *

The flowers in Rainbow Dash's nightmares were pink and glittery that night.

* * *

**Endnote: I have literally no excuse for why this took so long. I've already said this before, but I have next to no idea how we'll make it to the end of the story from here. So if I'm going slow, just remember that it's only because I'm trying to forge a path from here to the final chapter so I can move on with my life. The light at the end of the tunnel is constantly growing and shrinking right now, so just bear with me. I am a human being and I need time, patience and cookies.**

**Also, I didn't realize how much I wanted to write Butternut until this chapter. I want her to just constantly reference memes like a YouTube Poop. xD**

**And yes, Spring Song's posters were supposed to reference Barack Obama's HOPE posters.**


	53. A Soaring Birthday

**(The title is a reference to the G3 MLP movie "_A Charming Birthday"_, which I was unfortunate enough to own as a child.)**

**Author's Note: Guess who might have narcolepsy! :D (plz send help)**

**Okay, I'm sorry for the absurdly long delay with this one, as always, I've been struggling with a lot of personal stuff- it's kinda obliterating my motivation to do anything. I don't expect to get updates out fast anymore. I work on the story EVERY DAY but I never seem to make much progress. I don't know how! **

**Guest 24- Yep! Vote for Dashie guys! God, I hate getting political; what the hell made me write this? xD**

**Luna'snight625- "Oh boy" is right, my friend.**

**Amellia Rose- I think it was **_**too**_** short. That chapter should have been out in like a week, what the heck is wrong with me?! I'll try to speed up to make the chapters longer next time.**

**StormStar12- Yo! Glad you enjoyed the chapter, and I'll try to speed up my schedule in the future. I work on this story almost every night but I have a really short attention span… yeah, this causes a lot of problems… but I'm pleased that you were happy when this updated. It's such a rare occurrence as of late. ^u^**

**Litestardt- Aw, sorry that you have to wait a while for SpitBurn; but I have some news for you: There will be another SpitBurn chapter in a couple chapters' time. I've been waiting to write that particular chapter for like a year now! And WHOA SLOW DOWN! Haha, I like your enthusiasm but they haven't even been on a date yet! But who knows, maybe someday they'll get married. However, I don't think they'd have kids. Braeburn isn't good at looking after children and in the official MLP comics Spitfire has this crippling fear of interacting with foals. Oh well, that's just another area they match up in. But things could change. Who knows for sure? *shrugs***

**Drunkenness: Nope, I'm not voting for Hillary **_**or**_** Trump because I'm not a US citizen. I have to deal with the goddamn Brexit instead… whoop-de-frakking-do. And yes, Butternut is the local meme machine, so expect a lot of those... I've been educating myself on memes lately. ^^". Lullaby… well I wouldn't call her the sanest cadet. Actually, I don't know who is the sanest. Maybe Smart Set? Or Paradise? You'll see once we get to the cadet-centered chapter that all of them are pretty weird in some way. And I need to write more Cinder stuff, especially stuff with her and Braeburn, because I don't give her enough attention despite her being a high-ranking supporting character. And yeah, I do read Piercing the Heavens… though I'm about twenty chapters behind and to be honest every time I go to look at it I just remember how much better it is than my story. And as of late I've been drifting away from M rated fics anyway. And my opinion on SoarBurn… I don't ship it, sorry. I've tried to, but I just don't like it like that. They work much better to me as a BROTP. And I mean a CLOSE BROTP! If this story was set in the **_**Homestuck**_** universe then Soarin and Braeburn would be moirails (which basically means "platonic soul mates"). However I don't think Braeburn is straight. I headcanon Braeburn as pansexual (attracted to all genders). As for Soarin… sorry, but I think he's pretty much just into mares. But I do headcanon the sexualities of many characters in MLP, and I could rattle on for a long time about it since I'm a_ sucker_ for representation.**

**MorgothII- Every time someone says that they've spent a long period of time reading this I just think "you poor thing, having to suffer through all of that." I have no idea when you'll see this reply, or even if you read my Author's Notes at all, but thank you ever so much for reading, my friend. ^u^ (P.S. I love your username).**

**Also, in this chapter there is a guest character named Action Hammer. In my head he's voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson (who has one of the most awesome voices in the universe).**

* * *

_Hi guys,_

_So as I write this it's five in the morning, having gone to sleep early it makes sense that I should get up early as well, right? Lullaby keeps glaring over at me for some reason and telling me to stop writing because the sound of my quill scratching is apparently annoying her. I personally think that she needs to learn to appreciate the things I do in the middle of the night, because if I'm being honest the sound of a quill scratching against paper is awesome!_

_Okay, I'm getting off-track. Firstly Rarity, I appreciate the election posters you sent me but I really don't want to use posters after what happened yesterday. Just believe me when I say that you do _not_ want to know. I did hang a few above my bed though, and waking up to them was great! So thanks for that!_

_I don't have many doubts that I have this election in the bag but, just in case, I'm gonna try and get some more of the cadets on my side. It might be hard though because Spring Song could possibly have some of the others under her control with secret mind powers._

_Thanks for all the support though. I'll keep you up to date._

_Sincerely, Future Captain Rainbow Dash._

"Are you done yet?" Lullaby slurred, only her eyes and ears visible from beneath the covers. Rainbow Dash rolled her letter up and tucked it into her saddlebags as usual.

"Yeah, you can sleep now." Rainbow replied. Lullaby sighed in relief and closed her eyes, rolling over to face the dorm's wall. Rainbow picked a random Daring Do book from the bookshelf and hopped back onto the bed, not really caring which one she ended up reading since all of them were awesome.

She decided to just skim some pages to find her favorite scenes and simply read over them. Whenever she reread things, she sometimes just liked to skip to the best parts without having to go through the build-up to get there. It's not like she didn't know what had happened anyway, so she wasn't missing anything. However, she had only been reading for about three minutes before she was interrupted.

"Rainbow Dash, why aren't you going back to sleep?" she asked. "It's too early to read."

"Well I went to sleep really early. I think I've caught enough winks for one day." Lullaby didn't bother turning around, but raised her voice a little to get the point across that she was pretty frustrated right now.

"You may have gone to sleep early, but I was up late hanging out with Smart Set. Sugar Swoop was supposed to help me convince him to vote for you, but he got bored and skedaddled." She was clearly speaking through gritted teeth. Rainbow raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you didn't mind hanging with Smart Set…" she was surprised at how mad Lullaby sounded right now. The purple pony let out a sigh and shrugged her shoulders, making her bedsheets wrinkle a little.

"It's not that… it's just really hard to change his mind. I think I got him to consider voting for you, but he said some confusing stuff about wanting to help Spring Song out with her problems… I'm not entirely sure; he said it in the most baffling way possible. Like he was speaking in riddles or something…"

Rainbow made a 'pfft' noise and reclined back on her bed. "Why the heck would he want to help Spring Song with her problems?" she scoffed. Lullaby actually did roll over to look at Rainbow Dash this time, and Rainbow tried not to laugh at the purple pony's messy bed-hair.

"You mean just like _I'm_ doing?" she scowled. Clearly Lullaby was cranky at this time of night. Rainbow nodded.

"Well yes… only I don't know how Smart Set's going about it. I highly doubt that Spring Song lets _him_ come into her room at night and read her bedtime stories-"

"I have _never _done that!" Lullaby raised her voice a little more.

Their discussion was interrupted by some pounding on the wall beside Lullaby.

"Shut up in there! Some of us are trying to sleep, dumbasses!" Beau's high voice rang out. Rainbow was pretty sure she heard somepony in another room yell in agreement. Okay… maybe it _was_ too early to be awake right now. She did love sleep, and a nap directly after waking up never hurt anypony, right?

"Okay, you win. Let's talk about this in the… later morning." Rainbow slipped under the covers this time, having slept all night on top of the bed with nothing to keep her warm. Lullaby sighed and turned over again.

"Thank you." She said before falling silent once again. Rainbow looked towards the window, where the first purple streaks of sunrise were creeping in through the cracks at the sides of the curtains, and shut her eyes, deciding to cherish the few moments of peace she had before-

She suddenly shot straight up in bed.

"OHMIGOSH IT'S SOARIN'S BIRTHDAY TODAY!"

"GO TO SLEEP RAINBOW DASH!"

* * *

Braeburn was preparing breakfast for the cadets and Wonderbolts (a couple of whom were already snacking away). Soarin was among them, talking to Wave Chill and Blaze, and the two of them seemed to be congratulating him on something. That something was, of course, his birthday. Braeburn had already bought him something for the occasion of course, but now he had extra responsibilities stacked on his shoulders since Rainbow Dash had come to him first thing this morning (and by that I mean that Rainbow Dash was waiting for Braeburn as he came through the entrance doors) asking him to assist her in planning a surprise birthday for him.

She had given him two jobs, one of which was fairly simple (cooking all the food), and the other of which was slightly more difficult, and that was keeping Soarin away from the preparations. The problem here was that there was no way Braeburn would be able to cook as much food as Rainbow wanted by the time drills ended and she had to start decorating, so he planned to enlist Cinder to finish the baking while he took Soarin for a trip around Cloudsdale. However, first he'd probably have to wait for him to finish up his paperwork, since Silver Lining was yelling at him from the door that he was behind schedule.

He turned away from the counter for no longer than half a minute to take some muffins out of the oven. When he turned back to the counter, he almost dropped the oven tray from his mouth when he saw Fleetfoot peering over the counter at him.

"Hey Braeburn, I need ssome muffins! Sstat!" she propped her head up on her elbows. Braeburn chuckled at her behaviour and placed the tray on top of the counter.

"Alright, just be careful with 'em okay? They're pipin' hot." He warned the light blue Wonderbolt. Fleetfoot smacked her lips and glanced behind her.

"Thank you! Take ssome of these," she reached into her uniform pocket and pulled out a few bits, placing them on the counter as a tip, which Braeburn immediately thanked her for. Then Fleetfoot grabbed a few muffins and placed them on a plate. Just then, somepony Braeburn had never expected to see came in through the doors to the mess hall. Braeburn's jaw dropped as the stallion raised his head; he knew _exactly_ who this was! The buzz cut mane, the large, powerful wings, the glossy, silver fur, the half a dozen golden chains hanging around his neck, the triangular anime-like glasses...

"_Oh my Celestia, it's Action Hammer_!" Wave Chill slammed his forehooves on the table and fanboyed as the famous actor strode into the mess hall. Blaze turned around, and her mouth formed an 'O' shape. It wasn't often a celebrity like Action Hammer walked into the same room you were having breakfast in. Action Hammer had been in many famous movies over the years, a few of which were among Soarin and Braeburn's favorites ever. The two of them had spent years watching him on a screen, but now the real deal was _right in this room_!

"So this is the Wonderbolts' mess hall," Action Hammer looked around the room, nodding in approval. "This place is sick! Where's my hoof bumper?"

Just then, a spindly pegasus stallion dashed in through the mess hall doors and skidded to a halt in front of Action Hammer, lifting up one of his forehooves. Action Hammer grinned and bumped his own forehoof against the other stallions, and then the spindly pegasus ran back out the doors.

'_The guy has his own hoof bumping servant_?' Braeburn thought to himself. '_He really is the most awesome stallion in Equestria_'. Braeburn forgot about the cooking for a minute and rushed through the doors, trying not to sound too enthusiastic as he came to a stop in front of the celebrity.

"M-mister Hammer, it's such an honor!" he gushed. He quickly cleared his throat and changed the subject. "Ah love your hoof-bumper!"

Action Hammer slapped Braeburn on the back playfully… it hurt. "Thanks man," he flashed the earth pony a cocky smile. "Ya think that's cool, check out my beer-cooler-pony." He turned his head towards the door and whistled. A taller stallion trudged through the door with a beer cooler strapped to his back. Action Hammer signalled for him to crouch down and the tall stallion did as he was told. Action Hammer then flipped open the cooler and pulled out a couple of Coltweiser beers and passed one to Braeburn.

"Whoa, thanks," Braeburn knew it was just a beer, but dang it was given to him by _Action Hammer_! He could faint!

"Can I go to the bathroom?" the beer-cooler-guy asked. Action Hammer gestured to the door.

"You're excused." He gave the guy permission to leave. The stallion then took off, the beer cooler still on his back. Braeburn wondered if he ever took it off. Fleetfoot made her way over to Braeburn and took the beer from him.

"Aw, thankss for getting me thiss, Apple Cheekss." She gave him her signature flirty wink. Braeburn tried not to feel offended that she was now drinking his Action Hammer beer. The actor grinned down at Fleetfoot.

"So you're Fleetfoot right? You're the one my pals are always calling 'hot' and 'sexy'." He asked. Fleetfoot nodded her head.

"That'ss me. I'm sso psyched that I found you! You have sso many fans at the Academy, you wouldn't believe." She gushed, taking a swig of the beer she had taken from Braeburn. "I'm gonna go find Lightning and Fire Sstreak! Wait right here!" with that, she flapped her wings and whizzed out the room. Action Hammer glanced after her and chuckled, turning back to Braeburn.

"She's pretty damn beautiful. I might be falling in love." He smiled. Whoa, this guy was really smiley. Braeburn had no idea whether or not he was serious about the "falling for Fleetfoot" thing.

"Um, can we get autographs?" Wave Chill appeared next to Action Hammer, looking pretty starstruck. Blaze joined him a moment later and asked the same thing. The actor happily took out a pen and signed the collars of their uniforms. Braeburn removed his hat, figuring that if he couldn't get a beer off him, he could at least get a signature on his stetson.

* * *

"I can't believe Action Hammer is right there!" Rainbow looked at the actor. The cadets were in the mess hall after a long day of training. Spitfire had enlisted High Winds to assist her in teaching the cadets some of the traditional flight routines. It was probably the best drills session so far! It had gone by so fast though…

"I know right!" Sugar Swoop breathed from his seat next to Rainbow Dash, his eyes as wide as saucers.

"He's even more buff in person," Lullaby added, craning her neck to get a better view, and turning the slightest bit pink. Thankfully it was difficult to see through her dark purple fur. Dark fur was the best when it came to these kinds of situations!

Action Hammer glanced up from the apple tart he was eating. "I appreciate your admiration," he told them from his seat two seats away from Rainbow Dash. Yeah… as soon as she'd stepped into the mess hall after the second set of drills and saw that Action Hammer was sitting at a table in the centre of the room, she had charged at her current seat (which wasn't too close to make him uncomfortable but not too far away to make it look like Dash was intimidated) like a crazed bull.

"Hehe… thanks sir." Rainbow felt like taking off into the air and performing the fangirl dance to end all fangirl dances, but she knew that she would look like an absolute doofus if she did that.

"Hi Action Hammer," Fleetfoot flashed a grin at the silver stallion as she trotted past, balancing a plate of carrot sticks on her back and moving to sit with Silver Lining. Action Hammer stared after her with a stupid grin on his face, something that Lullaby quickly noticed.

"Hehe, got a thing for Fleetfoot, huh?" she smirked. Rainbow knew that Lullaby was a sucker for this kind of stuff. Action Hammer shrugged and nodded.

"Yeah, I hear my bros talking about her all the time. I've wanted to meet her for a while to see what they were making such a big deal about… I can't say I'm disappointed." He ran a hoof across his buzz cut to make sure that it was still perfect. "Dang, I've gotta impress her somehow." He adjusted his anime glasses just enough so that the light shining in through the window reflected off them.

Hot damn this guy is awesome, Rainbow thought.

"Impress her?" Sugar Swoop thought for a second, "Well I think she likes strip clubs." He suggested. Lullaby slapped him on the shoulder (a habit that she seemed to be succumbing to more and more) and gave him a sharp look. Rainbow Dash didn't feel like pointing out that the peach stallion was almost certainly correct. Action Hammer seemed to be unaware of how promiscuous Fleetfoot was, and telling him that might alter his opinion of her a little. Action Hammer scoffed and looked at the younger pegasus male.

"Listen, l'il stallion; when I like a lady, I go all out with letting her know. So tell me- what should I do that would totally blow her mind. I'm a millionaire, so don't worry about money."

_Don't worry about money._

Those words swirled around and repeated in Rainbow Dash's mind like a whisper from the Gods. This gave her a perfect, diabolical plan…

"I know what you could do!" Rainbow Dash sat up straight, loving the plan that was weaving itself together in her head like a tapestry depicting the glory she would shower herself in one the stepping stones over the river to success had been crossed and she was clutching victory to her bosom… Rainbow wasn't the best when it came to metaphors, and to be honest, after 'tapestry' she had just been thinking stupid, random stuff that didn't mean anything.

"You should throw her a surprise party!" Rainbow schemed, trying not to smile too much. She needed to keep her true intentions under the rug like the dust she always swept under her rug in her bedroom back home in Ponyville. Action Hammer raised a bushy eyebrow.

"Is it her birthday?" he asked. It seemed a little weird that he would choose to come to the academy on the exact same day as Fleetfoot's birthday. Rainbow needed to think of something else.

"No… but that's why it's a _surprise_ party. She'll be so surprised because there is literally _no_ reason for her to have a party at all!" surely he would buy that.

He did. "Okay, I can't argue with logic like that. Nice thinking there, Miss Dash." He patted her on the shoulder and Rainbow almost leapt out of her seat to do that fangirling thing she was considering doing earlier… yeah she still wasn't going to risk that unless he did something extreme like almost kill her while hugging her.

"So you're sure that will work?" Lullaby asked. "Wouldn't it be a lot simpler if you just asked her out directly? Personally I'd rather somepony simply invite me to dinner than go all-out with a party…"

"Well you're not Fleetfoot, Lullaby. Allow me to do the work here please." The last thing she needed was Lullaby changing Action Hammer's mind and ruining her plan.

"So a party..." Action Hammer leaned his head in one hoof and hummed in thought. "What kind of party would she like?"

Rainbow opened her mouth to answer, only to find that she had absolutely no idea how to. She would have to excuse herself for a while, so she slowly stood up from her seat.

"Can I just use the bathroom first? I'd happily answer but I can't hold this much longer." Yes, she knew that was too much information, but she didn't care! She just needed ten minutes to get her answer!

* * *

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Come in!" Soarin called from behind his desk, where he was making a tower out of pencils. The paperwork he was meant to be finishing was on the desk in front of him with only a few pages completed. Sometimes it was just so hard to focus on things, especially when those things were so painstakingly _boring_. Like, Soarin didn't even know what the words on the paper even meant half the time.

Rainbow Dash pushed open the door and stepped in, closing the door behind her, a clipboard held in her mouth. She made her way to Soarin's desk and placed the clipboard down on it, stretching over the desk to give Soarin a quick kiss. "Soarin, I need your help with something." She picked the clipboard up again. "And I need to borrow a pencil."

Soarin tried to stop her, but once Rainbow had plucked a pencil from the Leaning Tower of Pencil, it all came crashing down. Oh well, cleaning up that mess was going to be _way_ more fun that this paperwork. Or maybe this was karma's crappy way of telling him that he should get on with the paperwork after all. Ugh, he needed to stop trying to analyze stuff so much.

"Um, okay," Soarin shook his head and put on his best professional face. "What do you need my help with?"

"Spitfire asked me to go around and update the Bolts' files. So I thought I'd start with you, seeing as you're the best." She flattered him. Soarin blinked a couple of times.

"Isn't it better to save the best for last?" he asked. At least, that's how he did things. He always saved the juiciest looking piece of pie for last whenever he ate his favorite food, so shouldn't the same apply to the Wonderbolts as well?

"Soarin, would you just do it?" there was no time to waste when it came to this plan, and Rainbow was determined to make it back to Action Hammer with his answer lickety-split.

"Fine, go ahead." Soarin leaned back in his seat and kicked his hind hooves up onto the desk. He was grateful that Rainbow Dash had come down to give him a break from the work that he wasn't doing.

"Alrighty then," Rainbow took the pencil between her teeth and aimed it at the clipboard. "Can I get your full name?"

"Soarin Gordon Skies."

"Gender?" Rainbow moved onto the next question.

Soarin hesitated at the obvious question, wondering if Rainbow was being silly on purpose. "I'm as male as I was the last time you saw me…" he glanced down at the purple tie he was wearing in place of his usual black one. Wave Chill had commented on how it clashed with the blue uniform horrendously, but Soarin didn't care. It was just clothing- they didn't even need to wear it in the first place so what the heck was he complaining about? The whole point of that ramble was that stallions could wear feminine colours as well!

"Okay… what's your favorite kind of entertainment?" Rainbow carried on with her questionnaire. That struck Soarin as an odd thing for Spitfire to print on a Wonderbolts file, but he wasn't about to argue with Captain Cranky.

"Sports…" he looked down at his tie again. "I can like purple and sports at the same time." He crossed his arms and pouted. He frigging _loved_ purple!

"Favorite party snack?" Rainbow realised a little too late that she probably should have omitted the word 'party' from that question to erase any suspicion. She didn't want him to catch onto this.

"Hmm… pizza bites." Soarin decided, licking his lips at the thought of those yummy treats. "Hey Dashie, if you don't mind my asking, why does Spitfire want to-"

"Soarin, it's none of our business what she does with this information. I'm sure it'll all make sense in time," Rainbow looked down at her list for the next question.

"So what's your favorite flavor of cake frosting?"

* * *

"Are you sure this is right, Rainbow Dash?" Action Hammer asked, looking down at the list once Rainbow had returned to the mess hall. A few of the cadets had left by this point, but Lullaby and Sugar Swoop had still been there when Dash had returned, still talking to Action Hammer.

"Of course it's right." Rainbow nodded confidently. Action Hammer still didn't look convinced.

"Really? 'Cause I know Fleetfoot's an aerial flyer and all, but she still doesn't strike me as a pony who likes sports like buckball and hockey."

"Welp, she does! She got addicted to hoofball once she found out about the wing-back position." Rainbow thought of a lie. Action Hammer didn't question her any further than that. She glanced at her two fellow cadets. Sugar Swoop appeared just as confused as Action Hammer was about this, but by the look on Lullaby's face she might have gotten wind as to what was going on. She raised a suspicious eyebrow at Dash but the cyan mare chose to just ignore her. She would bribe Lullaby into helping her out later.

"So what I'm thinking is that we hire a butt-load of sports equipment and we turn the mess hall into a sports pony's utopia." She rubbed her hooves together like the villains in the movies did when they were coming up with a master plan. And by Jove was this plan masterful. She could throw a party for Soarin, _and_ simultaneously hook Action Hammer up with Fleetfoot, and nopony would ever have to know! "I'm so feeling this idea. In fact! I feel like I deserve a HOOF BUMP for coming up with this plan!"

Action Hammer's hoof-bumping pony skidded through the mess hall doors, vaulted over one of the tables and landed right behind Rainbow Dash. Dash spun around in her seat and raised her hoof for a triumphant bump. The hoof-bumping stallion then zoomed back out the door. Everypony stared in awe for a minute before Action Hammer broke the silence by poking Rainbow's shoulder.

"Do _not_ use my hoof-bumper." He warned her with fire in his eyes.

So. Freaking. Awesome.

Action Hammer ensured that everyone's attention was on their food again before speaking to Dash. "So you're sure without a doubt that this'll win me her heart?"

Rainbow got up and bravely slung a foreleg over the actor's broad shoulders. "Have some optimism, my buff buddy. If Hoofdini's actor friend didn't let him go forth with his plans, where would he be?"

Action Hammer paused for a second before giving a deadpan response. "Alive."

Rainbow's ears fell against the sides of her skull and she clicked her tongue, looking off into the distance with embarrassment. "In hindsight I should have thought of a better example than that." She admitted. Lullaby and Sugar Swoop nodded in agreement.

"Just leave it all to me. There's just one thing…" hopefully this would work. "I'm going to need something to pay for everything." Please work, please work, please work-

"Alright, I got somethin'." Action Hammer lowered his neck and shook off a couple of the large gold chains that he wore around it. "Take these and use as much money as you want."

Rainbow tried not to make the bits glowing in her eyes too obvious as she put the chains on around her own neck. "You can count on me, Action Hammer." She beamed, raising her forehoof to her forehead in a salute.

* * *

Once the money had been spent and the mess hall tables had been stacked against the wall to make some extra space, Rainbow began organizing the layout of the party.

"WAIT!" Rainbow Dash skidded past one of the pegasi stacking the mess hall tables against the walls and hurried over to the training grounds doors, to the left side of which an archery stand was being set up. "Don't put that there!" she made the mare arranging the stand freeze with terror as she practically shoved her face into her own. "Put it in the middle of the opposite wall. That way if somepony's coming through the door they won't accidentally get shot in the eye. The mare seemed to think that was a good reason and she hurriedly starting moving the parts across the room.

"Rainbow Dash!"

Dash jumped and whipped around to the mess hall doors, a curse word flashing in her mind as Spitfire came in, glancing around the room in utter confusion at what the heck she was witnessing. "Are you throwing a _party_ in here?" oh boy, she was using her angry voice. Never a good thing to be hearing… hence why it was called an angry voice…

"No… no I'm not." Rainbow lied. She did it pretty convincingly, but Spitfire seemed to have some kind of powerful lie detector… or she could see the balloons and streamers flying around the room… or Cinder yelling about missing cake frosting in the kitchen… or the banner that- okay it was obvious that this was a party to _everypony who had eyes_!

"Dash, you can't throw a party, and especially not without my permission." She scolded the blue pegasus. She looked about ready to break into one of her stern lectures when Rainbow interrupted. Quick, think of something in a dash, Rainbow.

"Hey hey hey, wait! I didn't get your permission because…" Rainbow practically got smashed in the face with a light bulb. "B-because it's _your_ party, Captain!"

Please work, please work, please work-

"It is?" Spitfire raised an eyebrow, looking a little shocked, and slightly skeptical, at this "revelation". Okay, so maybe the lie detector was a little bit rusty?

Dash nodded quickly. "Y-yeah! It was! Way to ruin the surprise." She realised that she probably shouldn't take such a harsh tone with a pony who could kick her out of the Academy. Spitfire took a few steps forward, gazing at Rainbow Dash in disbelief.

"You really know that it was exactly seven years ago today that I performed in my first airshow?" she asked. Her eyes, though still stern, were somehow still practically sparkling with joy, and frankly it was scaring Dash out of her mind…

There was a short stretch of silence before Rainbow decided to just go along with it. Anything to keep this party going.

"Heck yeah I do!" she agreed. Fate really seemed to want her to throw this party for Soarin; why else would also be the day of an anniversary of Spitfire's. "I know all about you guys. I aced the history of the Wonderbolts test after all. I could totally pass a test about all of you current Wonderbolts." She boasted. It was probably true though. It felt refreshing to mix a little bit of the truth amongst all of the lies. "And there was no way that I was gonna allow one of the best Wonderbolts in history to let this occasion pass by without celebrating it." That's it Dash, keep inching towards her good side.

If you asked Rainbow Dash, she would say that she was getting much better at lying… she just hoped that Applejack would never find out about today, because if that happened then she would most likely never hear the end of it. It was the perfect guilt tripping fuel…

"Damnit Dash, I don't really like parties…" Spitfire sounded a little uncertain. "Couldn't you have just taken me, Surprise, Soarin and a couple of other 'Bolts to a bar or something. It's got everything you need for a celebration. Drinks, ponies, drinks and drinks."

Rainbow awkwardly looked around. Alcohol problem much?

"Hey, if it makes you feel any better, while everypony's partying you can just come in subtly. We won't yell surprise or anything if it'll make you feel more comfortable." Please work-

"That would be... pretty good actually…" Spitfire looked a little embarrassed that she was excited about something. Then again, it _was_ a little strange that a famous celebrity had a fear of parties and crowds. Dash remembered how she had stuck with Braeburn throughout Surprise's party, which was pretty nice of the guy. It kinda reminded her of Fluttershy a little bit. The cyan mare almost laughed out loud at the thought of the Wonderbolt captain and her best friend being so similar when it came to receiving attention.

"One thing," Rainbow lowered her voice a little, partly because she wanted it to seem like she didn't want anypony overhearing what they were saying and also partly because she didn't want any of the party planners to be confused if they heard her talking about a party for a Spitfire when they'd been told it was for Soarin, "you need to keep this to yourself. Don't tell _anypony_ that you know about this, and be sure to act surprised when you get here later." It felt strange and yet fulfilling to tell Spitfire what to do for a change instead of the other way round.

"Understood cadet, now I have work to do." Spitfire gave Rainbow an appreciative nod before turning tail and heading back towards the door. "_Oh good lord I'm having a surprise party_…" she muttered to herself, sounding just the slightest bit giddy as she did so. Rainbow chuckled and nodded, finding her behavior a little adorable in truth...

"Yep… a party for you…" she murmured, "...and Fleetfoot…" she grit her teeth with worry, "… and Soarin…" she let her wings droop to her sides and stared down at the ground. "I should have just baked him a pie." She sighed, her ears lying flat against her head.

* * *

Braeburn had been told to retrieve Soarin from his office and bring him to the mess hall for his surprise party. This was proving to be an exhausting undertaking.

"Soarin, Ah'm not tellin' you what Ah got you. That completely ruins the purpose of a surprise." Braeburn sighed as he led Soarin towards the mess hall. Rainbow Dash had spent the entire day planning, and Braeburn had been keeping Soarin out of the loop, which was a lot easier than he had previously anticipated since he seemed keen to actually get his work done today. This was a rarity when it came to Soarin, and Braeburn considered it a blessing or a miracle that his pegasus friend chose today of all days to be dedicated to his job. He could only imagine how surprised Spitfire would be once Soarin showed her his completed paperwork.

"I'm sure it's not _that_ good Braeburn, just spoil it for me." Soarin tried to convince his best friend. Braeburn rolled his eyes and shoved the blue stallion away.

"Ah'll try not to take that as an insult." He mumbled. "Anyway, enough about the gift from me; what kinda stuff did your family send ya?" he asked. Soarin had a pretty busy family so it was rare that they got to meet up on his birthday, but Soarin had already arranged a date for them to meet in a few days in Fillydelphia.

"Well, they got me this awesome _Little Dragons_ poster." Soarin replied. _Little Dragons_ was one of Soarin's favorite movies. Braeburn had once allowed Soarin to force him to watch it with him back when they were in high school. To be frank, Braeburn kinda hated the movie. It was annoying and repetitive and he couldn't for the life of him remember what the plot of the film even was (or if it even had one at all). The main character was an asshole and the titular Little Dragon was hideous and irritating. How Soarin could happily sit and watch that mess of a movie multiple times mystified Braeburn… then again there were a lot of thing about Soarin that baffled the earth pony.

Braeburn just nodded along as Soarin continued. "It's so cool! When I go see my family in a couple of days I'm totally gonna find that movie and watch it again; that scene with the bottle of apple juice in the fridge still cracks me up!" He gushed.

Unfortunately, Braeburn remembered that scene. "Soarin no, do not remind me of that. Keep in mind that Ah sell apples for a living, and that includes apple juice. Do you have _any_ idea how hard it was for me to even consider making any juice after watching that movie with you?" he felt a little nauseous at the thought. Great, he was probably going to regret having this conversation later when he was thirsty.

"Braeburn, are you scared?" Soarin wiggled his eyebrows to tease his friend. To Braeburn, this was no laughing matter."

"Scared that you, or somepony you somehow hired, has peed in my apple juice. _Yes_, Ah am!"

"While we're on the subject of that scene," Soarin stopped walking and raised a forehoof. "Don't you think it was weird that with all of his powers, the dragon couldn't just reseal the bottle of juice? I know it's just a nit-pick but it really bothers me that he just left the bottle open- seems a little suspicious." He mused.

"Ah really don't care…" Braeburn sighed; however something did come to mind. "However, why did the fat colt who drank it know what pee tasted like? I mean, it was hardly in his mouth but he reacted immediately like, "ACK IT'S PEE! HOW DO AH KNOW THAT?!"

"The Dragon had been peeing into his juice every day for like, two weeks." Soarin replied. Braeburn rolled his eyes and shrugged.

"Okay fine, that's fair enough. Dang, that dragon was a cruel one. Also, is it only me who thinks that the main colt has a really kickable face?" Braeburn knew that they were going off the rails on another tangent train so he changed the subject. "Suddenly Ah'm not interested in that at all." He deadpanned.

"Let's just get to the mess hall for some food," Soarin grinned, smacking his lips at the thought of the large selection of food he had to choose from. Since he hadn't really left his office all day except to go to the bathroom, he reckoned that the food would taste at least twice as delicious as it usually did.

They walked the rest of the way to the mess hall in silence, and Soarin couldn't help but notice how desolate the academy was this evening. Normally he would walk past one or two of the cadets or he could hear the sounds of chatter from somewhere. But now it was quiet… _eerily_ quiet. Soarin felt like he was in a horror flick and while he had been working, somepony had been picking off the rest of the pegasi without him knowing.

"You okay?" Soarin flinched and yelped as Braeburn spoke up from his side. For a moment he had forgotten that his best friend was there. He tried to save face by smiling and wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Y-yep, everything is _totally_ fine, Brae." He insisted, stepping through the doors to the mess hall.

"**SURPRISE!**"

"AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-" Soarin noticed that the ponies who had almost frightened him out of his skin were just most of the other Wonderbolts and cadets, standing around a room filled with decorations and food and games and presents and there were banners reading 'congratulations' on them and he was still screaming- "EEEEEEYYYyyy everypony!" he tried his best to recover from his admittedly feminine sounding freak out. One does not simply leap out and surprise a pony whom not a minute ago had just been wondering if all of his friends had been mercilessly ripped to shreds by a serial killer… or Feather Duster. You couldn't blame him for thinking that, since Feather Duster was one of the only ponies not present in the mess hall.

"Congratulations, Soarin!" Rainbow cheered, and all the other ponies repeated after her, some of them stomping their hooves on the ground in applause. After the applause had died down, everypony went about trying out the games and snacking on the food. Wave Chill and Silver Lining immediately went over to wish Soarin a happy birthday personally while Action Hammer made his way over to Rainbow Dash, looking thoroughly perplexed.

"Hold on a minute Rainbow Dash," he placed a heavy hoof on her shoulder and nodded over at Soarin. "That's not Fleetfoot," he narrowed his eyes, "so why did everypony yell surprise?"

Rainbow Dash felt as if Celestia's holy rays were shining down on her as she managed to say "For practice!" without even stuttering. This must be her lucky day! Action Hammer seemed to buy it, though he gave Rainbow a final glance as he trotted away, indicating that she may have to be more careful in the future if she didn't want one of the most awesome celebrities ever on her bad side.

Rainbow didn't have any time to calm down as Soarin came up and hugged her, resting his chin on her head and grinning like an absolute fool. "Dashie, I can't believe it! You guys seriously planned a party for me?!" he sounded like a kid at… well, a birthday party.

"Uh-huh," Rainbow replied, "all for you, just you, nopony else except you." Okay maybe she should dial it down just a little bit. She was beginning to get a little worried about how the rest of the night would go. She just needed to… keep Soarin away from Action Hammer and Fleetfoot. That wouldn't be so hard right? She would have gotten Lullaby to help her out if not for the fact that the purple mare was nowhere to be seen. And much to her surprise neither was, well, Surprise. She would have expected the party pegasus to be all _over_ this.

Soarin placed his hooves on Rainbow's shoulders and pecked her on the lips, knowing that she wouldn't want anything more in the middle of a crowd. "Damn, this is just so cool! I mean, you've got a ping pong table, a basketball hoop…" Soarin's eyes grew to the size of an entire galaxy when he set eyes on his guest. "_Is that Action Hammer_?!" his voice went high and his jaw dropped. Rainbow nodded, breaking into another sweat. "Y-y-you got Action Ham-m-mer to come to _m-my _party?!" his voice quivered and it looked like he was going to burst into tears of happiness.

"Yep, I got him just for you, nopony else except you…" She. Had. To. Stop!

At that moment, Fleetfoot walked into the mess hall, looking naturally perplexed as to why there was a party going on. She didn't have enough time to wonder why she hadn't been invited because as she stepped through the doors, Action Hammer immediately took action (ya know, like a pun) and yelled-

"SURPRISE!" he boomed, throwing some streamers at Fleetfoot. Fleetfoot was still more confused than excited since Action Hammer was the only one to shout surprise. Good grief, how was Rainbow going to explain _this_ one to the celebrity.

Soarin was the first one to ask a question. "Uh… why did Action Hammer yell surprise at Fleetfoot? Do we share the same birthday and I didn't know about it?" he wondered, briefly entertaining the thought in his mind. If he and Fleetfoot were born on the same day then this party would be all kinds of weird. A swing-ball stand next to some massage tables, probably. That would probably be a disaster though since sweat and sauna's were exactly a thing that… okay maybe it _did _make sense.

"That's a good question," Rainbow patted Soarin on the back, "He's… probably just surprised to see her at your party. I mean, she… she's really _mad_ at you!" okay maybe that lie had gone a little too far… or had it?

"She is?" Soarin's ears drooped and he looked positively heartbroken.

It had.

"Er… yeah! She just… didn't like that you…" think of something Soarin would do, think of something Soarin would do… "… took some pie." It was the most obvious suggestion. Much to her surprise though, he actually believed her!"

"Oh… dang, I didn't realise she'd be mad at me. It was just lying around on a table; if I'd known it was hers I wouldn't have eaten it…" he pouted. Rainbow needed to think of a way to send Soarin away so she could monitor Action Hammer to make sure he didn't fudge up the plan somehow.

"Well ya know Fleetfoot; she'll get over this soon." She used her most optimistic voice. Soarin slowly nodded his head, but he still didn't look too pleased with himself. The last thing Rainbow Dash needed was for Soarin to get sad on his birthday. She would be the worst marefriend in history if she allowed that to happen. "Hey, Cinder baked the most delicious cupcakes over there! You _have_ to try them!" she changed the subject. Soarin's ears perked right up at that and he gave Rainbow Dash another peck on the cheek before making a bee-line for the snack table (which smelled so good! If she hadn't been preoccupied with Soarin, Action Hammer and Fleetfoot she would be over there right now trying some of those tasty looking carrot cakes). Rainbow neared the mess hall doors, to the side of which Fleetfoot and Action Hammer were talking. She managed to catch some of their conversation, and by the sounds of it, the plan was going pretty well. Dash loved that she was apparently making more than one pony happy tonight. She just needed to keep it that way…

"Sso, you planned thiss for me?" Fleetfoot beamed up at Action Hammer with wide eyes. "Whoa, I really didn't ssee thiss coming at all." She seemed surprised that she had successfully been kept out of the loop. "Why did you go to all thiss trouble for ssomething like thiss, Mr. Hammer?" Fleetfoot was a curious pony, so it was natural that she would ask questions.

"Er…" Action Hammer's blush was clear, even though his face remained mostly stoic and his eyes were hidden behind those (still awesome) anime shades, "b-because I happened to notice that you were the most gorgeous sports lover I've ever set eyes on." He said as smoothly as he could. Dash had to hold back from rushing in and telling him that his line _sucked_.

"Huh… I, uh, I kinda hate sports." Fleetfoot looked confused, looking around at all of the sports themed games and looking a little intimidated. Rainbow Dash _did_ rush in that time to save Action hammer from this sticky situation.

"She's kidding!" she leaned against Action Hammer's side for support as she nearly tripped and fell. "Hey Fleetfoot, I got these!" Rainbow turned around and practically snatched a plate of pizza bites off of Free Fall's back. She then held them out to Fleetfoot.

"Oh yeah, these are your favorites apparently." Action Hammer flashed another grin in the direction of the white-maned Wonderbolt. Fleetfoot and Rainbow Dash both grabbed one, Rainbow chowing down on her pizza bite as fast as she could because she was beginning to run through all the things that could go wrong in her head. However, this specific one didn't cross her mind even once…

"Wait… I can tasste…" Fleetfoot turned a little pale as she swallowed. "Were there peppers on those?" she asked, her eyes wide with… terror?

"Um… I think so." Rainbow nodded, looking over the rest of the tray of pizza bites. Fleetfoot started to head out the door. She looked back through apologetically as sweat began to drip down her face.

"I'm ssorry," she gulped, "I'll be back ssoon! I'm just a little allergic to peppers." She managed to give the two other pegasi a final smile before galloping down the hallway as fast as her well-toned legs could carry her. Action Hammer and Rainbow Dash stood there for a few silent, lengthy seconds with the plate of pizza bites sitting between them. While they were staring at the door, Bumble came along, picked them up and took them away, and they didn't even bat an eye. Finally, Action Hammer looked down at Rainbow Dash through his shades, his mouth curling into a line that made Dash certain that he was suspicious of her now.

"I thought you said that pizza bites were her favorite snack?" he asked. Rainbow thought on the spot once again.

"We must have bought the wrong kind of peppers?" she suggested. Action Hammer took another step towards her, his hulking build making him look ten times more threatening than he needed to be as he loomed over Rainbow Dash like a building loomed over an apple tree.

"And why was I the only one who yelled surprise for Fleetfoot?" he asked another question. Anymore and Rainbow Dash was certain that she'd lose control of her bladder. She would choose another bee-covered-staring-contest with Applejack over being in this position. Seriously, bring on the bees!

"Er, we didn't… get enough practise." Rainbow said evenly. "Seriously, you would not believe how slow everything goes around here." She hated how true that last statement was. Really, the pace just refused to pick up around here for some reason.

* * *

For the next hour or so there was nothing but smooth sailing... well, for everypony but Rainbow Dash who was working herself ragged to make sure that Soarin stayed as far away as possible from Fleetfoot and Action Hammer and vice versa. It seemed that every two minutes she was rushing over to one of them to steer them in a different direction or distract them to ensure that the plan didn't fall flat on its face. She managed to take some sips of soda between that time, but she couldn't actually enjoy anything that was going on because she was getting so stressed out- ooh crap on a cracker, Action Hammer was less that ten feet away from Soarin! Time to do something! Rainbow shoved Tempest out of the way and leapt for the ping pong table, clinging to it tightly with both hooves and fixing her eyes on her celebrity guest.

"Yo! Action Hammer!" Rainbow waved to the pegasus stallion from the ping pong table. "Wanna play a game!" she picked up a ping pong paddle in her teeth and smiled as wide as she could. Action Hammer made his way over, though he kept an eye trained on the other side of the room.

"Rainbow Dash, I'm a little concerned. Fleetfoot really doesn't seem like the kind of pony who likes sports." His ears drooped as the two of them looked over to the dodgeball cage, where Fleetfoot had curled up into a fetal position while dodgeballs attacked her from all sides. Rainbow actually felt sorry for the poor mare. Of course, she needed to find a way to avoid another uncomfortable situation.

"Hey, it doesn't look so bad- oh the cake!" Rainbow felt like kissing Cinder as she walked out of the kitchen, pushing Soarin's birthday cake out to the snack table in a wagon. It was kinda adorable. Sugar Swoop and Ray helped her lift it onto the snack table and Dash quickly whizzed over to make sure everything was okay.

Much to her horror, the words _"Congrats Fleetfoot_" was etched onto the cake in dark blue frosting. Her pupils shrank and her mouth dropped open. Action Hammer walked up to her while she was in her state of paralysis, and looked down approvingly at the cake.

"Oh yeah, you forgot to tell the little blue pony to put anything on the cake, so I had her write that on it," he revealed. By this point Rainbow was certain that a migraine was coming on any second now.

"That's perfect!" Rainbow chirped. She had to get rid of him so she could correct this situation somehow. "Fleetfoot's done with dodgeball!" she noticed, and Action Hammer flashed her another grin before heading over towards the blue Wonderbolt to show her some more of his charm. Rainbow was about to destroy the evidence when Soarin suddenly bounded up to stand to her list.

"Blueberry frosting?! Dash, you're the best!" he licked his lips. Rainbow decided to throw whatever tactics she had been forming in the trash and just scooped up a bunch of frosting with her hoof (specifically the part with Fleetfoot's name written on it) and smeared it all over Soarin's muzzle.

"Pretty good right?!" she smiled, aware of the fuzzy feeling in her brain that couldn't be anything else other than her mind warning her of her continuous slippage of sanity. Initially, Soarin was a little startled by the sudden explosion of blueberry in his mouth, but after half a second he realized that there was no reason to complain about this situation; I mean, it was cake!

"Mmm, it is!" Soarin nodded, savoring the flavor before gulping it down. Blueberry was just the _best_! Rainbow almost had _another_ heart attack when she spotted a newcomer entering the room.

"Here I am," Spitfire strode in, looking uncharacteristically pleased at the state of the room. It appeared that she was wearing a new uniform with a dark purple tie. "Just walkin' into the mess hall in my freshly ironed get-up." She leaned against the wall beside the door. Rainbow trotted briskly over to her.

"Surprise!" she cheered, quietly enough that nobody got confused but loud enough to make it seem sincere.

Spitfire's ears perked up. "Hey Dash! Thanks for that; getting everyone to keep the attention off me. It's a huge relief."

Oh yeah! Rainbow had totally forgotten about Spitfire's dislike of crowds. It's a good thing she was the only one in on Spitfire's party. The golden mare's orange eyes strayed to the table at the far left corner of the room, where a bunch of presents were stacked. Rainbow gulped, realizing that she had forgotten something. She, Action Hammer and even Lullaby had got presents for Fleetfoot, and practically everyone had gotten a gift for Soarin, but Dash had totally forgotten about the captain.

"Hey, I've had a rough day with all my paperwork. D'ya mind if I open just one now and save the rest for later?" she sounded pretty nervous. Dash was pretty confused for a while; the captain seemed to be very comfortable performing in air shows, but something simple like a party was enough to scare her. It almost seemed like Spitz was against anything remotely relaxing. Parties were the best! Yes, she was stalling by letting her train of thought run wild. Okay, she'd just have to roll with it.

"Sure, go ahead." Her voice as beginning to shake with the amount of things she had to be observing. Soarin was cutting off a huge slice of cake, and a second one for Cinder, who had finally finished with all the food. She briefly paused to be charmed at how sweet Soarin was before remembering that she needed to check up on Action Hammer, who was holding an ice pack to Fleetfoot's forehead. Fleetfoot was trying to shield her face… oh God had she been hurt so bad that she was _crying_?! Okay, she needed to hide from Action Hammer once all of this was done. Ugh! But then she couldn't make sure that Soarin and Spitfire didn't start getting suspicious! Oh, what she wouldn't give to do what she used to do in school whenever she'd had enough of math- ask to go to the bathroom and not return to the classroom.

"Wow…" Rainbow was alerted to Spitfire's slightly bewildered tone. She looked over at the golden mare to see that she was holding up a pretty expensive looking tuxedo. Rainbow cringed and clenched her jaw. She was hoping that she'd picked one of Fleetfoot's, or at least that someone had gotten Soarin something less obviously masculine. Spitfire looked a tad skeptical.

"Um… well…" think of something, Dash… "It's not something I'd choose for myself… but what do I know about fashion?" she shrugged. Rainbow's pupils shrank. Oh thank Celestia that the captain was a behind-the-times shut-in. Praise the sun! "I'm just gonna head to the bath- ya know what, you don't need to know." Spitfire shrugged and gave Dash a small smile before leaving the mess hall with the tux flung over her back. "Huh… who turned out the lights?" she muttered as she wandered outside, where the lights were flickering off and back on.

Okay, so for the time being there was one less pony to observe. Now where was Soarin…?

* * *

Rainbow continued her routine of observing the two blue Wonderbolts and Action Hammer. Thankfully, for about twenty minutes, Action Hammer and Fleetfoot stayed by the snack table, Fleetfoot holding the ice pack to her head and looking overall droopy, with Action Hammer sitting beside her and offering words of comfort. So the plan seemed to be working pretty well. Action Hammer was spending some time with Fleetfoot and Soarin was having a great time at his party. Rainbow figured that she'd celebrate by getting one of those carrot cakes she was admiring earlier.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash," Soarin trotted up to Rainbow Dash and flung a hoof around her shoulders while wearing his usual dorky smile. "Thanks for planning this… I know I've probably already said that, but I just can't stress enough how much I appreciate this."

Rainbow chuckled and flipped her mane, making a 'psh' noise in the process. "Meh, it was nothin'. Like I wasn't gonna go all out and throw a party for you on your birthday." The idea that she wouldn't _was_ kinda dumb… man, she hoped that Pinkie Pie would be proud of her if she were here.

"Oh? It's your birthday?" Rainbow felt her heart threaten to stop beating as the deep, insanely awesome voice of Action Hammer came from her left side. "Well happy birthday there dude," he reached over and slapped Soarin hard on the back. The pale blue stallion had practically the entirety of his breath knocked out of him, but that didn't prevent him from smiling like a gigantic loon at the idea of having the red hoof print of one of his favorite actors painfully emblazoned on his back for the rest of his days.

"Thank you Mister Action Hammer, sir," he beamed up at the celebrity with shining eyes, which were reflected right back at him in the glass of Action Hammer's anime shades.

Rainbow needed to get these two away from each other before Action Hammer began to clue in on what was going on. "Okay, well it's been nice seeing ya- hey Soarin, there's a foosball table over there and I'm sure I can get Butternut and Beau to stop-"

"Hey how much did my marefriend pay you to come to my party?"

Dash's heart stopped, the world turned upside down, the future looked grim, the crops were dying, the sky was falling, the ground was cracking, the walls were shaking, the sun was exploding the lakes were drying up and Dash wished that her mind would cool it with these stupid apocalyptic scenarios!

"Seriously, Action Hammer, I've been such a huge fan of yours ever since I first watched the Powerpoof Ponies! I spent like three years screaming in a closet to try and get my voice to be as deep and cool as yours but ya know… that didn't work." Soarin frowned at his rather high voice.

"Thank you very much," Action Hammer looked sternly… at something. Rainbow couldn't tell thanks to those damned sunglasses. "Your party is awesome by the way- your marefriend must care about you a lot if she'd go to all of this trouble to make sure that you have a good time."

…what?

Soarin flashed Rainbow Dash a bright smile. Dash would have smiled back if she wasn't so utterly confused about what was going on. She was sure that the look on her face (O-shaped mouth and squinting eyes) looked completely stupid but at the moment she was more worried about whether or not Action hammer was leading her into some kind of trap. He'd wait for her to get back into her comfort zone before dropping the bomb that she had fibbed and told Action Hammer that the party was for Fleetfoot.

"I know," the Wonderbolt stallion reached over and nuzzled Rainbow's cheek. She was too nervous to even blush, "I totally didn't see this coming. I guess good things _do _ happen when you knuckle down and get your paperwork done."

Action Hammer, of course, had no idea about Soarin's dislike of paperwork but he smiled and nodded anyway. "Now I wanna have a talk alone with Miss Dash," he told the other stallion. Soarin shrugged and began trotting away.

"That's fine. I'm gonna try pestering Braeburn about that gift he got me again," Soarin chuckled and quickened his pace, eager to annoy his best friend.

Oh boy. Rainbow Dash was trying her best to prepare herself for the onslaught of yelling and degradation that was about to be thrown in her face by the celebrity in front of her. Well… it wasn't like it would be the first time a celebrity had yelled at her. Spitfire, Silver Lining and the other Wonderbolts who were willing to shout at the cadets were _paid_ to do that… but Rainbow Dash didn't like to think about the time that she annoyed Samule L. Jackass while stalking- I mean- _following_ him to try and get his autograph. That did _not_ turn out pretty… well, that wasn't the first time she had gotten a restraining order either...

"I'm talking to you, Rainbow Dash."

Oh crap! "Sorry, I just got lost in thought… it happens," Dash glanced upwards in annoyance. "So… just get it over with. Call me out. Expose me." She sighed, allowing her ears to droop as she gave in. The gig was up.

She was surprised to hear Action Hammer… laughing? She looked up with a bewildered look on her face. This was…the exact opposite of what she had been expecting. "You knew that the party was for Soarin and not for Fleetfoot?"

"Yep. I'm not an idiot, Dash. I had you figured out right from the start when everyone yelled surprise at him." he confessed.

"Wh-why didn't you yell at me back then?!" Sure, she would have hated it but it would have torn the bandage of quickly. Action Hammer smirked and shrugged his shoulders.

"I wanted to see how far you'd go to try and cover your tracks." he adjusted his shades a little bit. Rainbow was a little mad that he had piled all of that stress onto her shoulders for no reason at all. Seriously, _she_ could have yelled at _him_ at this point! But she had other questions to ask right now.

"And you… you aren't mad that I lied?" she asked. Action Hammer shook his head- his buzz cut mane barely swaying a millimetre.

"Why should I be?" he asked. "…okay, maybe I'm a little mad. I mean, you could have just asked if I could show up at your coltfriend's party… I totally guessed that he was your coltfriend back there; wasn't sure whether or not you actually were. I'm glad I was right though otherwise I would have sounded like a complete idiot." He chuckled. Okay, so even Action Hammer could go off-topic. That was strangely comforting to Rainbow Dash.

"But you didn't. You tried to handle two parties at once to make multiple ponies happy; it's hard to be mad at that." Action Hammer explained. Rainbow still wasn't convinced.

"Wasn't that a little selfish of me though? I mean, yeah I wanted to help you out as well- I was all over you asking Fleetfoot out. But in case you forgot, I pretty much _conned you_! You _paid_ for all of this with _your_ money. I don't know about you, but where I come from, that's a really stupid thing to do… I just hoped that you wouldn't find out about it. Action Hammer placed a heavy hoof on Rainbow's shoulder.

"I'm a millionaire, Dash! Sparing some money for a party isn't gonna make me go bankrupt; and yeah, Rainbow, I'm not gonna lie to you. What you did _was_ wrong; you totally suck for lying. But I know that you had good intentions. You wanted your coltfriend to have a fun birthday, and you wanted to help me out with Fleetfoot. You tried making more than one pony happy and maybe you didn't think through your plan well enough. But hey, at least you _know_ that you were wrong."

Rainbow nodded.

"Well then what more do you need? You've learned your lesson." Action Hammer stood up straight.

"Be upfront about the things that you want. You might be afraid to hear something you don't like, but it's better than lying to get your way?" Rainbow guessed. She honestly hadn't considered that she would need to learn a lesson from this experience, but there ya go. Life had a weird habit of throwing morals at her when she least expected them. Such was the life of an Element of Harmony.

"Perfect," Action Hammer smiled so that he showed off his shiny white teeth. Even this dude's _teeth_ were badass. "Now if you're still up for it, why don't ya go and play foosball with the birthday boy?" he glanced over to where Fleetfoot sat at the end of the snack table with a black eye. That looked pretty darn painful. "I'm gonna go and ask Fleetfoot if she wants to go for a walk. Ya know, to get away from the sports stuff." He winked at Dash and trotted away.

Rainbow watched as Action Hammer spoke to Fleetfoot, who seemed a little embarrassed about her injury. Fleetfoot shielded her face from the actor, not wanting anypony to look at the purple swelling around her eye. She managed to shyly look up at him as he lent her some comforting words, earning a light blush from the senior Wonderbolt. And Rainbow Dash smiled as the two of them left the party together into the night.

Maybe her plan, while not being entirely benevolent, _had_ succeeded after all. Everypony seemed happy anyway. But Action Hammer was right about one thing: foosball sounded like a great idea.

"WE NEED SUGAR!"

Rainbow and the rest of the ponies in attendance to Soarin's party went completely silent and glanced towards the mess hall doors as Feather Duster burst through them with Misty Fly and Lullaby (looking disheveled) behind her, dragging Surprise along the ground. The white Wonderbolt seemed to be tied up with what appeared to be curtain ropes. Everypony just stared in dubiety as Lullaby and Misty struggled to hold Surprise still while Feather Duster waved her arms around to try and get everypony to take her seriously.

"NOW!"

**To Be Explained...**

* * *

**Endnote: So... while you were reading that, you may have at some point thought "Well that was boring and rushed." And you'd be right. This was BOR-ING! Or at least it was to me, because I think my writing might actually be getting _worse_. I don't even know anymore guys, I'm not feeling very well right now and my head's kinda messed up. Like I said in the author's note, I've been dealing with a lot of personal stuff, and it's making it hard for me to do stuff. Writing is like, the only way I can free myself from... well, myself. But even then I'm having a lot of trouble writing. Like, I'll type something that seems good at the time, then I'll read over it and decide that I was stupid for putting it in and get rid of it. This insecurity of mine has made me replace, remove or add new scenes, and at one point I removed an entire chapter from my plan because it seemed too stupid. And still, I've just finished proofreading this chapter as of typing this endnote and I continue to feel that this is a steaming pile of crap. I feel like this is something akin to my writing in chapters 1-14 (although I have rewritten chapter one to remove grammar and spelling mistakes). Reading the first few chapters after reading something like, chapter 29 or 35, you know that back then there was something wrong with me mentally. I was _not_ healthy when I started writing _Dashing and Soaring_. But as this story got longer, I got better and my head cleared, allowing me to write better quality work. Anyway, sorry I ranted at you, but the whole point of this was to make it clear to you that I'm constanly trying my best to get new chapters released. **

**Hopefully I'll get the next one done sooner, but I'm not making any promises. I'm not gonna say my usual "it'll be out soon" thing because it's pointless. But just remember that I haven't given up. ^u^**


	54. WE Need To Talk :)

**Author's Note: Hi everyone! So I think I owe you all an explanation. Things have happened… and I know that sounds very annoyingly vague, but I can't go into any more detail for the sake of my health. I would really love to explain what happened but I fear that if I read this note in the future then the pain will start all over again. As I type this I'm actually experiencing some of the symptoms so I have to make this quick- this is why it's taken me so long to get to writing this note.**

**Please try not to be mad at me, although I understand if you are. NO I am NOT cancelling the story. However I AM putting it on a temporary hiatus. **

**This was pretty inevitable, but this is something that ****_needs_**** to happen. I've been writing this story and nothing but this story for over two years now, and when you write the same thing for two years without variation then it starts to get boring. So to rekindle my enthusiasm for this story, I need to take a break and write something else!**

**That's right- I may be putting this story on pause, but I ****_am_**** going to be working on a new story! You read that correctly: Sassymouse does indeed write other things aside from the adventures of Rainbow Dash and an assortment of OC's I seriously regret making.**

**I know I'm disappointing a lot of you, and I don't know when the hiatus is going to end, but I do hope that my new story will be to your liking. Keep an eye out for it. ^u^**

**And that's not all I'll be doing! I've started a DeviantArt account where I shall post reviews of MLP episodes just like I've done in the author's notes in a few of these chapters. My account name is _ThunderFlash101 _for any of you who are interested.**

**So is that a fair exchange? ****_Dashing and Soaring_**** for a new story and a review account? Well… okay I can tell that some of you are mad. I can practically feel the red hot rage emanating from a couple of you right now… it's kinda freaking me out.**

**Anyway, please forgive me. I really did try to continue with the story but I literally ****_couldn't_****. I know a lot of people have been saying "wah wah 2016 has been the worst year of my life wah wah wah!" but it was****_ seriously_**** the worst year of my life. I'm doing my best to recover from what happened to me, and moving onto a new story will hopefully help me get completely better. And if you want to support me along the way then feel free to review on my next story too. You have no idea how much I appreciate every review I've gotten and every view my story has had so far, and I hope that when I get back to writing ****_Dashing and Soaring_**** that you have the patience to pick up where we left off.**

**Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for all of the support you have shown me so far. Thank you to the reviewers, thank you to the amazing friends and folks I've met through this story, thank you to all of the readers who are too shy to review (yeah I know you're there ;P). Consider this the MLP mid-season hiatus of ****_Dashing and Soaring_****. I'm not giving up on this thing. I said that I would see it through to the end, and I ****_will_****.**

**Para-Promise. ^u^**

* * *

**_It might take a year,_**

**_It might take a day,_**

**_But what's meant to be,_**

**_Will always find its way._**


End file.
